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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'.

"Seneca Ceremony Mourns Land Taken by U.S. Despite Treaty" (Page 1 of 2)

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Version 3

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versionnumber	ov:versionnumber	3
title	dcterms:title	"Seneca Ceremony Mourns Land Taken by U.S. Despite Treaty" (Page 1 of 2)
url	art:url	media/NAD-007-001.jpg
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created	dcterms:created	2018-08-08T14:48:52-07:00
type	rdf:type	http://scalar.usc.edu/2012/01/scalar-ns#Version
source	dcterms:source	Seneca Nation Archives Department
source	dcterms:source	The New York Times
date	dcterms:date	2018-07-31
type	dcterms:type	text
identifier	dcterms:identifier	NAD-007-001
subject	dcterms:subject	independent sovereign nations, native peoples reservations, flood dams, gravity dams, rolled-fill dams, rivers
contributor	dcterms:contributor	Seneca-Iroquois National Museum
language	dcterms:language	eng
format	dcterms:format	print, electronic
format	dcterms:format	image/jpeg
format	dcterms:format	digitized other analog
alternative	dcterms:alternative	"Seneca Ceremony Mourns Land Taken by U.S. Despite Treaty: Embittered Indians Meet Near Site of Kinzua Dam-Call it a 'Lake of Perfidy' " (Page 1 of 2)
conforms to	dcterms:conformsTo	Record has been transformed into MODS from the original accession record. Metadata originally created in a locally modified version of qualified Dublin Core.
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conforms to	dcterms:conformsTo	languageOfCataloging authority = "iso639-2b"; dcTerm:language
coverage	dcterms:coverage	Pennsylvania (state), Warren (county), Kinzua Reservoir (reservoir), Allegany River, New York (state), Cattaraugus (county), Allegany Reservation
creator	dcterms:creator	Arnold H. Lubasch (writer)
creator	dcterms:creator	The New York Times (publisher)
creator	dcterms:creator	This record was created by Dana Reijerkerk.
extent	dcterms:extent	2 pages, originally printed in newspaper; Special to the New York Times, pg. 1
temporal	dcterms:temporal	1962-09-17

