Margaret DeCoteau

Margaret was a Dakota Sioux woman of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Band

Sisseton South Dakota Aerial View Sullivan Lumber Hardware c1910

"Even today, you live in the United States of Dakota. All of this is Dakota Territory."
...Ray Owen, Prairie Island Indian Community, 2010
"Whenever, the course of a daily hunt, the hunter comes upon a scene that is strikingly beautiful, or sublime; a black thundercloud with the rainbow's glowing arch above the mountain, a white waterfall in the heart of a green gorge, a vast prairie tinged with the bood-red of the sunset; he pauses for an instant in the attitude of worship. He sees no need for setting apart one day in seven as a holy day, because to him all the days are God's days."
...Ohiyesa (Dr. Charles Eastman), from The Soul of the Indian, 1911.

"That those tribes cannot exist surrounded by our settlements and in continual contact with our citizens is certain. . . . Established in the midst of another and a superior race, and without appreciating the causes of their inferiority or seeking to control them, they must necessarily yield to the force of circumstances and ere long disappear."
...President Andrew Jackson, Fifth Annual Message to Congress, December 3, 1833
"At the root of everything, factionalism was created when immigrants came to our way of living. And I think this factionalism was destructive to our people."
...Dr. Clifford Canku, Sisseton Wahpeton community of Dakota, 2010
"Everything that they used to get them to sign treaties, I think was illegal in a lot of ways--browbeating, brainwashing, and then on the other hand telling them, 'If you sign this treaty, you’re not going to ever have to work or hunt again; we’ll take care of you.' Everything will be provided. Every year you’ll get so much money to buy your needs, your pots and pans, but we’ll also have food coming in every month, or once a year for you. The other alternative is: 'We’re going to drive you all the way to the Rocky Mountains where you’re going to starve to death and we’ll never have to worry about you again.' Those were the conditions that were being talked about, and sometimes I think they might have done that." (Curator Note: There are 375 treaties with Indian nations recognized by the U.S. Department of State. The U.S. Government has not lived up to one!)
...Dr. Elden Lawrence, Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota community, 2010.
"We have waited a long time. The money is ours but we cannot get it. We have no food but here these stores are filled with food. We ask that you, the agent, make some arrangement so we can get food from the stores, or else we may take our own way to keep ourselves from starving. When men are hungry, they help themselves."
...Little Crow (Taoyateduta), Mdewakanton Dakota, to agent Thomas Galbraith in 1862
"See!--the white men are like the locusts when they fly so thick that the whole sky is a snowstorm. You may kill one--two--ten; yes, as many as the leaves in the forest yonder, and their brothers will not miss them. Kill one--two--ten, and ten times ten will come to kill you. Count your fingers all day long and white men with guns in their hands will come faster than you can count. . . .Braves, you are little children--you are fools. You will die like the rabbits when the hungry wolves hunt them in the Hard Moon. Taoyateduta is not a coward; he will die with you.”
...Taoyateduta (Little Crow), reacting to news of the Acton incident
"...voluminous and outrageous frauds upon the Indians in Minnesota."
...George E. H. Day, January 1, 1862
"Wakute was our band leader. Some of our relatives in the Canku family were captured in 1862 and sent to Fort Snelling. There was nine of our family that were sent there. And then the rest escaped and went to the Plains. They were implicated for being Dakota. Just being Dakota means that you were guilty before any consideration of being innocent."
...Dr. Clifford Canku, Sisseton Wahpeton community of Dakota, 2010
"The horrible massacres of women and children and the outrageous abuse of female prisoners, still alive, call for punishment beyond human power to inflict. There will be no peace in this region by virtue of treaties and Indian faith. It is my purpose utterly to exterminate the Sioux if I have the power to do so and even if it requires a campaign lasting the whole of next year. Destroy everything belonging to them and force them out to the plains, unless, as I suggest, you can capture them. They are to be treated as maniacs or wild beasts, and by no means as people with whom treaties or compromises can be made."
...Letter From Gen. John Pope to Henry Sibley, September 28, 1862
I have learned that orders have been issued to convey all the Indians who have not been convicted to the neighborhood of Ft. Snelling. They will probably take up their march tomorrow. The men who have been convicted are to be taken to Mankato for what disposal is not made known. It is a sad sight to see so many women & children marching off--not knowing whether they will ever see their husbands & fathers again.
...John P. Williamson, in a letter to S. B. Treat, November 5, 1862
I would risk my life for the protection of these helpless beings, and would feel everlastingly disgraced if any evil befell them while in my charge. . . . I want the settlers in the valley . . . to know that they are not the guilty Indians . . . but friendly Indians, women, and children.
...Lt. Col. William R. Marshall, speaking to the press before leaving the agency, From the St. Paul Daily Press, Nov. 8, 1862
Amid all this sickness and these great tribulations, it seemed doubtful at night whether a person would be alive in the morning.
...Tiwakan (Gabriel Renville), a Sisseton Dakota held at the Ft. Snelling internment camp
"The trials of the Dakota were conducted unfairly in a variety of ways. The evidence was sparse, the tribunal was biased, the defendants were unrepresented in unfamiliar proceedings conducted in a foreign language, and authority for convening the tribunal was lacking. More fundamentally, neither the Military Commission nor the reviewing authorities recognized that they were dealing with the aftermath of a war fought with a sovereign nation and that the men who surrendered were entitled to treatment in accordance with that status."
...Carol Chomsky, Associate Professor, University of Minnesota Law School
"[Officials] built a box and put the beef in it and steamed it and made soup . . . and that is the reason these hills here are filled with children’s graves; it seemed as though they wanted to kill us.
...Passing Hail, Mdewakanton Dakota, to a congressional commission investigating conditions at Crow Creek, 1865
"It is not starving to death here yet, but it is starvation all the time."
...John P. Williamson, Crow Creek, Dakota Territory, January 6, 1864
"By the time they were sent to Crow Creek, most of the people left were women. A lot died along the way, a lot died when they got here. I've read lots of journals from soldiers and missionaries. One of the soldiers mentioned that the women would go to the horse corrals each morning and pick grain from the horse feces to feed their children. A lot of honorable women also had to resort to prostitution to feed their children. These are the things they were forced to do. To us Dakota people, women are sacred, and should be treated as such. I want to make sure they're recognized for their strength, perseverance, wisdom, and intelligence."
...Peter Lengkeek, Crow Creek, 2011
(Curator Note: There are many more quotes in this source...)
Source: Minnesota Historical Society. “The U.S.-Dakota War of 1862.” Www.usdakotawar.org, www.usdakotawar.org/. Accessed 19 Nov. 2024. (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0, Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported)

