Hënödeyësdahgwa’geh wa’öki’jö’ ögwahsä’s. Onëh I:’ jögwadögwea:je’  

"This exhibition, 'It’s about community, told by community, and supported by community.'”
Hayden Haynes, Artist and Curator

For communities seeking genuine reconciliation and healing, it is important to acknowledge uncomfortable historical truths. This exhibition shares Indigenous narratives through visual storytelling about the Thomas Indian School, one of the oldest Native American residential boarding schools. This institution operated on the Seneca-Cattaraugus Territory from 1855–1957.

In the United States, these boarding schools were established through the Civilization Act of 1819 to enforce the “civilization process.” The Thomas Indian School operated under federal policy to assimilate Indigenous children, stripping them of their language, customs, and in some cases, families.

Today, the narratives emerging from former Indigenous boarding school lands expose deep-seated wounds. They illuminate the experiences of murdered, missing, assimilated, and tormented youth and the immeasurable suffering of their families.

Organized and curated by Hayden Haynes, (Onöndowa’ga:’ [Seneca, Deer Clan], Kiowa, Muskoke), this exhibition features artistic responses by living Indigenous artists that help to inform and promote healing. It also features real historic artifacts and ephemera from Marlene Bennett, a resident of the school.  Through the creation and display of this work, we unite to ensure such systematic violence and cultural destruction will never occur again.

We Were At the School. We Were There. We Remember. maps ancestral pain, challenges colonial narratives, and demands a radical reimagining of Indigenous presence and power. The path forward requires the courage to look unflinchingly at our past, sit with discomfort, validate pain, and rebuild with compassion and respect. Through these efforts, greater visibility, understanding, and healing may finally occur.

Participating Artists: Peter B. Jones, Samantha Jacobs, Luanne Redeye, Tami Watt, Patrick Redeye, Randee Spruce, Amanda Lickers, Brody Jimerson, Hayden Haynes, Jocelyn Jones

Join the opening reception on June 12 from 5:00-7:00 p.m. with a Member preview tour at 4:30 p.m.  

We Were At the School. We Were There. We Remember. is made possible in part through the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.