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1. 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 (Jimersontown and Steamburg) that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers created. Between April and September of 1961, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers surveyed and mapped out the flowage and clearing easements for the Allegeny Reservoir, part of which would extend into Seneca Nation of Indians land on the Allegany Territory. 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: Seneca Nation land below the 1365 elevation line that the U.S. Army Corps was taking to be a part of the Reservoir. Seneca Nation officials were given copies of these maps and held personal meetings with families who lived in the "take" areas in addition to discussing the maps' boundaries among Council.
2. George Heron, Basil Williams, Robert "Bob" Haines, Theodore"Ted" Hetzel, 1961 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. From left to right: George Heron (SNI President 1958-1960, 1962-1964), SNI President Basil Williams (1960-1962), Bob Haines, the Chairman of the Indian Committee of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, and Theodore "Ted" Hetzel, a member of the Indian Committees of the American Friends Service Committee and a Board Member of the Indian Rights Association. The Indian Committee of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting and the Indian Committees of the American Friends Service Committee are both Quaker organizations. 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 building Kinzua Dam. Starting as early as the 1950s the Quakers and the Seneca Nation of Indians worked together to bring awareness of the destruction to the Seneca way of life that the Kinzua Dam would cause as a result of being built. Between April and September of 1961, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers surveyed and mapped out the flowage and clearing easements for the Allegeny Reservoir, part of which would extend into Seneca Nation of Indians land on the Allegany Territory. 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: Seneca Nation land below the 1365 elevation line that the U.S. Army Corps was taking to be a part of the Reservoir. Seneca Nation officials were given copies of the Army Corps proposed resettlement area maps for displaced Seneca families and held personal meetings with families who lived in the "take" areas in addition to discussing the maps' boundaries among Council. From left to right: George Heron (SNI President 1958-1960, 1962-1964), SNI President Basil Williams (1960-1962), Bob Haines, the Chairman of the Indian Committee of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, and Theodore "Ted" Hetzel, a member of the Indian Committees of the American Friends Service Committee and a Board Member of the Indian Rights Association. The Indian Committee of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting and the Indian Committees of the American Friends Service Committee are both Quaker organizations.
3. Letter from President John F. Kennedy to SNI President Basil Williams (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 Kinzua Dam's construction. President Kennedy's reasoning, like many who supported building the dam at this location, argued that national U.S. interests superceede that of the Senecas. President Kennedy's remarks and stance on the issue were not unusual for this time period. Shortly after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced it would be constructing Kinzua Dam in Warren, Pennsylvania, which would result in the inundation of one-third of the Seneca Nation of Indians Allegany Territory, we as a nation began voicing our dissent. 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 Kinzua Dam's construction. President Kennedy's reasoning, like many who supported building the dam at this location, argued that national U.S. interests superceede that of the Senecas. President Kennedy's remarks and stance on the issue were not unusual for this time period. The American popular perception of Native Americans during the 1950s and 1960s could not separate stereotypical Plains Indian tropes from modern descendants of indigenious populations, like the Seneca Nation of Indians. There was a prevailing notion among many Americans that there were no more living "authentic" Native Americans. U.S. Indian policy at this time reflected these viewpoints and worked towards eliminating the nation to nation relationship that federally recognized indian status created.
4. President Cornelius Seneca Public Outreach Letter (pg 1 of 4)
5. Letter from President John F. Kennedy to SNI President Basil Williams (pg 2 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 Kinzua Dam's construction. President Kennedy's reasoning, like many who supported building the dam at this location, argued that national U.S. interests superceede that of the Senecas. President Kennedy's remarks and stance on the issue were not unusual for this time period. Shortly after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced it would be constructing Kinzua Dam in Warren, Pennsylvania, which would result in the inundation of one-third of the Seneca Nation of Indians Allegany Territory, we as a nation began voicing our dissent. 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 Kinzua Dam's construction. President Kennedy's reasoning, like many who supported building the dam at this location, argued that national U.S. interests superceede that of the Senecas. President Kennedy's remarks and stance on the issue were not unusual for this time period. The American popular perception of Native Americans during the 1950s and 1960s could not separate stereotypical Plains Indian tropes from modern descendants of indigenious populations, like the Seneca Nation of Indians. There was a prevailing notion among many Americans that there were no more living "authentic" Native Americans. U.S. Indian policy at this time reflected these viewpoints and worked towards eliminating the nation to nation relationship that federally recognized indian status created.
6. "Seneca Ceremony Mourns Land Taken by U.S. Despite Treaty" (Page 1 of 2)
7. "Critic at Large: The Senecas Being Forced From Their Lands are Bitter with Good Cause", The New York Times, Feb. 25, 1964
8. Merrill Bowen Letter to JFK
9. George D. Heron Speech, Nov. 22, 1963 (4 of 4)
10. Kinzua Project of the Indian Comittee Report, 1963
11. "Quaker Booklet Urges Quick Action on Seneca Indian Bill", The Republican-Press, Jan. 28, 1964
12. "Second Look at Kinzua" editorial, The Washington Post, Jan., 24, 1960
13. President Cornelius Seneca Public Outreach Letter (pg 2 of 4)
14. 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. 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.
15. President Cornelius Seneca Public Outreach Letter (pg 3 of 4)
16. Senator Joseph S. Clark editorial response, Jan. 30, 1960 In Senator Joseph S. Clark (Rep. of Pennsylvania) 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. When Senator Clark states that the reimbursement will be "to the same extent as other American citizens", he is not recognizing the soverignty of the Seneca Nation of Indians, sovereignty afforded and recognized by our treaty with the U.S. and our special political and economic federal recognition indigenous status. Clark also directly states his position that the U.S. national interest superceedes that of the Seneca which further corroborates his viewpoint, like many others in this time period, that there are no more Native Americans just Americans. In Senator Joseph S. Clark (Rep. of Pennsylvania) 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 outlines the viewpoint that Native American 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 of Indians, sovereignty afforded and recognized by our treaty with the U.S. and our special political and economic federal recognition indigenous status. Clark also directly states his position that the U.S. national interest supersedes that of the Seneca which further corroborates his viewpoint, like many others in this time period, that there are no more Native Americans just Americans. This idea of the "dying Indian" has been around since the turn of the 20th century and has only been fueled by the Hollywood trope of what is seen as identifiably "indian" by the American public.
17. "Seneca Ceremony Mourns Land Taken by U.S. Despite Treaty " (Page 2 of 2)
18. President Cornelius Seneca Public Outreach Letter (pg 4 of 4)
19. George D. Heron Speech, Nov. 22, 1963 (1 of 4)
20. George D. Heron Speech, Nov. 22, 1963 (2 of 4)
21. George D. Heron Speech, Nov. 22, 1963 (3 of 4)
22. Robert Haines Reply, Kinzua Project of the Indian Committee, 1963
23. "Kinzua Dam Upheld: Suggested Alternative is Declared Economically Impractical", The New York Times, Mar. 26, 1960 Maurice K. Goddard, the Secretary to the Department of Waters of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (1955-1979), writes into The New York Times supporting the construction of Kinzua Dam. In October of 1957 Congress asks the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to contract an independent civilian engineering firm to give a second opinion on whether Arthur E. Morgan's Conewango Plan was indeed the better alternative. Goddard's comments on the private engineering firm fail to mention that this firm was not neutral: some of the firm's leaders were former U.S.A.C.E. employees and had incentive not to give a proper third-party assessment. Moreover, our ancesters were opposed to the dam's placement because there was an alternative that had considerably more benefits, including the alleged primary purpore of flood control, that would still allow the U.S. to uphold the treaty and for us to retain our land and way of life. Maurice K. Goddard, the Secretary to the Department of Waters of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (1955-1979), writes into The New York Times supporting the construction of Kinzua Dam. In October of 1957 Congress asks the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to contract an independent civilian engineering firm to give a second opinion on whether Arthur E. Morgan's Conewango Plan was indeed the better alternative. Goddard's comments on the private engineering firm fail to mention that this firm was not neutral: some of the firm's leaders were former U.S.A.C.E. employees and had incentive not to give a proper third-party assessment. Moreover, our ancesters were opposed to the dam's placement because there was an alternative that had considerably more benefits, including the alleged primary purpore of flood control, that would still allow the U.S. to uphold the treaty and for us to retain our land and way of life.