Biography:
Margaret Decoteau was born c.1904 on the Sisseton-Wahpeton Lake Traverse Reservation to parents Joseph A. and Helen Decouteau (Dugan). Margaret had two siblings Madeline (1903) and Norman Herman (1901). Her father Joseph died September 3, 1906, and Helen remarried Cetanhowaste 'James' Renville who adopted all three siblings. Census reports following that adoption indicate the siblings with both surnames, Renville and Decouteau. James Renville and Helen were separated by June 30, 1907, and Helen remarried Howard Owens. The children lived with them for a time. Still, no records indicate that Mr. Owens adopted the siblings, which probably explains why Margaret Decoteau was known by that name when resident in the Canton Asylum.

In the book Vanished in Hiawatha, author Carla Joinson states that Margaret was Sioux, admitted to the Canton Asylum on August 7, 1916, from the Sisseton Agency, and was diagnosed with epilepsy, a chronic brain disorder that causes seizures.

While Margaret probably died at the Canton Asylum, she is NOT buried there, her body probably returned home.

Her profile is part of the https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Canton_Asylum.

Research Notes:
-Margaret was not in the 1905 census age 1 and there was no 1904 or 1908 census in her birth year.
-In 1907 she is shown with her two siblings in the house of James Renville with their mother as his wife
By 1917, Margaret and her siblings were living with their mother and Howard Owens and used the name DeCoteau. Helen seems to have separated from James Renville and married Howard Owens as Helen Renville.
-Attached to the 1917 census is a list by name and the location in which the family resided, Margaret is listed with the Renville family and being at Canton
-While Margaret is shown in the census reports from 1916-1924 in Sisseton, South Dakota it is clear that she was at the Canton Asylum

Additional Reading:
1) Robinson, Doane, and Karen Seeman. “Sioux Indians South Dakota!” Genealogytrails.com, 1904, genealogytrails.com/sdak/zzHxDakotaSioux/index.html. Accessed 19 Nov. 2024.
2) “Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate.” The U.S.-Dakota War of 1862, 19 Apr. 2012, www.usdakotawar.org/stories/communities/sisseton-wahpeton-oyate. Accessed 19 Nov. 2024.
3) “The U.S.-Dakota War of 1862.” Www.usdakotawar.org, www.usdakotawar.org/.
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Sources:

1906 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll508unit/page/n603/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 604/762, line 327 (age 2), census of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Indians, Sisseton Agency, South Dakota

1907 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll508unit/page/n739/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 740/762, line 1511 (age 3), census of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Indians, Sisseton Agency, South Dakota

1909 Jun 21 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll509unit/page/n96/mode/1.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 97/700, line 1518 (age 4), census of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Indians, Sisseton Agency, S.D.

1910 May 12 - "United States Census, 1910", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MPXZ-BJ4 : Sat Mar 09 02:24:29 UTC 2024), Entry for James Renville and Helen Renville, 1910, pg. 823/1059, line 6 (age 6), census of the Sisseton Wahpeton Indian Reservation, Easter Township, Roberts County, South Dakota

1910 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll509unit/page/n182/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 183/700, line 1461 (age 6), census of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Indians, Sisseton Agency, S.D.

