Memories and ancestral remains are all they have left after the
water from the Kinzua Dam flooded what used to be their homes of
Corydon, Kinzua and Seneca Nation Indian land.
Forty-three years later, the water of the Allegheny Reservoir, a
result of the construction of Kinzua Dam, threatens to take what
precious little they have left – the remains of their
ancestors.
In a gathering held last week, former residents of the flooded
town of Corydon, Seneca Nation of Indians members and interested
parties met to talk about their feelings of the erosion that is
occurring to the hillside just below Riverview Cemetery.
That cemetery houses new and relocated graves of family
members.
“I am here because they can’t speak to anyone about this
travesty that is happening here,” said Lana Redeye, a Chief
Cornplanter descendent and member of the Kinzua Dam Issues
Committee. “I saw this as a way of expressing a family concern of
this desecration of a piece of property given to put our most
sacred possessions – this issue needs to be addressed. I am here to
make that plea.”
Family and ancestors of Redeye and others such as the Tome,
Pitts, and Bowen families were once buried in Corydon and
Cornplanter Indian cemeteries, but moved in 1964 to the Riverview
Corydon Cemetery.
The removal and relocation of those remains was a bitter pill to
swallow, along with the loss of what most who lived in the areas
flooded called home, a fertile and sacred land.
Over the years, committees and groups gathered together to raise
the issue of potential damage to the cemetery that holds the graves
of not only treasured family members, but historical figures such
as Phillip Tome and Chief Cornplanter.
Tome is known as the first non-Indian settler to the area, which
would become the Town of Corydon. Chief Cornplanter was a Seneca
Chief, known for his peaceful dealings between other tribes and the
U.S. government.
As Marty Tome Hayes, daughter of Harry Tome, the caretaker of
Riverview Cemetery, visited the area several months ago she
realized the problem of erosion of the hillside to the cemetery was
getting worse.
With that realization and an accidental meeting and Riverview
Cemetery discussion with U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., – her current
“home” state – she decided to help her father write a letter to
Pennsylvania representatives requesting help in preventing more
erosion to that hillside.
The group has not yet met with representatives concerning the
issue.
She started her work with former residents and descendants that
attended the cemetery on Memorial Day this year. She passed out
historical lore and contact information for state representatives
and asked them to get involved.
From there, word spread and a gathering of concerned former
residents and descendants formed.
“I have a lot of childhood memories here, it’s peaceful here. I
look at what is left and what it was then and what the government
did – it’s like we aren’t alive,” said Hayes. “Some of the grave
markers are from the 1700s. I live in Oregon and you don’t find
them that old there. We have a lot to preserve here.”
Speaking for her father, she said, “He says, ‘Gosh I don’t know
why I put all that hard work into it. But I have family and close
friends here – I guess I did it for them.’
“He loves this place. This is all we have left,” she added.
Looking around at the group she added, “I am glad we all came
here as family.”
Climbing down to the water’s edge, below the cemetery, it is
evident that the ground there is not solid. Rocks and sandy dirt
slide down beneath each step.
The area is not to be used for hiking or camping and is posted
so.
Once on shore, a glance up the hillside shows roots of trees
seemingly hanging on to what is left of the earth above them.
It also appears there is a water line where the reservoir was at
a higher level earlier in the year, more clues to the potential for
erosion. A boat passes by way out on the water. Minutes later, the
wake from that boat pushes its waves onto shore.
Hayes and her aunt Lorraine Tome, a Seneca, talk about the farms
that used to be before the flooding. They also talk of an old
railroad that traveled along the river that is now the
reservoir.
Hayes calls attention to a point that she says stuck out much
further 40 years ago. The area is a point at which water from the
reservoir flows into and out of Willow Bay (an inlet). Not far from
shore, the area where the town of Corydon once stood.
She also recalls a pine tree that used to stand on a piece of
land that is now under water. To prove that such a tree existed,
she produces a photograph of it and explains the photo was taken 35
years ago.
“We can’t afford to let it erode anymore,” she said. “We need to
do something now.”
