Governor Kathy Hochul visited the Seneca Nation’s Cattaraugus Territory in Irving on Tuesday and delivered an apology for the atrocities that happened at the Thomas Indian School for more than 100 years.
“I, Governor Kathy Hochul, apologize to the Seneca Nation of Indians and survivors and descendants from all nations who attended the Thomas Indian School,” Hochul said.
The state operated the Thomas Indian School until it closed in 1957. Native American children who attended were removed from their families and stripped of their heritage, many faced sexual and physical abuse.
“I cannot change the horrors of the past,” Hochul said. “I wish I could just wipe it all away. You deserve that.”
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Members of the Nation delivered a Native American dance in full costume.
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Along with the state’s apology, the governor is pledging to make sure children of today will learn what happened and has included funding in the newly approved state budget to create important educational tools.
“I’m insisting that we create new educational materials about the Indigenous nations, their histories, their cultures, their contributions,” Hochul said. “I want that in our New York K through 12 schools so there’s a deeper understanding of the people whose land we are on and what they have gone through that is a first step forward.”
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