The Great Hill People of the Beautiful River and Their Conservation Efforts

This story is a part of the Native American Blog Series in observance of National Native American Heritage.

The Seneca Nation of Indians are the “Keepers of the Western Door” and are called the “Great Hill People” or “O-non-dowa-gah” in their own language. The Seneca people are culturally attached to their ancestral lands, and call the Allegheny River the “Ohi’yo” which translates into “beautiful river”. The Ohi’yo or Allegheny River joins the Monongahela River to form the Ohio River, which then the Ohio River flows into the Mississippi River. To many Seneca Native Americans, the Allegheny River and its connections are simply called Ohi’yo  River no matter what region it is in.

Mississippi River and its tributaries. Photo Credit: DEMIS Map Server

The Allegany River (in NY) or Allegheny River (in PA) which flows into the Ohio (Ohi’yo) River and then the Mississippi River. Photo Credit: geocaching.com

Currently, the Seneca Nation of Indians holds 53,884 acres of Tribal lands within two territories: the Allegany and the Cattaraugus, as well as the Oil Springs Reservation which is 640 acres in the state of New York.  Photo Credit: eSpatially New York, 2015

The Seneca Nation of Indians has a robust wildlife program and is undertaking many projects to protect and restore fish and wildlife cultural important to their people.  In 2015, the Seneca Nation of Indians were awarded Federal funding for a project titled “Conservation Management” through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Tribal Wildlife Grant (TWG) program. The goal of the project is to increase stream and shoreline restoration within the Cattaraugus Creek, to benefit sacred fish species including the brook trout and steelhead fish. According to Seneca oral histories, the Great Spirit had caught and admired the beauty of the brook trout. The Great Spirit’s touch turned the black ebony color of the trout into silvery spots and halos. Since the brook trout had been handled by the Great Spirit and spared for its beauty to live on, the Seneca Nation of Indians do not eat brook trout, but hold it as sacred in the highest regard of fish (Indian Legend received by Larry Becelia).

5 miles of in-stream pooling structure and bank stabilization were constructed in the Great Lakes Basin and the Ohio River Basin areas. Photo Credit: Zintkala Eiring

Stream-bank stabilization in the Cattaraugus Territory shown by Greg Lay. Photo Credit: Zintkala Eiring

Additionally, a freshwater hatchery in Cattaraugus Territory, which will also serve as an educational center for the community, is being created under management of Greg Lay, Fish and Wildlife Department for the Seneca Indian Nation. The hatchery will be used for Eastern brook trout. The Seneca Nation provides power to both facilities using solar panels and other sustainable methods.

Another project the Seneca Nation of Indians is working on is to stabilize the walleye population, which is a fish that is both a culturally significant and a subsistence food for the Seneca Nation of Indians, through establishment of a fish rearing facility in the Allegany territory. The rearing facility is managed by Shane Titus, the Fishery’s Manager and and Larry Becelia, the Conservation Manager of Seneca Nation of Indians Fish and Wildlife Department. The highland Strain of Walleye (adult male and females) are caught from the Allegany Reservoir during spawning season using an electroshocking boat. After the reproductive materials have been collected by the caught adults, they are released further up the Allegany River. This location is chosen in hopes that mature walleye will stay up river and spawn in the future to increase the upstream population. When the walleye fry hatch in the rearing facility, they are released where the Allegany reservoir and Allegany River meet.

Larry Becelia, Conservation Manager  of the Seneca Nation Fish and Wildlife Department holding a walleye.

The Seneca Nation Fish and Wildlife Department has also established a research program, in which walleye females that were caught, held, and released from the facility are tagged with URL links, identification numbers, and QR codes. This system is used in the hopes that future anglers can log the individual fish into the system and see where it has traveled on the map. One example of this form of “citizen science” was encountered when a fisherman caught a walleye female all the way in Pennsylvania! The Seneca Nation of Indians have also built a stocking pond near the facility for catch and release fishing of walleye, to ensure that traditional fishing activities are available for the Tribal community.

Adult female walleye with the url: senecaconservation.com. The tag also provides a QR code where anglers can track where the fish swam: https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/ea698c5e03124fa6875adb382319a09c Photo Credit: Shane Titus

Shane and Larry stir walleye eggs using turkey feathers to increase the productivity. Photo Credit: Zintkala Eiring

The Walleye Rearing Facility. Photo Credit: Zintkala Eiring

 

Shane and Larry also organize a youth program in the summer to create artificial habitat for fish. Eleven- to sixteen-year olds use recycled vinyl siding, quick cement, and pipes to create a resting place for spawning fish. Using grant funds, the Seneca Nation of Indians have also been able to order large boulders to be placed into the freshwater system to provide resting pools for fish. Photo Credit: Zintkala Eiring

In addition, the Seneca Nation of Indians is in partnership with Cornell University and the State of New York to research the chytrid disease in the eastern hellbender, a protected species of large salamander. Several individuals with the disease were unable to be cured, and thus, are unable to be released back into their natural system. Currently, the SNI resource managers, Shane and Titus, continue to take care of a handful of eastern hellbenders. Fortunately, several hellbenders without the chytrid disease were able to be released into their natural environment in the summer of 2017.