1911 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll509unit/page/n298/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 299700, line 1461 (age 8), census of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Indians, Sisseton Agency, So. Dak.

1912 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll509unit/page/n419/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 420/700, line 1674 (age 9), census of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Indians, Sisseton Agency, S.D.

1913 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll509unit/page/n544/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 420/700, line 1774 (born 1903 as DeCatteau), census of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Indians, Sisseton Agency, S.D.

1914 Jun 30 - "United States, Native American, Census Rolls, 1885-1940", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:W984-G8N2 : Sun Mar 10 04:55:24 UTC 2024), Entry for Margaret Decoteau, pg. 675/703, line 1657 (b=1903, step-daughter), census of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Indians, Sisseton Agency, South Dakota

1915 Jun 30 - "United States, Native American, Census Rolls, 1885-1940", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:76Q4-PNN2 : Sat Mar 09 12:14:01 UTC 2024), Entry for Margaret Decoteau, pg. 106/595, line 1649 (b=1903), census of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Indians, Sisseton Agency, South Dakota

1916 Jun 30 - "United States, Native American, Census Rolls, 1885-1940", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:7679-VYN2 : Sat Mar 09 23:27:57 UTC 2024), Entry for Margaret Decoteau, 1917, pg. 233/595, line 1663 (b=1903), census of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Indians, Sisseton Agency, South Dakota

1917 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll510unit/page/n341/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 342/592, line 1462 (born 1904 as DeCoteau Margarte), census of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Indians, Sisseton Agency, S.D.

1917 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll510unit/page/n419/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 420/592, line xxx (Margret DeCoteau, Lawrence Township, F-13, Canton)

1917 Oct 1 - 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=776/1115, line 52 (age 12), census of the Asylum for Insane Indians School

1918 Jan 21 - 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=879/1115, line 45, census of the Canton Asylum

1918 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll510unit/page/n545/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 546/592, line 543 (born 1904), census of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Indians, Sisseton Agency, S.D.

1918 Jun 30 - 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=887/1115, line 7, female census of the Canton Asylum

1919 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll511unit/page/n100/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 101/734, line 1572 (born 1904), census of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Indians, Sisseton Agency, S.D.

1920 Jan 30 - "United States Census, 1920", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M6J7-FNZ : Sun Mar 10 22:26:48 UTC 2024), Entry for Margaret De Coteau, 1920, pg. 652/1130, line 73 (age 14), census of the Asylum for Indians, Canton Township, Lincoln County, Couth Dakota

1920 Jun 30 - "United States, Native American, Census Rolls, 1885-1940", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:7RBR-84MM : Fri Mar 08 11:05:51 UTC 2024), Entry for Margaret Decoteau, 1920, pg. 245/737, line 1629 (b=1904), census of the census of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Indians, Sisseton Agency, S.D.

1920 Jun 30 - 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=899/1115, line 8, female census Canton Asylum

1921 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll511unit/page/n377/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 378/734, line 1623 (born 1904), census of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Indians, Sisseton Agency, S.D.

1921 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, archive.org/details/indiancensusroll138unit/page/n137/mode/1up?view=theater. Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 507/519, line 10, female census Canton Asylum

1922 Jun 30 - "United States, Native American, Census Rolls, 1885-1940", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:7R1V-QRPZ : Mon Jul 08 12:13:55 UTC 2024), Entry for Margaret Decoteau, 1922, pg. 514/737, line 1658 (b=1904), ensus of the census of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Indians, Sisseton Agency, S.D.

1922 Jun 30 - 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=1042/1115, line 9, female census Canton Asylum

1923 Jun 30 - "United States, Native American, Census Rolls, 1885-1940", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:7RBP-6GN2 : Sat Mar 09 16:51:27 UTC 2024), Entry for Margaret Decoteau, pg. 573/737, line 504 (b=1904), census of the Sisseton Indians, Sisseton Agency

1923 Jun 30 - Canton Insane Asylum: 1923-33; Cantonment School, pg. 370/1140: 1910-27, Series: Superintendents' Annual Narrative and Statistical Reports 1910 – 1935, Record Group 75: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 7th and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC, 20408 @ https://catalog.archives.gov/id/155855298?objectPage=32/1140, line 10, female census Canton Asylum

1924 Jun 30 - "United States, Native American, Census Rolls, 1885-1940", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:7RBP-JHN2 : Sun Mar 10 18:45:28 UTC 2024), Entry for Margaret Decoteau, pg. 652/737, line 499 (b=1904, 3/4 blood), census of the Sisseton Indians, Sisseton Agency

1924 Jun 30 - 1921 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, archive.org/details/indiancensusroll138unit/page/n137/mode/1up?view=theater. Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 514/519, line 12, female census Canton Asylum