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.
Cornelius Seneca
12018-08-15T14:41:40-07:00Dana Reijerkerk3c44fb85ab096c2290175e81dd4f16f0002a41e0308612Photograph of elder and former Seneca Nation President, Cornelius Seneca.plain2018-08-15T17:57:09-07:00Seneca-Iroquois National Museum2018-08-13stillimage77.1003.0032independent sovereign nationsSeneca-Iroquois National MuseumengPhotograph of elder and former Seneca Nation President, Cornelius Seneca.reformatted digitalimage/jpegprint, electronicrecordCreation Date encoding = "w3cdtf"; dcTerm:datelanguageOfCataloging authority = "iso639-2b"; dcTerm:languagesubject authority = "aat"; dcTerm:subjectsubject authority = "tgn"; dcTerm:coveragedateCreated encoding= "w3cdtf"; dcTerm:temporalRecord has been transformed into MODS from the original accession record. Metadata originally created in a locally modified version of qualified Dublin Core.Allegany (county), Pennsylvania (state), Warren (county), Allegany River, Kinzua Reservoir (reservoir), New York (state), Cattaraugus (county), Allegany ReservationThis record was created by Dana Reijerkerk.Ted Hetzel (creator)1 photograph, 35.3 x 27.8 cm; originally mounted on matte board1958-04-26Dana Reijerkerk3c44fb85ab096c2290175e81dd4f16f0002a41e0
This page is referenced by:
1media/77.1003.0032.jpg2018-08-08T17:33:14-07:00President Seneca's Mass-Mailing Campaign19Seneca Nation President Cornelius Seneca sent out mass-printed letters to keep the public and our Seneca people informed on the legal battle.plain2018-08-24T19:07:00-07:00
From 1957 to 1962 the Seneca Nation and allies to our Seneca people lobbied Congress to prevent Kinzua Dam from being constructed.
On behalf of our Seneca people, President Seneca addressed Congress and the American public in an effort to bring awareness and national support for the alternative dam proposal.
Letters like this would have been sent out to our Seneca people and to the American public to share updated information and bring awareness to the legal action being taken by the Seneca Nation.
Cornelius V. Seneca, was the Seneca Nation President from November 1956 until November of 1958; he served two additional terms as President between 1940-1942 and 1944-1946. Cornelius Seneca also served various terms as a Councillor, Surrogate Judge, Treasurer, and Clerk within the Seneca Nation.