The hellbender facility in the Allegany Territory. Photo Credit: Zintkala Eiring

Zintkala holding a 8-year-old eastern hellbender. Photo Credit: Richard Zane

The O-non-dawa-gah or Seneca people have been conserving their lands for thousands of years. Through the tribal wildlife grants program, they continue to demonstrate their ancestral ties to the Ohi’yo River and its wildlife inhabitants, as well as the protection of species through their hatchery, stream-bank restoration projects, and species recovery programs. Tribal environmental managers pass on their traditional ecological knowledge and conservation skillset to Seneca youth each summer, so generations can continue O-non-dawa-gah traditions into the future.

The Seneca Indian Nation’s conservation management projects were made possible by the dedication and efforts of the Seneca Nation of Indians, other partnerships, and the Tribal Wildlife Grants program of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Tribal wildlife grants are funded through an annual appropriation from the Land and Water Conservation Fund. These grants have awarded more than $77 million to Tribes since 2003, which provide support for approximately 444 conservation projects throughout Indian Country. For more information about tribal wildlife grants please visit https://www.fws.gov/northeast/nativeamerican/index.html

The Norwottuck People of the Connecticut River Watershed

This story is a part of a Native American Blog Series in observance of National Native American Heritage Month.

During the peak of fall in September, visitors to the Fort River Division of the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge time-traveled to the ancient Native American heritage site of the Norwottuck people (who belong to the Algonquin Native American culture). Travelers stepped back 8,000 years to discover that many Native tribes lived and thrived in the Connecticut River watershed for thousands of years. Guests excavated in a sand-box archaeological dig, viewed projectile point arrowheads used for subsistence hunting and fishing by Native Americans thousands of years ago, and learned about the 1630’s contact period of European settlers. Visitors finished their journey into current day, knowing that Native American Nations still embrace their culture and practice their sovereignty in Massachusetts and across the United States. Walking along the bridge, visitors realized that beneath them lay thousands of years of important history that lives on in the culture of Native American Tribes today.

As the Jr. Native American Liaison for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, I was able to tell this story and share my Native culture in the process. In late May, I joined the Student Conservation Association internship with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service having never been to the Northeast before. Coming from the prairie and Black Hills of South Dakota, Massachusetts was a long way from home. However, I was passionate to serve Tribes in whatever capacity I could. I now work with Southeastern and Northeastern Native American Tribes through my position.

As an Oglala Lakota-Sioux Native American, I sought the opportunity to learn more about Tribes closer to the Atlantic. Researching technical reports of the Fort River Division creation (containing archaeological information), New England Tribes encyclopedia (Bruce, 1978), and “Historic and Archaeological Resources of the Connecticut River Valley” (Galvin, Massachusetts Historical Commission), I learned the rich past and present of Tribes along the Connecticut River. Using creativity, passion, and accredited resources, I designed a Native American Storybook of the Norwottuck, Algonquin people. The 28-page story was displayed on kiosks along the Fort River Division 1.2 mile loop trail throughout the month of September.

Visitors admiring an uncovered replica Native American tool. Photo Credit: Zintkala

Projectile points dating back 8,000 years ago or less. Photo Credit: Zintkala Eiring

On Saturday, September 16th, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, invited the public to join them in activities to go along with the Storybook. Through partnership with Tim Binzen, the Service’s Native American Liaison for the Northeast and Southeast, and Eric Johnson, the University of Massachusetts-Amherst Archaeologist, projectile point artifacts were on display for visitors. Children, parents, students, and trail-walkers alike, got to hold an arrowhead dating back 8,000 years.

Families also excavated replica pottery shards and arrowheads from sandboxes while learning about the richness of history and Native American culture. Photo Credit: Zintkala Eiring

Guests also made arrowheads using clay molds. Photo Credit: Zintkala Eiring

Visitors enjoying the replica archaeological excavation. Photo Credit: Zintkala Eiring

Later in the month, the External Affairs office of the Northeast Regional office of the Fish and Wildlife Service also visited the Storybook Trail at Fort River and each individual had the opportunity had to read a page from the story of Keme and Sokanon.

