Thomas Asylum for Orphan & Destitute Indians, Cattaraugus Reservation, NY, courtesy Library of Congress

The Thomas Asylum for Orphan and Destitute Indian Children, named for its financial backer, Philip E. Thomas, began in 1855 as a private charitable institution which also received state aid. It was located within the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation in Erie County, with a mission to take in  destitute and orphaned children from all Indian reservations in the state. Progressive for its time, the board of trustees included five white and five Indian members.

Ownership of the asylum later transferred to the  state of New York , and its State Board of Charities provided oversight. As a state institution, the asylum’s purpose was to furnish resident Native American children with “care, moral training and education, and instruction in husbandry and the arts of civilization.” Boys were trained for industrial work, and girls for domestic tasks.

Beggar Dance, Cattaraugus Reservation, 1905, courtesy Museum of the American Indian Heye Foundation

Map Showing Cattauragus Indian Reservation

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