Though its construction had been proposed as early as 1908, it wasn't until 1964 that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built Kinzua Dam to control flooding on the Allegheny and Ohio Rivers, to provide for pollution abatement, and to create recreation facilities. The dam's reservoir flooded Seneca lands in Pennsylvania and all of New York's Allegany Indian Reservation—more than nine thousand acres in all. It inundated the last tribal lands in Pennsylvania, the Cornplanter Tract, and destroyed the Senecas' spiritual center, the Cold Spring Longhouse. The project forced the relocation of 130 Indian families.
The Senecas sought an injunction to prevent construction, citing the Canandaigua Treaty of 1794 between the United States and the Iroquois, which guaranteed Seneca rights to the land. They lost their suit, but Congress did compensate the Seneca Nation with $15 million for direct and indirect damages and to fund a rehabilitation program.
The proposal, planning, and construction of Kinzua Dam went forward in the face of determined Seneca protests and in violation of the 1794 treaty. Its history demonstrates that Congress may unilaterally violate treaties made with Indian nations.
See also
Seneca.
