'Big John' aka John Big Nose

Big John was a Western Navajo man

Photo from the Official Travel and Tourism Website | Visit Arizona
While no specific information has yet been found, it appears that Big John was born and lived within the area in the map below defined as the Tuba City, Kayenta, or Dilkon Courts, aka the Western Navajo Agency

Map from the Diné Nihi Kéyah Project
A project of Indian Country Grassroots Support

Biography:
Big John (probably a nickname) was born c. 1882 to unknown parents who appear to be Navajo born in Arizona, but the sole record, the 1920 census, has the term Navajo "X'ed" out. (My sense is that the enumerator was not able to ask John to confirm because John was a ward of the government and located at that time in the Canton Asylum.)

Regarding the admission of Big John to the Canton Asylum...he was not included in the 1910 Superintendant Narrative Table 7 or 8 which indicates admission after 1910 nor was he included in the June 30, 1918, male census of the asylum, taken together would indicate he was admitted after. He was not included in the June 30, 1920, Superintendant Narrative, nor was he included in the January 30, 1920, federal census for the asylum, taken together would indicate he had died before. My conclusion is therefore that he was admitted after June 30, 1920, and died within approximately two months.

According to the L.L. Culp ltr dated February 23, 1934, Big John was admitted for unknown reasons by the St. Defiance Agency, Arizona on an unknown date. He died at the Canton Asylum at the age of 38 on August 25, 1920, and was buried in the Hiawatha Cemetery tier 1 plot 72.

His profile is part of the The Canton Asylum One Place Study.

Research Notes:
-According to the plot map on Hummer’s office wall, received at the National Archives in Washington, D.C., on February 23, 1934, the graves in the asylum cemetery were “marked” and the cemetery was fenced on February 17, 1934. Hummer attached a schedule to the plot map noting, “Schedule attached showing names, home address, ages, and tribes, with date of death of all bodies buried.” He added, “No. 12, in Tier 5 contains bodies of mother and baby.” Except for the grave of one man in tier 6 (a women’s tier), men and women were buried in separate tiers (rows). There are two plots for which he reported, “No Number on plot, but bodies buried there.” It is believed those two graves contain the bodies of Big John and Alex Kennedy. Another typed note on the plot map indicates, “Where no numbers are (sic) shown, no bodies have been buried.” At the bottom of the map, the outside measurements of the cemetery are listed. According to Hummer, the graveyard was “about 100 x 150 feet.”[15 ]
[15] Harry Hummer, Plot of Canton Indian Asylum Cemetery, (Washington, D.C.: National Archives, February 17, 1934).
Source: Dilenschneider, Anne. “An Invitation to Restorative Justice: The Canton Asylum for Insane Indians .” Northern Plains Ethics Journal, 2013, pp. 103–128.
-South Dakota Deaths and Burials in MytHeritage under John Big says...
-possibly John Big Nose, line 1 from the 1920 census of the West. Navajo Indian Reservation, shown in the census but listed as a government ward suggests he was somewhere else, ie. the Canton Asylum although not specifically stated we know this from other records.
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Sources:

1920 Jan - "United States Census, 1920", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCRX-4MW : Fri Dec 08 00:39:52 UTC 2023), Entry for John (Big Nose*), 1920, pg. 476/1104, line 1, census of the Western Navajo Indian Reservation Township, Coconino County, Arizona (listed as a government ward, and "*Big Nose" is NOT shown on the census form) birth 1882 in 1920 census confirms both ends of his life.

1920 Aug 25 - "South Dakota, Grave Registration Records, 1940-1941", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:CYRJ-SGZM : Fri Dec 15 10:48:45 UTC 2023), Entry for John Big.
Name John Big
Sex Male
Age 38
Birth Year (Estimated) 1882
Death Date 25 Aug 1920
Event Type Burial
Event Place South Dakota, United States
Event Place (Original)
South Dakota, United States
Cemetery Indian Asylum
no image

1920 Aug 25 - Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/14494282/john-big: accessed 25 January 2024), memorial page for John Big (unknown–25 Aug 1920), Find a Grave Memorial ID 14494282, citing Hiawatha Asylum Cemetery, Canton, Lincoln County, South Dakota, USA; Maintained by Graveaddiction (contributor 46528400).

1920 Aug 25 - Hilton, M. (Ed.). (2023, July 10). Hiawatha Asylum for Insane Indians Historical Marker. Historical Marker. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=183486 Photo by Ruth VanSteenwyk, July 10, 2023, courtesy of HMdb.org

Guy Crow Neck 7-29-20 · John Big 8-25-20 · A. Kennedy 2-19-21