Joseph Jordan

Joseph was a Chippewa (tribe unknown) man from the White Earth Reservation

Ojibwe and Chippewa are the versions of the same word pronounced differently because of English versus French accents Ojibwe being the French terminology, Chippewa being the English terminology

Biography:
Based on the 1910 census from the Canton Asylum for Insane Indians, Joseph Jordan was 51 years old, thus he was born in 1859, but ages in those days were commonly misreported because no birth records had been kept. Joseph is recorded in other types of documents as being born between 1853 and 1859.

Based on a survey of census reports from the White Earth Agency, and the commonality of the surname Jordan in each tribe, Joseph Jordan was most likely a Chippewa from the Mississippi Chippewa band or a Red Lake Chippewa where his surname was spelled Jourdain. However, the location of the 160-acre allotment he received is just a few miles east of Otter Tail Lake.

One can say that he was committed by the White Earth Agency on March 28, 1903, but one cannot say to which tribe belonged, so his date of birth spans from 1854 to 1859. The 1910 and 1911 census reports suggest his age on those dates was 51 and 52 respectively, so we can therefore conclude that he was most likely born c. 1859.

His date of death is reported by Carla Joinson as March 1, 1916, and this date is probably correct, although not sourced because Joseph Jordan is NOT included in the October 1, 1917 attendance list of the Insane Indians School.
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His profile is part of the https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Canton_Asylum.

Research Notes:
It is worth noting that Superintendent Walter Gifford from 1903 to 1910 did NOT keep census records. The 1910 and 1911 census records and the 1910 annual narrative, which included tables 7 and 8, were attempts by Superintendent Dr. Harry Hummer to catch up.
-In 1901 there were ten (10) separate Chippewa tribes living on the White Earth Reservation, which also had jurisdiction over other reservations, finding which one Joseph belonged to was next ti impossible:

• White Earth Mississippi Chippewas
• Pembina Chippewas
• Gull Lake Chippewas
• Removal Mille Lac Chippewas
• Otter Tail Pillager Chippewas
• Removal Fon du Lac Chippewas
• Removal Cass and Winnibagoshish Chippewas
• Removal White Oak Point Chippewas
• Removal Leech Lake Pillager Chippewas
• Mille Lac Chippewas
• Red Lake Chippewas (were part of the White Earth Agency early on in censuses as early as 1885 as were some of the Non-Removal REservations)

Note: The Ojibwe people were forcibly removed from their lands in Wisconsin and Minnesota in the 1840s and 1850s. The Non-Removable Bands are descendants of people who resisted pressure from white settlers and the US government to give up their lands.
The 1901 census was selected because if Joseph had been a patient/inmate at the Canton Asylum as early as 1903, he might have lived on the reservation in 1901.
-It is possible that the name Jordan was originally spelled Jourdain, with the French pronunciation. However, Joseph Jourbain was a Red Lake Chippewa who was born in 1853.
The 1914 census for the Pembina Chippewa suggests that some Chippewas were dropped and re-enrolled at Red Lake!
-The Red Lake Chippewas in the White Earth Agency census for 1885 includes many persons with the surname Jordan. The surname Jourdain was used primarily by the Pembina Chippewa...
-One can say that he was committed by the White Earth Agency on March 28, 1903, but one cannot say to which tribe belonged, so his date of birth spans from 1854 to 1859. The 1910 and 1911 census reports suggest his age on those dates was 51 and 52 respectively, so we can therefore conclude that he was most likely born c. 1859. We see entries from 1854, so taking as average dates between 1854 and 1859 and rounding up we have 1857 which I show in the profile as a date of birth. The Minnesota death certificate shows a birth of 1853. the 1910 federal census shows an age of 52 making his date of birth 1858, but the Red Lake Reservation census for 1910 shows his age at 57 making his date of birth 1853.
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Sources:

1864 Jul 9 - "Minnesota, United States records," images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9WS-T65T?view=index : Jan 12, 2025), image 440 of 513; United States. Bureau of Land Management, pg. 440/513, purchase of 160 acres (Allotment? as he would have been approx. age 6) in Township 127 West, Range 35 North

1910 May 13 - "United States, Census, 1910", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MPXP-WD8 : Thu Jan 09 02:57:30 UTC 2025), Entry for Gilbert Schrager and Sigar Monson, 1910, pg. 79/1082, line 27 (age 52, widowed), census of the Indian Insane Asylum (beginning line 23), Canton Township, Lincoln County, South Dakota

1910 May 17 - "United States, Census, 1910", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M2L6-5GK : Thu Jan 09 06:21:11 UTC 2025), Entry for Joseph Jourdain and Quay Kahne Mud, 1910, pg. 609/1341 (age 57 as Joseph Jourdain), census of the Red Lake Indian Reservation, Beltrami County, Minnesota

1910 Jul 2 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll015unit/page/n501/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 502/519, line 14 (age 51), census of the Canton Asylum

1910 Aug 4 - 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=674, line 12 (alcoholic dementia), Table 7 Form of mental disease of those admitted since opening of Asylum, Annual Report for the fiscal year 1910

1910 Aug 4 - 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, line 5 (Intoxication psychosis, alcoholic), Table 8 Form of mental disease of those in Asylum, June 30, 1910, revised, Annual Report for the fiscal year 1910

1911 Jul 3 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll015unit/page/n503/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 504/519, line xx (age 52), census of the Canton Asylum

1916 Mar 1 - "Minnesota, Deaths, 1887-2001", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:H5GD-B72M : Sun Mar 10 19:57:58 UTC 2024), Entry for Joseph Jourdan and Eustach Jourdan, 1 Mar 1916, pg.
Name Joseph Jourdan
Sex Male
Age 63 years
Birth Date 1853
Birthplace Minnesota
Father's Name Eustach Jourdan
Father's Sex Male
Mother's Name Ane Ina Kiner
Mother's Sex Female
Event Type Death
Event Date 1 March 1916
Event Place White Earth Township, Becker, Minnesota, United States
Event Place (Original) Becker, White Earth, Minnesota
Certificate Number 485

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Possibilities
1914
1)


James Mason, Chief
2)


O din e gum, Chief
1915
3)


O din e gum, Chief
4)


Old Chief Baud
5)


Nay tou ansh, Chief