Category Archives: Canton Asylum for Insane Indians

Canton Asylum for Insane Indians in South Dakota was also known as Hiawatha. It opened in December 1902 and closed in 1934 after charges of neglect and abuse were validated. Dr. Harry Reid Hummer and Oscar Sherman Gifford were its only two superintendents. Its only patients were Native Americans, typically called Indians. It was the only federal insane asylum created solely for an ethnic group and served only Indians.

Black Indians

3 Replies
Black Indians

Black Indians

Native Americans in the Five Civilized Tribes sometimes owned African slaves. The Cherokee freed their slaves in 1866 and gave them full tribal citizenship. These former slaves were called tribal Freedmen.

Many Freedmen lived as Native Americans through the ensuing years, having adopted their culture and languages.

Today, Freedmen face roadblocks in tribal enrollment, since proving their bloodline depends upon the 1906 census called the Dawes Roll, which excluded Freedmen. This proof of bloodline is very important, since it is required to qualify for a Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood. The CDIB and tribal membership entitles the holder to Native American monies and benefits.  

Black Indian Family

Black Indian Family

________________________________________________________

Captive Workers

Leave a reply
The Nation Robbing An Indian Chief of His Wife, courtesy www.johnhorse.com

The Nation Robbing An Indian Chief of His Wife, courtesy www.johnhorse.com

The slave trade was not confined to Africans in the early history of the U.S. In the 1700s, for instance, the Cherokee  raided other tribal territories and carried off prisoners who became their slaves. When they did not retain slaves for themselves, they sold them to traders.

In 1713, the South Carolina Assembly asked the Cherokee for help in conflicts with the Tuscaroras. Cherokee warriors obliged, and captured or killed about 1,000 of their enemy. Their captives were later sold at the auction block.

Colonial Slave Market

Colonial Slave Market

Women and children were far more likely to be captured and held as slaves than men, who were more apt to be killed in battle. Sometimes a woman or child would be ransomed back to freedom, but this was not typical. At least 2,000 Indians were slaves in South Carolina during colonial times.

Renard (Fox) an Indian Slave, circa 1732

Renard (Fox) an Indian Slave, circa 1732

________________________________________________________

Who Wants to Help?

Leave a reply
Sioux Delegation, 1891, courtesy Library of Congress

Sioux Delegation, 1891, courtesy Library of Congress

Herbert Welsh (1851 – 1941) is associated most closely with the Indian Rights Association (IRA). The first meeting of the organization was held in his home on December 15, 1882; he served as Executive Secretary for many years. 

Welsh was a prosperous Philadelphian who traveled to Dakota Territory to visit the Sioux reservation at Pine Ridge. He came home with a new understanding of the harsh life so many Native Americans faced as wards of the government. He and the other founding members of the IRA were committed to righting the wrongs done to Native Americans and publicizing their situation.

His intentions were good, but misguided. Welsh wrote in 1882, “When this work shall be completed the Indian will cease to exist as a man, apart from other men, a stumbling block in the pathway of civilization . . . the greater blessings which he or his friends could desire will be his, – an honorable absorption into the common life of the people of the United States.”

Council of Indians at Pine Ridge, January 17, 1891, courtesy Library of Congress

Council of Indians at Pine Ridge, January 17, 1891, courtesy Library of Congress

________________________________________________________

Friends of Indians

Leave a reply
Image of a Vanishing Life, courtesy Library of Congress

Image of a Vanishing Life, courtesy Library of Congress

Not everyone bore animosity toward Native Americans, and there were several groups who were willing to try to help them. An early group called the Indian Rights Association (IRA) was founded in 1882. Their mission was to “bring about the complete civilization of the Indians and their admission to citizenship.”

The problem with a group like this is that it assumed  Indians wanted to be “civilized” into the white culture in the first place, or that they wanted to be American citizens. What was worse was the group’s belief that the only way to effect this civilization was to destroy Indian culture. That meant erasing Native Americans’ religions and languages, and doing away with tribal ownership of land.

The group was founded  after a number of bloody confrontations between whites and Native Americans, and hoped to bring about needed reforms. Ultimately, it failed. The IRA supported the allotment process brought about by the Dawes Act, which stripped away most land from Indians and reduced many to poverty.

View of Farming Land, Mescalero Indian Reservation, courtesy Library of Congress

View of Farming Land, Mescalero Indian Reservation, courtesy Library of Congress

IRA Pamphlet, courtesy Library of Congress

IRA Pamphlet, courtesy Library of Congress

________________________________________________________

One Big Family

Leave a reply
Six Indian Chiefs at Roosevelt's 1905 Inaugural Parade, courtesy Library of Congress

Six Indian Chiefs at Roosevelt's 1905 Inaugural Parade, courtesy Library of Congress

Beginning shortly after the Civil War, the U.S. government realized that it needed to solve the “Indian Problem.” Debate raged for years concerning the capabilities of Indians, but eventually the consensus was that Indians could be assimilated into American culture.

Many people sincerely believed that Native Americans would be best served by adopting white culture. That meant owning their own land, farming and raising their own food, going to school, learning a trade, and learning English.

