This document-based instructional manual is intended to give teachers and students greater understanding of the Seneca Nation of Indians (SNI), their history, world view, and concerns. The SNI is a federally recognized sovereign nation, having a government-to-government relationship with the U.S., set forth in treaties (1784 to 1794). This manual throws light on the Seneca experience from after the American Revolution to today. Its 2 goals are to provide accurate information about the rich Native American history of western New York and to encourage teachers to incorporate the information provided into the standard American history curriculum and participation in government classes taught in grades 7-12. It contains 32 documents, 11 maps, 51 illustrations, questions at the end of each chapter with suggestions for further reading, and lists museums with excellent collections of Seneca material culture, major Native American periodicals, and recommended websites.

The Kinzua Dam has cast a long shadow on Seneca life since World War II. The project, formally dedicated in 1966, broke the Treaty of Canandaigua of 1794, flooded approximately 10,000 acres of Seneca lands in New York and Pennsylvania, and forced the relocation of hundreds of tribal members. Hauptman offers both a policy study, detailing how and why Washington, Harrisburg, and Albany came up with the idea to build the dam, and a community study of the Seneca Nation in the postwar era. Although the dam was presented to the Senecas as a flood control project, Hauptman persuasively argues that the primary reasons were the push for private hydroelectric development in Pennsylvania and state transportation and park development in New York. This important investigation, based on forty years of archival research as well as on numerous interviews with Senecas, shows that these historically resilient Native peoples adapted in the face of this disaster. Unlike previous studies, In the Shadow of Kinzua highlights the federated nature of Seneca Nation government, one held together in spite of great diversity of opinions and intense politics. In the Kinzua crisis and its aftermath, several Senecas stood out for their heroism and devotion to rebuilding their nation for tribal survival. They left legacies in many areas, including two community centers, a modern health delivery system, two libraries, and a museum. Money allocated in a “compensation bill” passed by Congress in 1964 produced a generation of college-educated Senecas, some of whom now work in tribal government, making major contributions to the Nation’s present and future. Facing impossible odds and hidden forces, they motivated a cadre of volunteers to help rebuild devastated lands. Although their strategies did not stop the dam’s construction, they laid the groundwork for a tribal governing structure and for managing other issues that followed from the 1980s to the present, including land claims litigation and casinos.