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Reclaiming Ohi:yo'- Restoring the Altered Landscape of the Beautiful River 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. 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'.

The President John F. Kennedy Letter (pg 1 of 2)

Seneca Nation Presidents', beginning with Cornelius Seneca (1956-1958), began writing to public officials in Pennsylvania, New York, and even the President of the United States in an effort to stop the construction of Kinzua Dam. In a letter from U.S. President John F. Kennedy, Kennedy declares that he will not halt the construction of Kinzua Dam. President Kennedy's reasoning, like many who supported building the dam, argued that national U.S. interests superceded that of our Seneca people. President Kennedy's remarks and stance on the issue were not unusual for this time period.

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Contents of this tag:
1. The President John F. Kennedy Letter (pg 1 of 2) Seneca Nation Presidents', beginning with Cornelius Seneca (1956-1958), began writing to public officials in Pennsylvania, New York, and even the President of the United States in an effort to stop the construction of Kinzua Dam. In a letter from U.S. President John F. Kennedy, Kennedy declares that he will not halt the construction of Kinzua Dam. President Kennedy's reasoning, like many who supported building the dam, argued that national U.S. interests superceded that of our Seneca people. President Kennedy's remarks and stance on the issue were not unusual for this time period.
2. Walter Taylor, George Heron Walter Taylor, the national representative of the American Indian Program of the American Friends Service Committee, a Society of Friends organization, is speaking with George Heron (SNI President 1958-1960, 1962-1964) in front of two of the proposed resettlement area maps for displaced Seneca families (Jimerson Town and Steamburg) that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers created. Between May 1961 and January of 1962 the Seneca Nation of Indians and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers negotiated the individual landowner boundary lines of the "take" areas on the Army Corps proposed resettlement maps.
3. "Critic at Large: The Senecas Being Forced From Their Lands are Bitter with Good Cause"
4. "Second Look at Kinzua" Editorial
5. "Kinzua Dam Upheld: Suggested Alternative is Declared Economically Impractical"
6. President Cornelius Seneca Public Outreach Letter (pg 1 of 4)
7. Robert Haines Reply, Kinzua Project of the Indian Committee, 1963 Throughout the Kinzua Era, and evidenced in many of our other exhibit materials, responses to previously published statements were a popular form of communicating where one stood on the issue.This letter that would have been given out at the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of Friends shows our relationship with the Quakers. The referenced Kinzua Planning Newsletter was created in conjunction with the Society of Friends and the Seneca Nation to keep our Seneca communities but also the American public updated on what was happening.
8. 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.
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. September 15, 1962 was declared "American Indian Day" by New York State Governor Nelson Rockefeller, most likely in response to the controversy surrounding the building of Kinzua Dam. Members of the Seneca Nation of Indians, Society of Friends, and Congress gathered at the Cornplanter Monument located on the Cornplanter Grant in Warren County, Pennsylvania to mourn and remember Chief Cornplanter and the land that makes up the Cornplanter Grant. The Cornplanter Monument and the Cornplanter Grant were both named in honor of Chief Cornplanter, one of the signers of the Canandaigua Treaty and a very esteemed member of the Senecas; if Kinzua Dam was completed the Allegany Reservoir would completely submerge the Cornplanter Grant. Members of the Seneca Nation stopped at the construction site of Kinzua Dam on their way to the Cornpanter Grant. Senecas in the photograph can be seen wearing components of Plains Indian regalia, which was worn throughout many of the photographs of the Kinzua Era as a way to bring attention to the issue and be seen as identifiably "indian" by the American public. 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) Seneca Nation Presidents', beginning with Cornelius Seneca (1956-1958), began writing to public officials in Pennsylvania, New York, and even the President of the United States in an effort to stop the construction of Kinzua Dam. In a letter from U.S. President John F. Kennedy, Kennedy declares that he will not halt the construction of Kinzua Dam. President Kennedy's reasoning, like many who supported building the dam, argued that national U.S. interests superceded that of our Seneca people. President Kennedy's remarks and stance on the issue were not unusual for this time period.
