Seneca Storytelling: Effect of the Kinzua Dam on Interpretations of Supernatural Stories

Supernatural tales among the Seneca and other Iroquois, or Hodinohŝyonih,1 nations have been a critical part of their culture before recorded history and are still enjoyed today. While the specific content and way of telling the stories may have changed over time, the popularity of supernatural themes remains, and many of the stories’ characters still feature prominently in both text and storytelling in the community. The building of the Kinzua Dam on the Seneca Allegany Territory in the late 1960s and the subsequent upheaval in the community have deepened the tradition of stories about supernatural incidents. The upheaval has also served as a means through which old stories have gained strength and aided community members removed by the dam’s construction in overcoming those tragic events. A possible vehicle promoting interest in supernatural themes and Seneca storytelling traditions is the desire to bring together tellers and listeners to strengthen the community against outside threats. Numerous threats to the traditional way of life and landbase have plagued the Iroquois—including the Seneca—since pre-Revolutionary times. The Indigenous people of the region have faced centuries of outside pressures and banded together against them: from the 1797 Treaty of Big Tree that ceded Seneca lands and created reservations in New York, to boarding school enforcement, notably the Thomas Indian School in operation from 1855 until 1956, to New York Thruway incursions during the mid-twentieth century, to the building of dams including the Kinzua Dam, which was ostensibly built by the United States Army Corps of Engineers in 1963 for energy and to control flooding in Pittsburgh, hundreds of miles downstream on the Allegheny River. The location of the dam was especially devastating to the Seneca people since it flooded the gravesite of Cornplanter, warrior and diplomat during the Revolutionary War era, and the vision-site of spiritual leader, Handsome Lake. The dam’s construction flooded one-third of the Allegany Territory, displaced hundreds of Seneca people, and caused the relocation of cemeteries and the longhouse, a place of worship. As people who enjoy an ancient oral history, the Seneca enjoin their community members to lift their spirits Oral Tradition, 29/1 (2014):87-98