Hiawatha Asylum for Insane Indians

Hiawatha Asylum for Insane Indians (HM2B5L)

Location: Canton, SD 57013 Lincoln County
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Country: United States of America
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N 43° 18.051', W 96° 33.061'

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Inscription
Receiving Congressional appropriations in 1899, the Hiawatha Asylum for Insane Indians was the second federal mental hospital and the first dedicated to American Indians. The first patient arrived in 1902, and through 1934, more than 370 patients—ages two to eighty, from fifty tribes nationwide—lived here. Patients did domestic and agricultural work onsite, were occasionally shown to paying visitors, and underwent treatment with methods later deemed outdated and dehumanizing. From 1929 to 1933, federal inspectors found intolerable conditions, inadequate staffing, several sane patients kept by force, and numerous other abuses. In 1933, John Collier, the newly-appointed Commissioner of Indian Affairs, ordered the asylum closed. G.J. Moen, with the Canton Chamber of Commerce, filed an injunction to keep the asylum open, but it was overturned in federal court. Many patients were discharged and those who still needed care were sent to St. Elizabeth's Hospital, Washington D.C. The major buildings used by the asylum have since been demolished. The Hiawatha Asylum cemetery, where at least 121 patients were buried in unmarked graves, is located between the 4th and 5th fairways of the Hiawatha Golf Club. In 1998, the cemetery was listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Details
HM NumberHM2B5L
Tags
Year Placed2011
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Wednesday, September 5th, 2018 at 2:01pm PDT -07:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)14T E 698639 N 4797136
Decimal Degrees43.30085000, -96.55101667
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 43° 18.051', W 96° 33.061'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds43° 18' 3.0599999999999" N, 96° 33' 3.66" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)605
Which side of the road?Marker is on the right when traveling East
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 48298 US-18, Canton SD 57013, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

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