Assimilation also meant giving up spiritual practices, tribal customs such as communal ownership of land, and leaving behind traditional ways of dress, speaking, and relating to the greater world. Native Americans were pressured to join the U.S. culture, but only on its terms.
Learning Carpentry at Haskell Indian Junior College (1900-1924) courtesy Library of Congress

Learning Carpentry at Haskell Indian Junior College (1900-1924) courtesy Library of Congress

Indian Boys Doing Laundry, Carlisle School, 1901, courtesy Library of Congress

Indian Boys Doing Laundry, Carlisle School, 1901, courtesy Library of Congress

________________________________________________________

Insensitivity, Part Two

Leave a reply
Mentally Defective Child, 1913, courtesy Library of Congress

Mentally Defective Child, 1913, courtesy Library of Congress

People (of all races) tended to be insensitive to the mentally ill. Institutionalized patients were lucky to be called “unfortunates” or something similar, but were just as frequently referred to as “defectives.”

Moron, imbecile, idiot, and other words that today we cringe to hear, were used frequently and had clinical meanings that denoted particular degrees of intelligence. However, to call someone a moron, for instance, instantly belittled the person, whether it was meant clinically or descriptively.

Americans frequently found humor in mental deficiency, and in the 1940s a comic book called “Little Moron,” written by Abbott Hoecker and Clydene Oliver (Heck and Ilda) surfaced. “Little moron” jokes were popular for years, though they don’t seem to be as acceptable nowadays.

Little Moron Comic, 1940s

Little Moron Comic, 1940s

Sizstor, A Little Moron Character

Sizstor, A Little Moron Character

________________________________________________________

Labeled Inferior

Leave a reply
Anti-mascot logo

Anti-mascot logo

Labels such as Native Americans, American Indians, First Peoples, and other names for the indigenous people of the American continent, are an attempt to repudiate the negative terms frequently used in the past.

During the period when the Canton Asylum for Insane Indians existed, labels in use to describe Native Americans included: injun, savage, redskin, wild indian, and squaw or buck, among others. Names indicate status, and these insensitive terms denoted the status in which Native Americans were held while they were being assimilated into U.S. culture. Denigrating terms reinforced the idea that native cultures were “bad” or inferior to the white one. Even when whites tried to use a more flattering term like “noble savage,”  they were at least unconsciously callous.

The controversy around the labels Native American and American Indian as a referencing term has become less heated. Polls show that either term tends to be acceptable. A preferred method of reference is by tribe: “This is Joe, a Seminole Indian,” for example.

Satirical Representation of Indian Culture, courtesy Library of Congress

Satirical Representation of Indian Culture, courtesy Library of Congress

Reservation Cartoon

Reservation Cartoon

________________________________________________________

An Edict and An Exit

Leave a reply

 

Priest With Children at Indian Boarding School, courtesy Minnesota Historical Society

Priest With Children at Indian Boarding School, courtesy Minnesota Historical Society

Robert G. Valentine served as commissioner of Indian Affairs from June 1909 to September 10, 1912. Valentine ran into trouble when he issued his “religious garb” order, without prior approval from the secretary of the Interior. The order forbade anyone to display religious garb or insignia in Indian schools and missions. Though his edict applied to all religious orders, the primary people affected were Catholics.

His move backfired, and President Taft directed the secretary of the interior to revoke the edict. Valentine ended up resigning his position September 11, 1912, and a compromise measure was approved by the secretary: though no one currently working would be fired, there would be no further hiring of teachers who insisted on wearing religious garb. Valentine was investigated by Congress after his resignation, but was not prosecuted after being found guilty of six charges.

Valentine became a respected labor mediator, before dying in 1916 at the age of 44. The tiny community of Truxton Canyon, Arizona, changed its name to Valentine in 1910, to honor commissioner Valentine.

Drexel Indian School, White Earth, courtesy the archives of St. John's Abbey

Drexel Indian School, White Earth, courtesy the archives of St. John's Abbey

________________________________________________________

Spare No Expense

Leave a reply
Indian Office , Washington, DC, circa 1920, courtesy Library of Congress

Indian Office , Washington, DC, circa 1920, courtesy Library of Congress

Each year, the House of Representatives conducted hearings on the Indian Appropriation Bill, to approve funding for all the expenses associated with schools and reservations. The Canton Asylum for Insane Indians also fell under this bill.

In 1912, commissioner of Indian Affairs, Robert G. Valentine, supplied information about the asylum’s expenditures the previous year. In 1911, the facility had been allocated $25,000, but only spent $20, 524.81. (Canton Asylum’s superintendent, Dr. Harry Hummer, was determined to come under budget each year).

Employee costs were highest, at $10, 791.18, and their subsistence came next at $4, 066.88. The next two most expensive items were construction and repairs, and then heat, light, and power.

Stationery and office supplies came to $205.88, and “miscellaneous” at $271.99.

The cost for medical supplies for the year: $172.13. Below is a picture of the medical staff at Tulalip Indian School; there are several student nurses besides the staff doctor and nurse. At the Canton Asylum for Insane Indians, the superintendent was also the doctor and the only medical provider. Nurses were not employed there until nearly the end of the facility’s existence.

Medical Staff, Tulalip Indian School, 1912, courtesy Library of Congress

Medical Staff, Tulalip Indian School, 1912, courtesy Library of Congress

________________________________________________________