In 1898, Congress passed a bill creating the only institution for insane Indians in the United States, which purpose was to care for those members of tribes who were allegedly insane. In 1903, the Hiawatha Insane Asylum for American Indians, located in Canton, South Dakota, opened and was operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
In 1933, the remaining patients were moved to St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Washington, D.C. after investigations into patient abuse. For a short time, the property was used as a prison by Augustana College, and in 1946, the Canton-Inwood Hospital Association took over the property. In 1975, the remaining buildings were demolished.
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File Type | jpg | |
URL | https://www.apaf.org/getmedia/ad4778f6-6993-4c26-8721-acb7f947ca48/17-Hiawatha-State-Hospital.jpg | |
Gallery | History of Hospital Care |