Chee

Chee was a Southern Navajo woman

Photo of Navajo Country by Jeremy Meeks
While no specific information has yet been found, it appears based on census records that Chee was born and lived within the area in the map below defined as the Window Rock Court from Ft. Defiance County on the North to Houck County on the South possibly into the now-known State of New Mexico which was all under the jurisdiction of the Ft. Defiance Agency, now known as Apache County, AZ.

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

Biography:
Chee was born c. 1874-75 in the southern part of Apache County, Navajo Nation to unknown parents both of whom were Navajo however according to the 1910 federal census.

She was admitted to the Canton Asylum for Insane Indians on November 18, 1906 (or March 1906 from another source) diagnosed originally with chronic dementia, later revised to dementia praecox, hebephrenic in July of 1910. (Hebephrenic schizophrenia, also known as disorganized schizophrenia, is a subtype of schizophrenia that is no longer used as a diagnosis. Hebephrenia is characterized by disorganized behavior and speech as well as disturbance in emotional expression, known as mood incongruence. Hallucinations and delusions are less pronounced with disorganized schizophrenia, though there is evidence of these symptoms occurring.) Chee did not speak apparantly, English or otherwise, at all.

Chee died in the asylum on May 4, 1911.

According to Dr. L.L. Culp's letter to the commissioner on February 24, 1934, she is buried in the Hiawatha Cemetery, tier 5 plot 16.

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

Research Notes:
-the 1900 census for Houck, Apache, Arizona, United States has Chee* as a Male, born 1830, age 70 in line 38, AND Mrs. At Chee born 1875, age 25. At Chee (At could be a given name ie. Say At) was married to Say At Chee age 30 with three daughters, Hot Dee (possibly Nos Nes) age 4, Et Sun Na age 2, Pet Zee age 5 mo., lines 31-35
-Chee* is a very popular Navajo surname, 9,012 results in a FamilySearch name search; 6,607 when the search field is narrowed from AZ to Ft. Defiance, AZ
-L.L. Culp ltr identifies her from the Ft. Defiance Agency. The Fort Defiance Agency (FDA) provides services to the Navajo Indian people within the southern region of the Navajo Nation. The southern region is comprised of the States of Arizona and New Mexico. Fort Defiance, located at Canyon Bonito about seven miles north of Window Rock, Arizona, was established on September 18, 1851, by Col. Edwin V. Sumner to create a military presence in Diné bikéyah (Navajo territory).

Fort Defiance, New Mexico (now Arizona) by Seth Eastman (1808–1875), painted 1873

-the 1895 Navajo census by the Navajo Agency of the Navajo tribe dated April 5, 1895, was reviewed and contained 13,003 entries. It was reviewed to find a married couple with the name Chee for either husband or wife who had a daughter 11 years old (based on 1895 minus the presumed (and calculated) year of birth 1874). While many of these relationships were found, a subsequent search of individual names turned up nothing. One should note that MOST (except the firstborn) children in this census were NOT given names so the search was based on parent names in the hope that if found a child named "Chee" would be associated. Again, nothing was found.
@ https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll272unit/page/n63/mode/1...
__________
Sources:

1910 May 13 - "United States Census, 1910", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MPFS-XV4 : Wed Oct 04 12:34:48 UTC 2023), Entry for Chee Chee, 1910, pg, 82/1082, line 35 (age 35=b. 1875), United States Indian Insane Asylum, Canton Township, Lincoln County, South Dakota

1910 May 13-14 - "United States Census, 1910", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MPXP-W68 : Fri Oct 06 09:53:07 UTC 2023), Entry for Emily Waite and Mrs, Mrs Womack, 1910, page 80/1082, line 57, census of United States Indian Insane Asylum, Canton Township, Lincoln County, South Dakota

1910 Jul 2 - Ltr, Harry Hummer to Commissioner of Indian Affairs dated July 2, 1910, Chee, line 35, census of the Asylum for Insane Indians 28 Jun 1910, Canton, S. Dak.

1910 Aug 12 - Camp Verde School: 1910-27; Canton Insane Asylum: 1910-22, Series: Superintendents' Annual Narrative and Statistical Reports, Record Group 75: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 7th and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC, 20408 @ https://catalog.archives.gov/id/155854182?objectPage=675 Table 7 Form of mental disease of those admitted since opening of the Asylum, line 80 (chronic dementia).

1910 Aug 12 - Camp Verde School: 1910-27; Canton Insane Asylum: 1910-22, Series: Superintendents' Annual Narrative and Statistical Reports, Record Group 75: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 7th and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC, 20408 @ https://catalog.archives.gov/id/155854182?objectPage=677 Table 8 Form of mental disease of those in the Asylum, Jun 30, 1910, revised, line 34 (dementia praecox hebephrenia)

1911- May 4 - Find a Grave, database, and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/14491702/--chee: accessed 22 January 2024), memorial page for - Chee (unknown–4 May 1911), Find a Grave Memorial ID 14491702, citing Hiawatha Asylum Cemetery, Canton, Lincoln County, South Dakota, USA; Maintained by Graveaddiction (contributor 46528400).

1911 May 4 - 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

Kaygwaydahsegaik 10-14-10 · Chee 5-4-11 · Emma Gregory 3-12-12