Reclaiming Ohi:yo'- Restoring the Altered Landscape of the Beautiful River Main MenuWelcomingFront page for this Digital Exhibit.The Seneca Nation of IndiansWe 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 ProjectOur elders fought for our land and sovereignty in the 1950s and 1960s. They fought to stop the construction of Kinzua Dam.The Allegheny ReservoirThe reservoir has altered the landscape, ecosystem, and our interactions with Ohi:yo.The Allegheny Reservoir: A Visual Depiction of Water LevelsAt 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 PeopleThe U.S. Army Corps of EngineersThe U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in collaboration with the U.S. federal government built Kinzua Dam between 1960 and 1965.Kinzua Era TimelinesThis page provides two different temporal representations of the Kinzua Era (1956-1966).Kinzua Dam's Environmental ImpactsThe creation of Kinzua Dam has had lasting environmental impacts on our land and water. Learn more here.Ohi:yo' Restoration and Resiliency ProjectsMembers 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 DepartmentThe Nation's Fish and Wildlife Department engages in restoration and resiliency projects related to Ohi:yo'.Fighting for the Water: Fracking Wastewater in Ohi:yo'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. In response to the news of these fracking plans, our Seneca people again fought for our people, our communities, and our Ohi:yo'.A Legacy of ResilienceWe will continue on.Access and Use RightsFor our full statement on rights and use of our exhibit contents see this page.Additional ResourcesThis page contains additional resources that can provide more in-depth information that is perhaps not included within our exhibit.About this ExhibitThis page contains information about our intra-Nation departmental collaborations and exhibit acknowledgements.The Seneca-Iroquois National Museum663b8929f7a99e6bad2d94d8e2c4f4c0dbfcfc0fDana Reijerkerk3c44fb85ab096c2290175e81dd4f16f0002a41e0This exhibit was published by the Seneca-Iroquois National Museum, 2018.
Footnote 13
12018-08-20T15:13:50-07:00Dana Reijerkerk3c44fb85ab096c2290175e81dd4f16f0002a41e0308613Note on regalia.plain2018-08-20T15:23:56-07:00Dana Reijerkerk3c44fb85ab096c2290175e81dd4f16f0002a41e0Throughout this exhibit, our Seneca people can be seen wearing components of Plains regalia. During this particular period the Plains regalia was seen as identifiably "Indian" to the American public. Today our Seneca people wear regalia reflective of our Onödowá'ga:' and Hodinöhsö:ní heritage.
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1media/84.1007.0001.jpg2018-07-18T15:41:02-07:00The Seneca Nation of Indians71We 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".image_header7770492018-08-24T14:54:12-07:00The Seneca people have lived between the Genesee River and Canandaigua Lake in New York State for time immemorial. Today our territories can still be found on our aboriginal lands. The Seneca Nation (Nation) has five territories: Allegany, Cattaragus, Oil Spring, Buffalo Creek, and Niagara Falls. These are our faces, our culture, our history. We are the Seneca people. Still today, we are Onödowá'ga. We are a resilient people who continue to follow our traditions and make new ones.On November 11, 1794 the Seneca people signed a treaty with the United States, known as The Treaty of Canandaigua (or as the Pickering Treaty of 1794), which guaranteed us our sovereignty and rights to our land. This exhibit focuses on events related to our Allegany Territory. Our Allegany Territory is a valley with steep hills that hugs the Allegheny National Forest.
12018-08-14T15:30:46-07:00American Indian Day, Sept. 15, 19627On September 15th our ancestors gathered near the Cornplanter Monument in Pennsylvania to honor Chief Cornplanter and express their sadness for the impending inundation of the Cornplanter Tract.plain2018-08-20T15:33:18-07:00September 15th, 1962 was declared to be "American Indian Day" by New York State Governor Nelson Rockefeller, most likely in response to the controversy surrounding Kinzua Dam.
On this day our Seneca people visited the Cornplanter Grant in Pennsylvania to honor Senator Haines and gather in solidarity for the impending relocation and loss of this land. Members of the Seneca Nation of Indians, Society of Friends, and Congress were in attendance. The Cornplanter Grant would be inundated when Kinzua Dam was completed in December of 1965. Our Seneca people stopped at the construction site of Kinzua on their way to the Cornplanter Grant. The New York Times reported on these events, highlighting the viewpoint that favored building Kinzua Dam.