Mary Bah

Mary was a Navajo woman (?)

Biography

Mary was born in Arizona. According to the 1930 census she was then 19 years old, and by extension, she would have therefore been born in 1911. She appears in that census as an “inmate” at the Canton Asylum for Insane Indians, Canton Township, Lincoln County, South Dakota. The census also indicates that she was single, born in Arizona, and a full-blood Navajo.

Mary was incarcerated in the Canton Asylum on October 30, 1928, diagnosed with dementia praecox (schizophrenia in today's language), and died there on either August or September 22, 1930. She was buried in the asylum cemetery, row 3 plot 49 shortly thereafter. Her name is on the memorial plaque on the stone monument located at the cemetery (with yet a 4th date of death), see https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=183486
Bronze plaque on burial stone

Names of Indians Buried in Hiawatha Asylum Cemetery
...· Kiger 7-2-29 · Mary Bah 8-25-30 · Cynia Houle 1-19-32 · ...

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

Research Notes (and unanswered questions):

-Two sources for the death date of Mary vary. According to the 1930 federal census, which Carla Joinson cites in her book Vanished in Hiawatha, the death date is August 22, 1930. According to the South Dakota, Grave Registration Records, 1940-1941 created by the WPA Project and maintained by the South Dakota State Historical Society, the death date is September 22, 1930
-the Navajo, Piute and Hopi shared a reservation. History shows that the Navajo intruded on the Hopi lands. The Hopi are also known as "Moki" and "Moqui," both which are considered demeaning terms. The Hopi were less adaptable to Western medical intervention and Western mores according to the Indian agent annual narrative Sources regarding Mary are thin and none currently available identify her as Western Navajo, which comes from the book by Carla Joinson based on the 1930 census enumeration by Hummer. One cannot rule out at his time that Mary was Hopi because she died young for unknown reasons, possibly due to the more unsanitary conditions of Hopi villages vs. Navajo villages.. It is the 1930 census enumerated by H. Hummer who identifies her as a full-blooded Navajo, but Dr. Hummer's record-keeping has been proven atrocious.

Moqui and Navajo Reservation with Navajo Extensions October 14, 1909. Note Western Navajo District. Also note the reference to the Moqui District which is the same as the Hopi District on later maps. The Moqui name was changed in the early 1900’s to Hopi.

This map shows that by 1926 the area under the jurisdiction of the Western Agency had been expanded thereby increasing the area in which Mary may have resided.
-If Mary was diagnosed with dementia praecox (schizophrenia) at age 18, one could expect that this condition was identified in a school, but there are no records of Indian Boarding Schools in Arizona that suggest that Mary was a student, nor incarcerated by a school. Since the Navajo Reservation was widely spread, there are numerous Indian boarding schools as possibilities, not all of which provide student census information. Without knowing the precise location of Mary's birth and/or residence, a school cannot be identified.
-The Western Navajo Annual School censuses are unavailable (have yet to be posted) on NARA, likewise Navajo - Western Navajo - Tuba City, Arizona - Agency Correspondence (in which there might be correspondence regarding the transfer of Mary to the Canton Asylum, have not been posted online.). These are available at NARA in Kansas City but are not yet online.
-A records review of the Western Navajo School and Agency from 1918 through 1922 indicates that only 1 Male person was considered insane and being treated at Canton. These annual narrative reports seldom if ever provided names. A review of the patient inmates from Carla Joinson's book indicated that there were several both male and female identified as Navajo, Western Navajo, or Southern Navajo residents in the asylum from the early days to the final days of its existence. Mary Bah is NOT exclusively identified in a manner that differentiates her from other Navajo.
-According to the letter by LL Culp dated Feb 23, 1934, advising the asylum cemetery burials, Mary Bah is listed as being a Western Navajo from Tuba City, AZ.. A review of the 1930 census for Enumeration district 3-12 Navajo Indian Reservation (Part), Pct. 5, Tuba City Institution(s): Western Navajo School and Hospital, in the hope of finding Mary's family, turned up NO families surnamed Bah, but DID turn up several families who had daughters with the given name Bah! In addition, it was noted that many of these reported families still used their native surname. This raises the question of whether Bah is a surname or a native given name. Perhaps Mary was the anglicized name given Bah during the assimilation process? Given that she was buried in the asylum cemetery indicates that her body was unclaimed. Mary's family remains elusive...

References

1930 Apr 7 - "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XQVC-BMT : accessed 4 January 2018), Mary Bah, Canton, Lincoln, South Dakota, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 5, sheet 2A, pg. 610/1062, line 45, family , NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 2226; FHL microfilm 2,341,960.

1930 August 25 - Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/14493770/mary-bah: accessed ), memorial page for Mary Bah (unknown–25 Aug 1930), Find a Grave Memorial ID 14493770, citing Hiawatha Asylum Cemetery, Canton, Lincoln County, South Dakota, USA; Maintained by Graveaddiction (contributor 46528400).
(Curator Note: the date of death 25 August 1930 is incorrect when compared to other sourcing, it may be the date Mary was buried, 3 days after her death which would be reasonable, but the information on FaG is unsourced.)

1930 September 22 - "South Dakota, Grave Registration Records, 1940-1941", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:CYRJ-SL2M : Tue Oct 03 20:58:30 UTC 2023), Entry for Mary Bah...(Work Projects Administration (WPA) Graves Registration Project of veterans buried in South Dakota. The project was done ca. 1940-1941. The collection is at the Veterans Memorial Building, Pierre, South Dakota.)
Name Mary Bah
Sex Male?
Age 20 years
Death Date 22 September 1930? (22 August 1930 per Joinson AND the 1930 federal census)
Birth Year (Estimated) 1910
Event Type Burial
Event Place Presho, Lyman, South Dakota, United States South Dakota, United States (?Curator Note; this probably refers to the location of the "headquarters" of the WPA Project)
Event Place (Original) Indian Asylum
Cemetery Indian Asylum

(Curator Note: The data shown here is a snippet taken from the referenced database, which is ONLY available upon a personal visit to the FamilySearch Center or an affiliated FamilySearch Library; images are NOT available online.)