Davis was a Brule Sioux (Sicangu Lakota) Indian of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe (Sicangu Lakota Oyate)

Rosebud, Dakota Territory, ca. 1878, Cross, William R., photographer (1839–1907)

The Lakota, sometimes also spelled “Lakhota,” consists of seven tribes who were known as warriors and buffalo-hunters. Sometimes called the Tetons (referring to their dialect and location west of the Dakota on the plains) the seven tribes include:
1. Ogalala (“they scatter their own,” or “dust scatterers”)
2. Sicangu or Brule (“Burnt Thighs”)
3. Hunkpapa (“end of the circle”),
4. Miniconjou (“planters beside the stream”),
5. Sihasapa or Blackfoot (Not to be confused with the separate Blackfoot tribe)
6. Itazipacola (or Sans Arcs: “without bows”)
7. Oohenupa (“Two Boilings” or “Two Kettle”)

The Rosebud Sioux Tribe, more properly known as Sicangu Lakota Oyate, or Burnt Thigh People, are descendants of the Sicangu Oyate of the Tetonwan Division of the Oceti Sakowin or Seven Council Fires. Historically, they were warriors and hunters and expert horsemen. Native plants and wildlife were very important to the Sicangu people and continue to be today.

Biography:
David, aka Davis Robideaux, was born c 1885 to father Louis C. Robideaux and an unknown mother, one of four relationships that his father had children by. David was adopted when Louis married lastly to Adelia Roubideaux (Blunt Arrow). (David was NOT (necessarily) the son of Adelia Blunt Arrow Robideaux, but of an unnamed Indian mother. This is based on his age that he was much older than purported siblings. He was however adopted by Adelia and is shown as such in census reports although the term step-son is never used. It is possible that Adelia was his mother.)

The Crook treaty hitch lot, 1889, by John A Anderson, on the Rosebud Agency
(Louis Robideaux house front left where David was likely living in 1889)
Source: Cowboy, Drifting. “Robidoux Family - Beaver Pelts to Buffalo Robes and Beyond.” Ripples from La Prairie Voyageur Canoes, Blogspot.com , 20 July 2020, laprairie-voyageur-canoes.blogspot.com/2020/07/robidoux-family-beaver-pelts-to-buffalo.html. Accessed 26 Apr. 2025.

David father Louis Roubideaux was an interpreter for the Brule Sioux Indians. He was the interpreter for the Spotted Tail's delegation to Washington in 1880.

Louis is standing back row right...
Source: Dakota - Spotted Tail's delegation to Washington - NARA (Smithsonian Institution. Bureau of American Ethnology. (1897 - 1965)) - 523823.jpg

According to the book Vanished in Hiawatha, author Carla Joinson suggests that Davis was admitted on September 5, 1903 and that he died of epileptic convulsions at the Canton Asylum on September 14, 1920.

When David was admitted he was diagnosed with chronic epileptic dementia. This diagnosis was revised by Dr. Hummer in August of 1910 to idiocy with epilepsy (While the terms "idiocy" and "epilepsy" are historically linked, "idiocy" is outdated and offensive. The term refers to a severe form of intellectual disability. Epilepsy, on the other hand, is a neurological disorder characterized by recurrent seizures. While epilepsy can occur in individuals with intellectual disabilities, it's not inherently linked to either condition. ). The problem with this diagnosis is that David is reported in Indian census reports as living BHS (by himself) as early as 1907. While it was customary for the Indian Agency to carry the person as a ward in the census at the same time he was a patient/inmate at the Canton Asylum, this may be misleading. He was admitted to the Canton Asylum within nine (9) months after it opened and died there.

David died September 19, 1920 of epileptic convulsions at the Canton Asylum, but where is buried remains a mystery. He is NOT buried in the Hiawatha Cemetery at the Canton Asylum, and searches do not reveal a burial anywhere in South Dakota.

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

Research Notes:
-https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/sources/L4Y1-LRQ
-There is no census available for 1893,1894,1908, 1913 and 1914
-The name Robideau does not appear in Indian Census Rolls before 1892, it could indicate that the family had not arrived from Wyoming yet.
-Beginning in 1906 the Indian Census Roll begins using the name Rosebud Sioux tribe of Indians in lieu of the Brule Sioux tribe of Indians. The Rosebud Tribe is u the name used by Brule Sioux who have relocated to the Rosebud Reservation as opposed to those who stayed on the Lower Brule Sioux Reservation. Note that the surname spelling has changed also, from Robideau to Robideaux
-David is NOT in the 1921 census which seems to confirm his date of death as before June 30, 1921
__________
Sources:

1892 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll428unit/page/n40/mode/1.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 41/489, line 871 (age 7), census of the Brule Sioux Indians, Rosebud Agency, South Dakota

1895 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll428unit/page/n208/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 209/489, line 771 (age 10), census of the Brule Sioux Indians, Rosebud Agency, South Dakota

1896 Jun 27 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll428unit/page/n362/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 363/489, line 824 (age 11), census of the Brule Sioux Indians, Rosebud Agency, South Dakota

1897 Jun 26 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll429unit/page/n33/mode/1.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 34/562, line 981 (age 12), census of the Brule Sioux Indians, Rosebud Agency, South Dakota

1898 Jun 25 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll429unit/page/n163/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 164/562, line 947 (age 13), census of the Brule Sioux Indians, Rosebud Agency, South Dakota

