to Help Illustrate Key Parts of Upcoming Film
Nya:wëh sgë:nö’. swagwe:göh. My name is Caleb Abrams – I am an independent filmmaker from Ohi:yo’ and a proud member of the Wolf Clan. I am in search of photographs and video footage to help illustrate key parts of my upcoming film, The Burning of My Coldspring Home, an adaptation of Stephen Gordon’s short story of the same name. I am reaching out to the Seneca community for help locating this imagery. A complete list of the photos and footage I am searching for can be found below, along with the film’s description, and a link to the official trailer on YouTube.
In search of photos and/or footage of the following:
- Alta Abrams
- Francis Abrams
- Hannah Abrams
- Lena Abrams
- Nora Abrams
- Charlie Butler
- Clifford Crouse
- Myrtle Crouse
- Florence Curry
- Leroy Curry
- Arthur Gordon – as a young man, as an elderly man, in his U.S. Air Force uniform
- Elverna Gordon – as a young woman, as an elderly woman
- Gary Gordon – as a child, as an adolescent, as a young man
- Stephen Gordon – as a child, as an adolescent, as a young man
- Albert Jones
- Saxton “Jake” Logan
- Josie Mack
- Bemis Snow
- Lena Snow
- Mary Snow
- Rita Snow
- Sid Snow
- Ernie Crow
- Clarence Watt
- Clayton White
- Hannah Abrams’ Coldspring house
- Arthur and Elverna Gordon’s Coldspring house
- Arthur and Elverna Gordon’s Steamburg relocation house
- Coldspring community – gatherings, houses, people, pre-Kinzua
- Old Route 280, pre-Kinzua
- Snow Street, pre-Kinzua
- Remember the Removal 2004 — event, panel, speakers, walk
If you have photographs or footage you are willing to share please contact the Allegany Seneca Media & Communications Center Office to arrange a time to bring your photos or digital files in to be scanned or transferred.
Allegany SMCC:
Phone: (716)-945-1790
Email: senecamedia@sni.org
Film description:
Onöndowa’ga:’ (Seneca) elder Stephen Gordon was twelve years old when his family was forcibly relocated from their home in Jonegano:h (Coldspring) as a result of the construction of the Kinzua Dam during the 1960s. Unlike his neighbors however, his family’s home wasn’t destroyed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — instead, Gordon’s father set fire to it himself to prevent the Corps from doing the same. The Burning of My Coldspring Home, an adaptation of Gordon’s 2005 short story of the same name, is a meditation on grief, trauma, family, healing, and the places we call home.
The official trailer for the film is available to view on YouTube:
Weso’ Nya:wëh,
Caleb G. Abrams
