Elizabeth 'Lizzie' Giroux

Lizzie Giroux was an Oglala Sioux woman from the Ite Sica band of Oglala, Pine Ridge Reservation

The Flandreau Indian School has been in operation for nearly 150 years. It is the oldest continually operating Federal Indian boarding school maintained by the Bureau of Indian Affairs of the U.S. Department of the Interior.

The school began as a mission church in 1871 and continued until 1883 when the government purchased the property. In 1892, with the first six students, it became a boarding school known as the Riggs Institute in honor of Rev. Stephen Riggs, the pioneer missionary among the Indians. The first class graduated in 1898 from the ninth grade.

By early 1892 the first buildings of the new Flandreau Industrial Indian School (as it was first called) were completed and located across the Big Sioux River. After Alfred Riggs died in 1893, it was called the Riggs Institute for several years. Riggs had served the Santee Sioux Indians as a missionary for many years. The boarding school has undergone several name changes thereafter but, since 1964, it has been referred to as the Flandreau Indian School.

From 1892 to 1918 academic work of the school included only the first eight grades.

According to a new report released Wednesday (May 11, 2022) by the Department of the Interior, thirty federal Native American boarding schools operated in South Dakota between 1819 and 1969.

The report, the first volume of the "Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative Investigative Report," details the history that the United States directly targeted Indigenous children "in the pursuit of a policy of cultural assimilation that coincided with Indian territorial dispossession."

In total, 408 boarding schools across 37 states were operated between 1819 and 1969, according to the report. Over 500 children died at those schools but the report notes that number is expected to increase as further investigation continues.

Biography:
Elizabeth "Lizzie" Giroux was born in September 1889 to a half-breed father Charles Giroux and an Oglala Sioux mother Rosalie Giroux (Richard). She was born to the Ite Sica band of Oglala on the Pine Ridge Reservation. She was one of five (5) siblings and had a half-brother from her father's 2nd marriage.

According to the book Vanished in Hiawatha, author Carla Joinson suggests that Lizzie was admitted to the Canton Asylum on February 2, 1903 (at age 12), and diagnosed with congenital imbecility and ataxic aphasia. (Ataxic aphasia is a type of aphasia that causes disorganized speech that is often difficult to articulate and may have impaired grammar.) These conditions are likely exposed during her early school years (she may have been in about the 5th grade), she is reported to have been committed from the Riggs Institute, Flandreau, South Dakota aka The Flandreau Indian School.

Main Building of the Flandreau Indian School ca. 1893

Correspondence between Oscar Gifford, Superintendent of the Canton Asylum, and the BIA, outlines her admission at age 12 and 81 pounds through her recommended discharge at age 17 and 151 pounds and her ability to do housework and be understood by those close to her. Her father who at the time had no children living at home had requested her release, which was granted on May 16, 1908.

Lizzie is reported to have died a few months later on September 12, 1908, probably on the Oglala Sioux Pine Ridge Reservation, but I find no documents that support this.

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

Research Notes:
Elizabeth Giroux1,2,3,4 (F)
(1889 - ), #21757
Also known as Lizzie Giroux.3,1,2,4 The nationality of Elizabeth Giroux was Ite Sica Oglala Lakota Sioux. Elizabeth Giroux was born in 1889 at Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota, USA.2 She was the daughter of Charles Giroux and Rosalie Richard.1,3,4,2 Another source states that her was also listed with a birthdate in 1890.3,4,2 She was listed as "daughter" and residing in the home of Charles Giroux on the U.S. Indian Census Rolls taken on July 1, 1892 at Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, White Clay District, Shannon Co., South Dakota, USA.1 She was listed as "daughter" and residing in the home of Charles Giroux on the U.S. Indian Census Rolls taken on July 1, 1894 at Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, White Clay District, Shannon Co., South Dakota, USA.3 She was listed as "daughter" and residing in the home of Charles Giroux on the U.S. Indian Census Rolls taken on June 30, 1895 at Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, White Clay District, Shannon Co., South Dakota, USA.4 She was listed as "daughter" and residing in the home of Charles Giroux on the U.S. Indian Census Rolls taken on June 20, 1896, at Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Wakpamini District, Shannon Co., South Dakota, USA.2
Citations
[S556] 1892 Indian Census, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, M595_364, National Archives.
[S158] June 30th, 1896 Indian Census, Pine Ridge Agency, National Archives.
[S269] 1894 Indian Census, Pine Ridge Agency, National Archives.
[S561] June 30th, 1895 Indian Census, Pine Ridge Agency, National Archives Microfilm Publication M595, 692 rolls, Ancestry.com.
Source: Stevens, Mike. “Tiyospaye - Person Page 125.” Rootsweb.com, 2024, freepages.rootsweb.com/~mikestevens/genealogy/2010-p/p125.htm#i1578. Accessed 13 Dec. 2024.
-On June 30, 1905, Lizzie was the only child left at home with her parents
-In 1909 the Indian agent requested he be allowed to dispense with the annual census rolls and use instead a new loose leaf system that had been employed. There is a gap between 1907 and 1913, the first year that the Oglala Sioux Reservation at Pine Ridge was taken. Lizzie is NOT included, having reportedly died on September 12, 1908.
__________
Sources:

