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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'. 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 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.

Senator Robert Haines Becoming an Honorary Seneca

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This page has tags:

Reaching out to the American Public Dana Reijerkerk
Contents of this tag:
1. Cornplanter Grant Visit, Stop at Kinzua Dam Members of the Seneca Nation, Society of Friends, and Congress stopped at the construction site of Kinzua Dam on their way to the Cornplanter Grant on September 15, 1962. Identified in the photograph, Front to back, right to left: Harry Watt (center), Myra Watt, Fred Claflin, Gert Claflin, Darla Claflin, Butch Claflin, Walter Jimerson, Dorothy Jimerson, Gordon Jimerson, Ron Jimerson, Effie Johnson, and Boyd Johnson.
2. The President John F. Kennedy Letter (pg 1 of 2)
3. Kinzua Vigil, 1961
4. "Seneca Ceremony Mourns Land Taken by U.S. Despite Treaty" (Page 1 of 2) News article from The New York TImes reporting on the gathering of our Seneca people, members of the Society of Friends, and Congress at the Cornplanter Grant on September 15, 1962. In Johnny Cash's song, "As Long as the Grass Shall Grow", his lines "The treaties are safe we'll keep our word but what is that gurgling/ It's the back water from Perfidy Lake it's rising all the time" reference events depicted in this news article.
5. "Critic at Large: The Senecas Being Forced From Their Lands are Bitter with Good Cause"
6. Merrill Bowen Letter to JFK The Seneca people living on the Seneca Nation's Allegany Territory were not the only ones directly affected by building Kinzua. The Cornplanter Grant located in Pennsylvania was also inundated, leaving Chief Cornplanter's heirs without their communities, their homes, and their land. In a letter to President John F. Kennedy, Merrill Bowen, the Cornplanter Indian Landowners Corporation President, appealed for help relocating the Cornplanter Cemetery and Monument.
7. President Cornelius Seneca Public Outreach Letter (pg 1 of 4)
8. "Second Look at Kinzua" Editorial
9. "Kinzua Dam Upheld: Suggested Alternative is Declared Economically Impractical"
10. "Seneca Indian Area Becoming a Happy Tourist Ground"
11. "Tourist Approach to the Kinzua Dam"
12. "Pittsburgh a Key to Senecas' Fight: City Presses Bid for Dam on Reservation Lands-Cities Flood Danger"
13. "Quaker Booklet Urges Quick Action on Seneca Indian Bill"
14. Robert Haines Reply, Kinzua Project of the Indian Committee, 1963
15. Senator Joseph S. Clark's Editorial Response
16. Kinzua Project of the Indian Comittee Report, 1963 The Indian Committee of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of Friends (a Society of Friends organization) worked with the Seneca Nation to prevent the construction of the dam. In December of 1962 when it became clear the U.S. court system would not help us, we began focusing our efforts on relocating our communities that would be inundated as part of the Allegany Reservoir. We quickly needed to prepare new houses, churches, schools- entire communities for our people who were being relocated.
17. "Kinzua Dam Protested: Morality of Flooding Seneca Indians Land is Questioned"
18. NCAI President's Reply to "Second Look at Kinzua"
19. Memo to SNI President George Heron from Arthur Lasarus, Jr.
20. George D. Heron Speech, Nov. 22, 1963 (1 of 4)
21. Senator Robert Haines Becoming an Honorary Seneca
22. Last-Ditch Protest on Dam Launched by 16 Quakers

This page is referenced by:

American Indian Day, Sept. 15, 1962 September 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.