Originally called the Thomas Asylum for Orphan and Destitute Indian Children and later shortened to the Thomas Indian School, the institution was on the Cattaraugus Territory of the Seneca Nation of Indians, about an hour south of Buffalo.

The boarding residential school was part of the United States policy of forced assimilation for Native youth, to strip them of their culture and identities, to “kill the Indian, save the man.”

Governor Hochul met with Seneca President Conrad Seneca and survivors of the Thomas Indian School to apologize for New York State’s role in its operation.