Indian Schools Seminaries and Asylums

Indian Schools, Seminaries, and Asylums

Omaha Mission School

Beginning in 1878 the goal was to assimilate Indian people into the general population of the United States. By placing the Indian children in first day schools and boarding schools it was thought this would be accomplished. Federal policy sanctioned the removal of children from their families and placed in government run boarding schools. It was thought they would become Americanized while being kept away from their traditional families. This collection of data focuses on providing the details – names, tribal affiliation, ages, and other data to specifically identify the Native children who boarded, institutionalized, and sometimes died in these “schools.”

Chilocco Indian School Records 1884-1980

Chilocco School Cabinet Card

Founded in 1883-84, the Chilocco Indian Agricultural School was one of the first, large off-reservation boarding schools established by the Federal government for the education of American Indian students. It offered academic and vocational training to children of tribes across the United States. This dataset comprises an historical collection of manuscripts and records pertaining to the school and its pupils.

Children Transferred to Chilocco School, 1885-1902

Page 53 Image 1: Descriptive Statement of Children Transferred to Chilocco School, 1885-1902

This series includes originals of Form 5-138 describing children transferred from an agency to Chilocco Indian School. The statement is signed by the agent and certified by the physician of the home agency of the children. Information about children includes Indian name, English name, blood degree, nation, band, father’s name and rank, whether parents are living or dead, child’s sex, age, height, weight, and remarks.

Canton Asylum, 1911 List of Patients

In 1898, Congress passed a bill creating the only ‘Institution for Insane Indians’ in the United States. The Canton Indian Insane Asylum, South Dakota (sometimes called Hiawatha Insane Asylum) opened for the reception of patients in January, 1903. Many of the inmates were not mentally ill. Native Americans risked being confined in the asylum for alcoholism, opposing government or business interests, or for being culturally misunderstood. A 1927 investigation conducted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs determined that a large number of patients showed no signs of mental illness. The asylum was closed in 1934. While open, more than 350 … Read more

Canton Asylum, 1910, List of Patients

The Indian Asylum in Canton, South Dakota in 1905

In 1898, Congress passed a bill creating the only ‘Institution for Insane Indians’ in the United States. The Canton Indian Insane Asylum, South Dakota (sometimes called Hiawatha Insane Asylum) opened for the reception of patients in January, 1903. Many of the inmates were not mentally ill. Native Americans risked being confined in the asylum for alcoholism, opposing government or business interests, or for being culturally misunderstood. A 1927 investigation conducted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs determined that a large number of patients showed no signs of mental illness. The asylum was closed in 1934. While open, more than 350 … Read more

1924 Bloomfield Seminary Student List

In the fall of 1847, John Harpole Carr was appointed him to superintend the construction of buildings known afterward as “Bloomfield Academy,” in the Choctaw Nation. He was afterward appointed superintendent of the school. This establishment of the first missionary boarding school for girls among the Chickasaws. The Board contributed one third and the Nation two thirds of all the money used for the current expenses of the school. There never was any average attendance calculated for we always kept our number filled, whether it was twenty-five, thirty-five, forty-five or sixty. Whenever there was a vacancy through sickness or any … Read more

1910 Census of Fort Shaw Industrial Indian School

Girls at the Fort Shaw Indian School

Fort Shaw Industrial Indian Boarding School opened in 1891 in Montana. It was discontinued 30 June 1910, due to declining enrollment. In 1904, it had a famous girls’ basketball team that barnstormed its way to St. Louis playing basketball and performing, and won the “World Championship” at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. This census was requested by the Department of the Interior for a listing of all the Indians enrolled at Fort Shaw Indian School for June 1910 in answer to Circular #448. Key to Relation Father – F    Mother – M Sister – S    Brother – B Aunt … Read more