Hiawatha Insane Asylum
RCLARK3373
Hi everyone -- I thought I'd pass along this exerpt from the Lincoln
County History Book for anyone who's interested in the history of the
Canton Insane Asylum.
Jen Clark
Hiawatha Asylum for Insane Indians
In 1898, Congress passed a bill creating the first and only institution
for insane Indians in the United States. Passage had met with strong
opposition from the Department of Interior and the Superintendent of the U.
S. government's St. Elizabeth Hospital for the Insane in Washington, D.C.
Both felt that adding to the Washington institution would better serve the
interests of both the public and the Indians by being more cost efficient
and better staffed.
Leading the fight for passage were South Dakota's Representative O.S.
Gifford and Senator R.F. Pettigrew. Gifford said in a speech to the House,
"The necessity for an asylum for the treatment of insane Indians
exclusively has become of special interest to the people of South Dakota
because of their proximity to the Reservations of all Western States. The
value of favorable surrounding recognized in the treatment of insane
whites, has been entirely ignored in the case of the Redskin, with their
insane growing more neglected, violent, and unmanageable. We are asking
for the means to apply on the same basis the same treatment for the Indians
that is applied to his white brother."
In arguing for the future need of what was called his "pet measure,"
Senator Pettigrew stated in an address to the Senate, "it has been well
established that the percentage of insanity is greater among half-breeds
than among the full-blooded Indians. This is explained by the theory of
crossbreeding, that has a tendency to weaken the race. For this reason it
is confidently expected by those who have mad a study of these conditions,
that the rate of insanity will greatly increase as our civilization
develops. The peculiar mental afflictions of the Indians make it
impractical to treat them in connection with white patients. Association
with their ancient enemy has, it is said, a harrowing effect upon them.
Also it has been demonstrated by experience that the various State Asylums
for the treatment of the insane are not kindly disposed toward receiving
Indians patients."
The bill establishing the Hiawatha Asylum for Insane Indians passed in
1899 and the Indian Appropriation Act for 1900 set aside $3,000 for land
purchase and $42,000 for building construction. Because of its central
location among the Western states with large Indian populations and because
of the influence of Gifford and Pettirew, Canton was chosen as the site for
the asylum. One hundred acres were purchased a mile east of Canton on the
hills overlooking the Sioux River.
Construction of the main building, under the supervision of architect John
Charles of Wisconsin, was completed in 1901. It was of "pressed brick with
windows and doors trimmed in white stone. The structure was in the form
of a Maltese cross, 184 feet long and 144 feet wide . . . " (E.C. Adams)
The three story building had 75 rooms and began receiving patients in 1902.
The first superintendent was O.S. Gifford, past mayor of Canton. Gifford,
who had pressed for the establishment of the institution in Congress and
who has experience in law and on the House Committee on Indian Affairs, was
the logical choice. He remained chief administrator until his retirement
in 1908.
The new superintendent, Dr. Harry R. Hummer, had interned at St. Elizabeth
Hospital for the Insane in Washington, D.C. where he had earned a degree in
psychology and had served as the senior assistant administrator. Under Dr.
Hummer's leadership, the hospital grew in numerical and physical size. A
new superintendent's residence was added in 1915, a new brick hospital in
1916, a dairy and barn in 1917, a steel tank and water tower in 1918, and
277 acres of farm land in 1926. Other improvements, especially in the farm
operation included a gasoline tractor, corn shredder, silage cutter, and
truck. The dairy herd was enlarged from 3 to 20 cows and the hog
operation grew from 9 to 20 sows. Along with a large vegetable garden,
these improvements helped provide part of the institution's food and
operating costs.
Purchases for patients included an operating room and hydrotherapeutic
equipment. A sleeping porch was also added. Swings, settees, lawn chairs,
slides, and tress and shrubs dotted the campus surrounding the main
buildings in an attempt to create a park-like environment. Indoor
entertainment included pool and billiard tables, moving picture equipment,
and musical concerts by the Canton band.
Patients came from as far as California and with a variety of problems,
including epilepsy. Enrollment reached about one hundred in the late
1920s. Some patient's were allowed into town on a trustee basis and all
were given smoking allowances. Many men were WW I veterans suffering
"shell shock." Their native languages were used in coded Allied
communication that the Germans couldn't crack. Many of the 120 names on
the bronze plaque marking the graves of patients include military ranks
such as private, corporal, sergeant.
In December of 1933, after several federal reports and assessments and
after Canton citizens circulated a petition to prevent it, the Hiawatha
Asylum for Inane Indians was closed and its remaining 71 patients
transported by train to St. Elizabeth Hospital in Washington D.C.
Controversy still surrounds the closing of the institution. Mismanagement,
mistreatment, politics, and economy have all been cited.
The asylum grounds and buildings were used for a short time by South
Dakota as a penitentiary farm for first offenders. In 1946, in what
Cantonites refer to as the "second Manhattan Purchase," the city of Canton
purchased for $1.00 the 337 acres and buildings of the institution, the
only stipulation being that it be used for the welfare of the community.
For a time the asylum hospital was used for the Canton-Inwood Hospital, but
today the old asylum buildings are gone. The land is now home of a new
Canton-Inwood Hospital, a gun club, the 4-H fairgrounds, and the Hiawatha
Country Club and golf course.
NOTE: Racial and ethnic references once used are often unacceptable
today. To understand the speaker and his or her intent, we must look at
the context in which the words appear and at the place in human experience
represented.