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In the late 1950s,
the US Army Corps of Engineers announced its intention to construct a
dam along the Allegheny River in Warren, Pennsylvania. The building
of the Kinzua Dam was highly controversial because it flooded
one-third of the Allegheny Reservation of the Seneca Nation of
Indians. Nearly six hundred Senecas were forced to abandon their
homes and relocate, despite a 1794 treaty that had guaranteed them
those lands in perpetuity. |
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In this revealing
study, Joy A. Bilharz examines the short- and long-term consequences
of the relocation of the Senecas. Granted unparalleled access to
members of the Seneca Nation and reservation records, Bilharz traces
the psychological, economic, cultural, and social effects over two
generations. The loss of homes and tribal lands was heartwrenching
and initially threatened to undermine the foundations of social life
and subsistence economy for the Senecas. Over time, however, many
Senecas have managed to adapt successfully to relocation, creating
new social networks, invigorating their educational system, and
becoming more politically involved on local, tribal, and national levels.
Today the Kinzua
Dam is, according to Bilharz, a "potent symbol" for the
Senecas. For the younger generation, faced with a reservation land
shortage, it represents powerlessness, providing them with ample
reasons to blame their parents and to continue to mistrust the
federal and state governments. For the older generation, the risen
riverbanks have acquired an almost spiritual significance. In the
evenings many continue to wander down to the reservoir banks "to
be near where the 'old places' used to be." |