1890 Jul 1 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll364unit/page/n129/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 130/479, line 460-1799+, census of the Oglala Sioux Indians, White Clay District, Pine Ridge Agency, S.D.

1893 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll365unit/page/n34/mode/1.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 35/503, line 193-712 (age 2), census of the Sioux and Cheyenne Indians of the Pine Ridge Agency, South Dakota

1894 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll366unit/page/n43/mode/1.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 44/514, line 870 (age 4), census of the Sioux and Cheyenne Indians of the Pine Ridge 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/indiancensusroll366unit/page/n299/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 300/514, line 238-910 (age 5), census of the Sioux and Cheyenne Indians of the Pine Ridge Agency, South Dakota

1896 Jun 30 - "United States, Native American, Census Rolls, 1885-1940", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:662V-57MY : Sun Mar 10 12:38:13 UTC 2024), Entry for Lizzie Giroux, 1896, pg. 28/659, line 853 (age 6), census of the Sioux and Cheyenne Indians of the Pine Ridge Agency, South Dakota

1897 Jun 30 - "United States, Native American, Census Rolls, 1885-1940", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:662F-SJV9 : Sat Jul 06 08:09:49 UTC 2024), Entry for Lizzie Giroux, 1897, pg. 188/659, line 767 (age 7), census of the Sioux and Cheyenne Indians of the Pine Ridge Agency, South Dakota

1898 Jun 30 - "United States, Native American, Census Rolls, 1885-1940", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:662X-KLJ8 : Fri Mar 08 04:17:48 UTC 2024), Entry for Lizzie Giroux, 1898, pg. 383/659, line 658 (age 8), census of the Sioux and Cheyenne Indians of the Pine Ridge Agency, South Dakota

1899 Jul 1 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll367unit/page/n523/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 524/655, line 766 (age 9), census of the Sioux and Cheyenne Indians of the Pine Ridge Agency, Wakpamini District, South Dakota

1900 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll368unit/page/n29/mode/1.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 30/622, line 737 (age 10), census of the Sioux and Cheyenne Indians of the Pine Ridge Agency, Wakpamini District, South Dakota

1900 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=674/1115, line 10. Table 7 Form of mental disease of those admitted since the opening of the Asylum

1901 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll368unit/page/n178/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 179/622, line 716 (age 11), census of the Indians of the Pine Ridge Agency, Wakpamini District, South Dakota

1902 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll368unit/page/n323/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 324/622, line 687 (age 12), census of the Indians of the Pine Ridge Agency, Wakpamini District, South Dakota

1903 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll368unit/page/n488/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 489/622, line 658 (age 13), census of the Indians of the Pine Ridge Agency, Wakpamini District, South Dakota

1904 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll369unit/page/n20/mode/1.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 21/467, line 651 (age 14), census of the Pine Ridge Indians and Mixed-Bloods, Pine Ridge Reservation, Wakpamini District, South Dakota

1905 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll369unit/page/n161/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 162/467, line 590 (age 15), census of the Indians of the Pine Ridge Reservation, Wakpamini District, South Dakota

1907 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll369unit/page/n306/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 307/467, line 552 (age 17), census of the Indians of the Pine Ridge Reservation, Wakpamini District, South Dakota