3. Kinzua Vigil, 1961 On August 12, 1961 a small group of Quakers, who named themselves the Treaty of 1794 Committee, and our Seneca people gathered in Kinzua, Pennsylvania for a protest vigil against the construction of the Kinzua Dam. The Society of Friends has historically been involved with the Seneca people and the Seneca Nation of Indians since the Pickering Treaty (Treaty of Canandaigua) was signed in 1794, the same treaty which would be broken by the building of Kinzua Dam. Since 1795 the Society of Friends has maintained an Indian Committee as part of their Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends. Many of their Quaker allies like Walter Taylor and Theodore "Ted" Hetzel were a part of said committee. Identified in the photograph is Harold Parker, standing center; third from the left facing front is Bessie Parker, Harold Parker's wife.
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. 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.
6. "Critic at Large: The Senecas Being Forced From Their Lands are Bitter with Good Cause"
7. "Pittsburgh a Key to Senecas' Fight: City Presses Bid for Dam on Reservation Lands-Cities Flood Danger" One of the many reasons citizens of Pittsburgh wanted to build Kinzua Dam in Warren, PA despite ethical objections was because the other five reservoirs in the chain had already been built. Since the 1930s, a chain of reservoirs that would protect Pittsburgh and those downriver from flooding were constructed; the final installment to this chain would have been Kinzua Dam. This news article provides insight into our reasoning for not building the dam in Warren. Our Allegany Territory is located in a valley surrounded by steep hillsides, which therefore only has a small amount of land for living and subsistence. A portion of our Allegany Territory is also occupied by congressional villages (Salamanca, Carrollton, Killbuck, Great Valley, and Vandalia), established by acts of Congress, that are leased from the Nation and largely populated by non-Senecas. The land inundated by the reservoir was a significant portion of our best land for living and subsistence.
8. President Cornelius Seneca Public Outreach Letter (pg 1 of 4)
9. "Second Look at Kinzua" Editorial
10. "Kinzua Dam Upheld: Suggested Alternative is Declared Economically Impractical"
11. "Seneca Indian Area Becoming a Happy Tourist Ground"
12. "Tourist Approach to the Kinzua Dam"
13. George D. Heron Speech, Nov. 22, 1963 (1 of 4)
14. "Quaker Booklet Urges Quick Action on Seneca Indian Bill"
15. Senator Joseph S. Clark's Editorial Response In Senator Joseph S. Clark reply to the "Second Look at Kinzua" editorial, he voices an opinion that many public policy officials within the U.S. government held at this time. Senator Clark's outlines the viewpoint that our indigenous status is an antiquated government policy that should be dissolved. When Senator Clark states that the reimbursement will be "to the same extent as other American citizens", he is not recognizing the sovereignty of the Seneca Nation, sovereignty afforded and recognized by our treaty with the U.S. and our special political and economic federal recognition indigenous status.
16. Robert Haines Reply, Kinzua Project of the Indian Committee, 1963 Throughout the Kinzua Era, and evidenced in many of our other exhibit materials, responses to previously published statements were a popular form of communicating where one stood on the issue.This letter that would have been given out at the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of Friends shows our relationship with the Quakers. The referenced Kinzua Planning Newsletter was created in conjunction with the Society of Friends and the Seneca Nation to keep our Seneca communities but also the American public updated on what was happening.
17. 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.
18. "Kinzua Dam Protested: Morality of Flooding Seneca Indians Land is Questioned"
19. NCAI President's Reply to "Second Look at Kinzua" At the 14th Annual Convention of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), an indigenous professional organization in the United States, the NCAI passes a resolution to protest the building of the Kinzua Dam and uphold Seneca Nation sovereignty; Clarence Wesley, President of the NCAI, wrote a letter to The Washington Post in response to their "Second Look at Kinzua" editorial published a few days before. Wesley's letter argues that the real objective of behind building the dam is pollution control for the industrialized waterfront downstream. Many of our own people also believed then and now that this was the case.
20. Memo to SNI President George Heron from Arthur Lasarus, Jr. In a letter to SNI President George Heron, Arthur Lasarus, Jr., the lawyer to the Nation, comments on Pennsylvania Senator Joseph Clark's response to "Second Look at Kinzua", an editorial published earlier that week in The Washington Post. This internal memo shows the significance to our ancestors that the press publicity had in addition to providing insight into internal communication during the Kinzua Era. "Second Look at Kinzua" and many others like it sparked a public debate in the Western New York State region over Indian status. Articles like this appeared in other newspapers at the regional and national level from both sides of the debate.
21. Senator Robert Haines Becoming an Honorary Seneca
22. Last-Ditch Protest on Dam Launched by 16 Quakers

