Reclaiming Ohi:yo'- Restoring the Altered Landscape of the Beautiful River Main Menu Welcoming Front page for this Digital Exhibit. The Seneca Nation of Indians We call ourselves Onödowá'ga:' (oh-non-doh-wah!-gawh!), which means "People of the Great Hill". We are one of six other nations that collectively call ourselves Hodinöhsö:ní (hoh-dee-nonh-sonh-neeh!), meaning "People of the Longhouse". Ohi:yo' Ohi:yo', our Beautiful River, has always been our home and source of nourishment. The Kinzua Dam Project Our elders fought for our land and sovereignty in the 1950s and 1960s. They fought to stop the construction of Kinzua Dam. The Allegheny Reservoir The reservoir has altered the landscape, ecosystem, and our interactions with Ohi:yo. The Allegheny Reservoir: A Visual Depiction of Water Levels At times of water storage the water depth of the river channel is approximately 26 feet, with as little as 6 to 8 feet of water during the winter months. The Significance of Kinzua to our Seneca People The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in collaboration with the U.S. federal government built Kinzua Dam between 1960 and 1965. Kinzua Era Timelines This page provides two different temporal representations of the Kinzua Era (1956-1966). Kinzua Dam's Environmental Impacts The creation of Kinzua Dam has had lasting environmental impacts on our land and water. Learn more here. Ohi:yo' Restoration and Resiliency Projects Members of the Seneca Nation's Watershed Resources Working Group are involved in various restoration and resiliency projects for our Ohi:yo'. The Seneca Nation's Fish and Wildlife Department in particular engages in projects related to building artificial habitat, repopulating our river's Walleye population, and building trenches to help land locked fish. Seneca Nation Fish and Wildlife Department The Nation's Fish and Wildlife Department engages in restoration and resiliency projects related to Ohi:yo'. A Legacy of Resilience We will continue on. Access and Use Rights For our full statement on rights and use of our exhibit contents see this page. Additional Resources This page contains additional resources that can provide more in-depth information that is perhaps not included within our exhibit. About this Exhibit This page contains information about our intra-Nation departmental collaborations and exhibit acknowledgements. This exhibit was published by the Seneca-Iroquois National Museum, 2018.

Fighting for the Water: Fracking Wastewater in Ohi:yo'

30861 The Kinzua Dam Project Our elders fought for our land and sovereignty in the 1950s and 1960s. They fought to stop the construction of Kinzua Dam.
In 2016 the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP) began deliberating a 1,000-barrel/day of unconventional gas drilling wastewater (Frack Wastewater) disposal facility in Potter County proposed by Epiphany Allegheny LLC. Potter county, Pennsylvania has been engaging in unconventional gas drilling with companies, such as JKLM Energy, particularly in Coudersport, Pennsylvania. The proposed project would not require the waste treatment plant to monitor for radioactive materials or chemicals used for fracking; the wastewater produced from fracking process is well known to be radioactive. 

In June of 2017 the Coudersport Area Municipal Authority began reviewing the a plan proposed by Epiphany Allegheny LLC to discharge fracking wastewater into Ohi:yo'.  Ohi:yo'  travels north from Coudersport, Pennsylvania and into the state of New York, flowing through our Seneca people's land and the Seneca Nation's Allegany Territory. In addition, many non-Native communities would also be affected. 

In response to the news of these fracking plans, our Seneca people again fought for our people, our communities, and our Ohi:yo'. 




In April of 2018 the Coudersport Area Municipal Authority unanimously resolved to terminate its connection to Epiphany Environmental LLC. 

On May 12, 2018 the Seneca Nation Council passed a resolution to ban unconventional gas drilling, any disposal, storage, or treatment of unconventional gas drilling byproducts, and transportation of unconventional gas drilling byproducts by any means through  and on Nation lands. 




 

This page has paths:

  1. The Seneca Nation of Indians Dana Reijerkerk
  2. Ohi:yo' Dana Reijerkerk

Contents of this path:

  1. The Watershed Resources Working Group (WRWG)

Contents of this tag:

  1. The Watershed Resources Working Group (WRWG)

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