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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 Legal Battle for Kinzua

For additional information about the Kinzua Dam's construction see the following:

The Broken Treaties, Collaborative Archives Project has provided a timeline of the Seneca Nation of Indians legal opposition to the Kinzua Dam in the form of select historically-important letters. This digital exhibit of archival materials showcases written documents and correspondence between the Seneca Nation of Indians and others about the construction of Kinzua, such as letters written by Arthur E. Morgan, the lead Dam Engineer hired by the Nation or the letter written to President John F. Kennedy by Seneca Nation President Basil Williams.

The Seneca-Iroquois National Museum also has a permanent exhibit on the Kinzua Dam, which is open to the public.

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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. 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. 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.