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Second Look at Kinzua: The Morality of Building Kinzua Dam
There are two sides to every story. The take area for the Allegheny Reservoir was land that fell below the 1365 elevation line. Our Seneca people living on the Cornplanter Grant and the Seneca Nation's Allegany Territory and several non-Native communities, such as the village of Corydon were forced to relocate.

No one questions the desirability of a project intended to end the disastrous floods on the upper Allegheny River. But it is open to serious question whether the only way in which the Corps of Engineers can achieve this end is by dishonoring a treaty with the Seneca Indians signed in 1794 by George Washington-the oldest treaty, incidentally, to which the United States is a party and which is still in force.
- "Second Look at Kinzua", January 24, 1960

Impounding of the funds appropriated by the Congress after long and exhaustive Congressional review, and after resolution by our judicial process of the legal right of the Federal Government to acquire the property necessary to the construction of the reservoir, would not be proper.
-President John F. Kennedy, August 9, 1961
Our home no longer belongs to us. It is the sole property of the Army Corps of Engineers. We are merely living in it because we have no other place to go. There is no money for us to put into a new home. We have just eight months left. Eight months to say good-bye to home, valley and a heritage I've known for eighteen years. How much harder it must be for those having to say good-by to generations of living, growing and dying inherited by a plot of ground called home.
-Brooks Atkinson, February 25, 1964

Again according to reliable professional information, Kinzua Dam will not give Pittsburgh and other communities down the Allegany River protection from flood control. Our information is that Kinzua Dam is wanted in order to wash industrial plant waste down the river; competent engineers assert that what is needed is a good job of cleaning up the stream. Congressman Gavin has admitted that what the proponents of the Dam want is really more water in the river.
-Clarence Wesley, January 28, 1960
Five alternative proposals have been found to be engineeringly sound but more costly than the authorized project. The sixth proposal, the Committee commented, "does not provide a solution to the water resource development problems of the Allegheny River Basin that compares favorably with the authorized plan." In addition, it would raise new problems, such as flooding of the Conewango watershed, a valuable agricultural area, and the complication of international jurisdiction.
-Senator Joseph S. Clark, January 30, 1960
Completion of the 179-foot high dam, the largest in Pennsylvania, is schedules for 1965. The man-made lake will extend north to Salamanca, N.Y., and will inundate 9,000 acres or two-thirds of the usable land on the New York reservation of the Seneca nation of Indians. The project will displace more than 1,000 white persons and some 550 Indians.
-William G. Weart, August 13, 1961
Does a sovereign nation have the right of eminent domain in a situation in which it has made a treaty that it will not exercise that right? Of course it is legal for the sovereign Government of the United States to break every treaty it ever agreed to, but it would not be ethical, and it would not improve our international relations.
-Theodore B. Hetzel, November 3, 1959
"Silent" Protests
In the 1950s and 1960s our elders protested Kinzua Dam through publications, legal action, and symbolic protests.

On August 12, 1961 a small group of Quakers, the self-proclaimed Treaty of 1794 Committee and some of our Seneca people gathered in Kinzua, Pennsylvania for a silent vigil in protest of the dam.

By this time it was becoming increasingly clearer that the dam was going to continue to be constructed. A few days earlier, on August 9th, 1961, Seneca Nation President Basil Williams had received U.S. President John F. Kennedy's reply to his appeal for the President to step in and stop the dam's construction.
President to President Correspondence
Seneca Nation Presidents during the Kinzua Era (1956-1966) were involved in a public media campaign to stop the loss of our lands. Seneca Nation President Basil Williams wrote to U.S. President John F. Kennedy. President Kennedy wrote back on August 9th, 1961. This is his reply.

The Merrill Bowen Letter
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, their land. In 1963, Merrill Bowen, the Cornplanter Indian Landowners Corporation, wrote a public appeal to President Kennedy asking for help relocating the Cornplanter Cemetery and Monument.