This page is referenced by:

The Significance of Kinzua to the Seneca People
The construction and history of Kinzua Dam and the Allegany Reservoir is seen by our Seneca people as a traumatic event that has deeply impacted our culture and way of life. In the words of our Seneca people, here is what makes Kinzua Dam significant to us.

An excerpt from a Seneca Nation community newsletter:
The 10,000 acres of the Nation's Territory that was flooded to make way for the impoundment were the most productive subsistence and agricultural lands of the Nation's Allegany Territory. The Seneca were forcibly relocated, and the government burned their homes, schools, and churches. Significant cultural, sacred and ceremonial sites were flooded, including a Longhouse and burial grounds.

The citizens of the Seneca Nation have suffered profound cultural, economic and environmental harms from the federal government's unilateral taking of their homes, lands, and river to construct and operate Kinzua Dam and the Pumped Storage Project. The federal government's actions comprise a shameful episode in American history, and have significantly harmed the Seneca Nation's treaty rights, including its reserved water rights, to the pecuniary benefit of downstream interests, including the current licensee of the project.

George Heron, our Seneca Nation President (1958-1960, 1962-1964), speaking at the Nov 22, 1963 American Anthropological Association, 62nd Annual Meeting:
Within the next year the Seneca Nation will undergo a drastic change in community life. There will be social and cultural impositions as a result...The taking of this land might as well have been done with a bayonet. It was compulsory. There was no determination on the part of the Senecas to 'choose to sell.' Major decisions about the reservoir water level, the basic new highway layout, etc. offer little chance for Seneca self-determination...The principals of consent could have been honored. The Seneca Nation could have been involved with the Federal Government in seeking together a solution to the flood control and water storage problem. Perhaps a better solution might have been worked out jointly than that by conceived by the Corps.

Melvin Patterson speaking at the American Indian Day gathering of Seneca people at the Cornplanter Grant, September 15, 1962:
From this day forward we of Indian blood will call the waters that flood this reservation practically out of existence the Lake of Perfidy.

While this exhibit does not focus on the relocation of our Seneca communities from our Allegany Territory, more information about these events can be found in other exhibits and resources in the Seneca-Iroquois National Museum, located in its new home, the
Onöhsagwë:dé Cultural Center.