Seneca Gaming: 'Every Child Matters' walk in honor of victims, survivors of Indigenous residential schools

Community invited to participate Sept. 30 in Niagara Falls

Seneca Gaming Corp. Press Release & Images

Seneca Gaming Corp. announced it will have its fifth annual “Every Child Matters” walk in downtown Niagara Falls on Tuesday, Sept. 30, joining communities across the U.S. and Canada in a growing effort to bring understanding, awareness and healing to the abuse faced by generations of Indigenous children at residential boarding schools that operated across both countries.

Beginning in the 1800s and lasting well into the 1990s, tens of thousands of Native American children were forced to attend residential boarding schools across the U.S. and Canada, including the Thomas Indian School, which operated on the Seneca Nation’s Cattaraugus Territory in Irving from 1855-1957. Children at the schools were systematically stripped of their names, traditional language and culture, and were often the victims of physical abuse. Thousands of children are known to have died at the residential schools. It is believed that the deaths of hundreds – if not thousands – more were never documented.

Earlier this year, Gov. Kathy Hochul made an historic visit to the Cattaraugus Territory, where she issued a formal apology to the Seneca Nation for New York state’s role in operating the Thomas Indian School from 1875 until the school closed in 1957.

“The dark and painful history of the residential boarding school movement is slowly being brought to full light, which is important,” said Seneca Gaming Corp. President and CEO Kevin Nephew, a member of the Seneca Nation. “Every day, children from across our community go to school with joyful spirits, full of energy and exuberant hope. That was far from the case for the thousands of Indigenous children who were separated from their families and sent to schools where the lasting lessons were anger and hatred. Those wounds, and the trauma they caused, still have a profound impact our Indigenous communities and families, and especially on the survivors. We walk to make sure that what they experienced is never forgotten. Hopefully, each step we take together is a step away from pain and toward healing and understanding.”

Hundreds of walkers wearing orange T-shirts have taken part in the “Every Child Matters” walks in Niagara Falls each of the past four years, making a visible and powerful statement of community support.

Participants for this year’s walk are asked to gather at Seneca Square, in front of the Fourth Street entrance to Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino, starting at 5:30 p.m. Following some brief welcome remarks, walkers will then start along the approximately 1-mile walk route, pausing for a moment of silence at Prospect Point with a healing song led by Haudenosaunee singers, before returning to Seneca Square. Everyone is invited to participate.

For years observed as Orange Shirt Day as a way to educate and promote awareness of the impact Indigenous residential schools had on Indigenous people and communities, Sept. 30 is now a federal statutory holiday in Canada known as National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The “Every Child Matters” walk in Niagara Falls has become a signature awareness event in the region.

Seneca Gaming Corp. is a wholly owned, tribally chartered corporation of the Seneca Nation of Indians and operates the Nation’s three Class III casino gaming properties – Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino in Niagara Falls, Seneca Allegany Resort & Casino in Salamanca, and Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino in downtown Buffalo – along with the award-winning Seneca Hickory Stick Golf Course in Lewiston. For more information, visit SenecaCasinos.com.