In 1965, The United States through action of the Army Corps of Engineers and approval by the Federal Courts violated the terms of the Canandaigua Treaty when it seized by eminent domain a water flowage easement for the use of 10,000 acres of the Seneca Nations Allegany Territory for the Kinzua Dam Reservoir. A significant consequence of this condemnation action was the destruction of numerous Seneca settlements along the Ohi:yo’ (Allegany River), the forced relocation of Seneca people living along the Ohi:yo’ to higher ground, the destruction of their homes, and the loss of use of all Nation lands below the 1365’ elevation (e.g. the “Kinzua Take Area”).
On September 16, 2023, the Seneca Nation’s Council approved a resolution to establish a 1365 Resettlement Committee which declared that the “forced loss of use of all Nation land below the 1365’ elevation is excessive and unnecessarily deprives the Nation and the Seneca people of the use of thousands of acres of the Allegany Territory.” Some Seneca people with family lands in the Kinzua Take Area have indicated their interest in re-settling and utilizing their ancestral lands.
On March 11, 2025, President J. Conrad Seneca issued an Executive Order that, among other things, declared that lands within the Kinzua Take Area above elevation 1340’ to be open for re-settlement by the Seneca people, subject to the establishment of clear legal titles to said lands.
Enrolled Senecas who may have a legal property interest in the Kinzua Take Area lands between elevation 1340-1365’ in the Red House Area are encouraged to formally express their interest by submitting a request to the Nation’s Surrogates Court and a copy to the Clerk of the Seneca Nation to be recorded, as the Nation explores options to expedite the clearing of legal title to these Red House Area lands.
Lenith K. Waterman
Seneca Nation Clerk
April 10, 2025