1899 Jun 24 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll429unit/page/n300/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 301/562, line 902 (age 14), census of the Brule Sioux Indians, Rosebud Agency, South Dakota

1900 Jun 29 - "United States, Census, 1900", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MST6-NPN : Tue Aug 20 19:32:46 UTC 2024), Entry for Louis Roubideaux and Adelia Roubideaux, 1900, pg. 197/295, line 28 (age 15), census of the Rosebud Indian Reservation, Meyer County, South Dakota

1900 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll429unit/page/n454/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 455/562, line 492 (age 15), census of the Brule Sioux Indians, Rosebud Agency, South Dakota

1901 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll430unit/page/n38/mode/1.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 39/462, line 922 (age 16), census of the Brule Sioux Indians, Rosebud Agency, South Dakota

1902 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll430unit/page/n206/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 207/462, line 943 (age 17), census of the Brule Sioux Indians, Rosebud Agency, South Dakota

1903 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll430unit/page/n313/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 314/462, line 926 (age 18), census of the Brule Sioux Indians, Rosebud Agency, South Dakota

1904 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll430unit/page/n418/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 419/462, line 924 (age 19, BHS), census of the Brule Sioux Indians, Rosebud Agency, South Dakota

1905 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll430unit/page/n533/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 534/462, line 910 (age 20, BHS), census of the Brule Sioux Indians, Rosebud Agency, South Dakota

1906 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll431unit/page/n30/mode/1.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 534/462, line 976 (age 21, BHS), census of the Rosebud tribe of Sioux Indians, Rosebud 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/indiancensusroll431unit/page/n154/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 155/503, line 955 (age 22, BHS), census of the Rosebud Sioux Indians, Rosebud Agency, South Dakota

1909 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll431unit/page/n272/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 273/503, line 961 (age 24, BHS), census of the Rosebud Sioux Indians, Rosebud Agency, South Dakota

1910 May 13 - "United States, Census, 1910", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MPFS-X6M : Fri Mar 08 19:01:50 UTC 2024), Entry for Davis Roubideaux, 1910, pg. 81/1082, line 8 (age 23, Inmate), census of the United States Indian Insane Asylum, Canton township, Lincoln County, South Dakota

1910 Jun 30 - "United States, Native American, Census Rolls, 1885-1940", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:688C-DLX5 : Sat Mar 09 15:56:24 UTC 2024), Entry for Davis Roubideaux, 1910, pg. 504/522, line 22 (age 23, single), male census of the Canton Asylum

1910 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll431unit/page/n389/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 390/503, line 979 (age 25, BHS), census of the Rosebud Sioux Indians, Rosebud Agency, South Dakota

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?object Page=674, line 19, Table 7 Form of mental disease of those admitted since opening of Asylum (Chronic epileptic dementia)

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?object Page=677, line 8, Table 8 Form of mental disease of those in Asylum, June 30, 1910, revised (idiocy w/epilepsy)

1911 Jun 30 - "United States, Native American, Census Rolls, 1885-1940", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:68Z1-VQHZ : Sat Mar 09 23:03:32 UTC 2024), Entry for Davis Roubideaux, 1911, pg. 507/522, line xx (age 24, single), male census of the Canton Asylum

1912 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll432unit/page/n169/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 170/485, line 972 (age 27), census of the Rosebud Sioux Indians, Agency District, S.D.

1915 Jun 30 - "United States, Native American, Census Rolls, 1885-1940", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QG27-R8CB : Sat Mar 09 20:26:45 UTC 2024), Entry for David Roubideaux, pg. 324/488, line 984 (b=1885 as David Roubideaux), census of the Indians of the Rosebud Indian Agency

1916 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll433unit/page/n43/mode/1.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 44/456, line 955 (b=1885), census of the Indians of the Rosebud Indians

1917 Jun 30 - "United States, Native American, Census Rolls, 1885-1940", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:7P5M-VNMM : Thu Mar 07 17:17:11 UTC 2024), Entry for David Roubideaux, 1917, pg. 270/459, line 1027 (b=1885 as David Roubideaux), census of the Rosebud Indians

1917 Oct 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=776, line 35 (as Davis), census of the Canton School

1918 Jun 30 - "United States, Native American, Census Rolls, 1885-1940", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:7KXW-7KZM : Sun Mar 10 04:02:41 UTC 2024), Entry for Davis Roubideaux, pg. 50/733, line 1030 (b=1885 as Davis Roubideaux), census of the Rosebud Agency, Rosebud, So. Dakota

1918 Sep 12 - "United States, World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:WBXR-34ZM : Sat Nov 23 00:49:34 UTC 2024), Entry for Davis Roubideaux, from 1917 to 1918, pg. 3373/5157, card #? (age 32, Insane), local board for the county of LIncoln, Canton, S.D.

1919 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll434unit/page/n307/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 308/730, line 995 (b=1885), census roll of the Rosebud Indians

1920 Jan 30 - "United States, Census, 1920", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M6J7-FFG : Sat Jan 18 04:59:07 UTC 2025), Entry for Davis Roubideaux, 1920, pg. 652/1130, line 55 (age 32), census of the Asylum for Insane Indians, Canton Township, Lincoln County, South Dakota

1920 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll434unit/page/n546/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 547/730, line 1014 (b=1885), census roll of the Rosebud Indians