New York Governor Apologizes for Historic Abuses at Native Boarding School

On Tuesday, Governor Kathy Hochul visited the Seneca Nation’s Cattaraugus Territory to offer a heartfelt apology for the abuses inflicted at the now-defunct Thomas Indian School, where Native American children were forcibly stripped of their cultural identity and subjected to mistreatment.

Established in 1855 on Seneca land as the Thomas Asylum for Orphan and Destitute Indian Children, this institution was unique in being overseen by state authorities rather than the federal government, which typically managed Native boarding schools.

Governor Hochul described the school not as a refuge for vulnerable children but as a site of suffering, characterizing it as a "place of nightmares" and labeling its practices as "sanctioned ethnic cleansing."

While a federal investigation into the legacy of Native American boarding schools has recently gained attention, culminating in a presidential apology last year, the traumatic history associated with New York State’s Thomas Indian School has largely remained overlooked.

By appearing on Seneca Nation territory, approximately an hour south of Buffalo, Governor Hochul brought renewed focus to this painful chapter in the state’s history.