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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". 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.

Ohi:yo'

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For millennia, Ohi:yo' flowed freely, providing life to a thriving ecosystem and to our Seneca people.The Seneca people have had a long relationship with Ohi:yo'. In our language, Ohi:yo' means "Beautiful River" or "Good River".

The river was an ideal habitat for a variety of marine life that we consider culturally important. Plants we know are good for medicine grew along its borders. We built our communities and way of life around Ohi:yo'.

Today our Seneca people still live and have a relationship with Ohi:yo'. Ohi:yo' is at the heart of our Allegany Territory.

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The Allegheny Reservoir Dana Reijerkerk
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Welcoming Dana Reijerkerk
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The Threat of Blue-Green Algae One of the negative environmental effects of the inundation of Ohi:yo' has been the increasing occurrence of harmful algal blooms (HABs) throughout the Allegheny Reservoir. HABs are comprised of cyanobacteria, blue-green algae, that may negatively affect our people's health as well as have negative ecological and biogeochemical impacts.

Blue-green algae is naturally occurring in lakes and streams, and not all cyanobacteria produce toxins. The toxins produced by blue-green algae is referred to as cyanotoxins and vary by species of cyanobacteria.

HABs with or without toxin production can have negative ecological, biogeochemical, and health impacts, and are becoming an increasingly worldwide problem. HABs can be reservoir wide and can be found accumulating along shorelines and downwind bays.

According to the Watershed Resources Working Group, a Seneca Nation technical advisory board, HABs were first recorded in Ohi:yo' in 1972 and today have increasingly been more severe and frequent.

Blue-Green Algae: What is it?
Cyanobacteria are a form of microscopic blue-green algae. The rapid growth of the cyanobacteria is called a "bloom". Blooms of cyanobacteria can be found in warm, nutrient-rich, shallow water or distributed throughout the water column. The Allegany Reservoir has a combination of nutrient pollution from the drainage basin upstream and the contribution of nutrients from sediment and algal detritus that has deposited in the reservoir since impoundment producing very favorable conditions for HABs.

Blooms can produce floating scum on the surface of the water, particularly along shorelines, that is blue or green in color and is reminiscent of paint spills. HABs within the Allegheny Reservoir are monitored along the shorelines of bays and inlets of the reservoir by the Watershed Resources Working Group.

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