New York – The governor of New York plans to visit La Nación Seneca on Tuesday to formally apologize for the role of the State in the management of a state boarding school that separated American native students from their families with the aim of assimilating them to American society.
Governor Kathy Hochul is also expected to meet with the survivors of the Indian School Thomas, which operated from 1875 to 1957 in western New York near Lake Erie.
The president of Seneca, J. Conrad Seneca, whose father attended school, said the apology is late. He said that his family and innumerable others have endured his pain in silence for generations.
“The atrocities that our children suffered at India School Thomas have remained hidden in the shadows for too long,” he said in a statement announcing the visit. “Finally, our people will hear, directly from the governor, the words that we have expected lives so that the state of New York says:” They feel it. “
But some tribe members are skeptical of the gesture of good will.
Lori Quigley, a professor at the University of Niagara whose mother attended the Thomas school for 10 years as a child, said he hopes that the governor will offer more than words.
“An apology is one thing,” he said on the phone before the visit. “What actions will you take to recognize this? These traumas are still affecting our communities.”
Originally established by Presbyterian missionaries in 1855 before the State He took possession In 1875, Indian School Thomas was between More than 400 schools backed by the Government Established throughout the country with the objective of assimilating the young Native Americans.
But schools, which operated for approximately 150 years, had a devastating impact on American native communities. The school staff worked to strip the native children of their traditions and heritage. The teachers and administrators cut their hair, forbade their own languages and forced them to work manual.
The students, separated by the strength of their families, suffered torture, sexual abuse and hate of school officials. More than 900 children died In schools, the last of which closed or went to different institutions decades ago.
Former President Joe Biden in October 2024 visited the Indian community of the Gila River in Arizona for apologize formally to the Native Americans for the “sin” of the boarding school administered by the Government of the Nation.
But at least $ 1.6 million in federal funds for research projects in boarding schools have been Among the victims of the efforts of President Donald Trump to control the federal bureaucracy.
The tribe officials say that Hochul’s visit seems to be the first for a governor of New York in the lands of the Federal Recognized tribe.
“No word or actions can undo the pain and suffering of the people of Seneca and other indigenous peoples throughout the state, but when visiting the Seneca nation and the site of the Indian School Thomas we will mark a new day in our relations,” said Hochul in a statement on Friday.
Matthew Hill, a tribe member whose father was among the last class of students before the school was closed, dismissed the visit as “empty words.”
After all, he said, the Hochul administration and the tribe have been negotiating for years how much yes From the income of the Casino of the tribe, the State must be allowed to collect.
“They are apologizing at school, but they will continue to extort us money in the form of games of the games,” said Hill. “It’s a joke”.