I hope that reading that storybook on that sunny day in September changed Fort River visitors, including my own colleagues at the agency. Student Conservation Association intern, Ben Whittlebee, remarked, “When I hold this arrowhead, I feel a little bit closer to the people who lived here before me. It’s like having a piece of them with me.”

Tim Binzen, Native American Liaison for the Northeast and Southeast and former Refuge Archaeologist led the walk and discussed the importance of projectile points in Native American culture. Photo Credit: Leah Hawthorn

Tim Binzen mentioned that all projectile points tell a story of the people. These points were shaped differently and specifically for different uses and those methods were passed down from generation to generation. Christine Eustis, also a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employee and visitor to the Storybook, mentioned that she had learned so much. She looks at wigwams and tepees with a different perspective and she understands more of the Native Americans of this area. Several visitors can now identify jewelweed and pokeberry, plants that were and are important to New England Tribes.

Keme (thunder in Algonquian language) and Sokanon (rain in Algonquian language) are fictional brother and sister from the Norwuttuck Tribe in the Storybook, who explain their story of seasons, cultural activities, and timeline events of their home.

The Storybook concept is designed for children, but we can all learn from it.  At the end of the story, Sokanon and Keme discuss the sovereign nations recognized in the United States today. In fact, there are 567 federally recognized Tribes in the United States.  including nine Tribes in Massachusetts, seven of which are state-recognized.

The story says, “Communities are led by a Sachem (similar to a Chief, President, or Chairman). In 1885, English colonists mentioned that it was common for a woman to lead a village by virtue or hereditary descent as sachem. This holds true today for the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head, as Cheryl Andrews-Maltais is the Chairwoman, leader of the tribe”. The sister, Sokanon, goes on to say, “I’d like to be Sachem when I grow up”. The brother, Keme, responds, “I think you’d make a great leader, numis (sister in Algonquian)!”  

I enjoyed learning about the Native Tribes of the Connecticut River watershed. My experience sharing the story with children and adults in Hadley was so incredible. If you missed the Storybook walk, you can still read Keme and Sokanon’s story through this download: Norwottuck Storybook

The Fort River Division of Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge is open throughout the year. You may plan your to Hadley, Massachusetts anytime! https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Silvio_O_Conte/about/ma.html#fort

Woman Scientist of Color Blazes Path for Others

Today, we will be hearing by Christina Uh, a graduate student at McCall Outdoor Science School through the University of Idaho and former Pathways intern for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This story is the fourth in the Native American Blog Series in observance of  National Native American Heritage Month. This content was originally written by Christina Uh and edited by Patrick Cooney in the The Fisheries Blog.

Adaptation; what does this word mean to you? To me it means overcoming obstacles that obstruct your mission, your goal, your purpose. It is your ability to succeed in the face of adversity; it is your power to be adaptable, strong, and tough.

I am of Mayan and Navajo descent and the first in my family to pursue higher education. Being a first-generation student is a great honor and privilege, and it has not come easy. I realize that to achieve my goals, I must be adaptable.

When reflecting on my journey, I am reminded of our elder: the Pacific Lamprey. Pacific Lamprey are migratory anadromous fish with an ancient lineage to the past. Their numbers are dwindling, and the obstacles they face on their upstream journey are not easily surmountable. Having worked with Pacific Lamprey while I pursued my undergraduate degree, I realized that today’s Pacific lamprey are a product of millions of years of persistent ancestors who lived before, during, and after the demise of so many others, including the dinosaurs. No matter the struggle, Pacific Lamprey have pressed on.

If adaptability is the ability to persist and continue towards your goals and purpose in the face of obstacles, then I too must be like the Pacific Lamprey and be persistent even in the most difficult of conditions. I too have come to think of myself as resilient.

Pursuing an undergraduate degree is one of the most difficult things I have decided to accomplish. There were times in which I felt myself become unmotivated, unsatisfied, and incapable of continuing. I have struggled with severe depression, anxiety, and insomnia, to the point of what felt like madness. My ability to push on was buoyed by the love, support, and encouragement of my mentors, family, and closest friends, without whom I would not have been able to overcome even some of the smallest of obstacles. Many of the select few researchers who focus on ensuring the future of Pacific Lamprey are also the ones who helped lift me up in my times of greatest need. After my first year of school it became abundantly clear that to ultimately succeed, I needed experience in the field of science, but I also needed to maintain a job to support myself financially.

I was fortunate to receive a PATHWAYS internship with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) at the Columbia River Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office in Vancouver, Washington as an office clerk. Although my dream job did not consist of shredding paper and booking travel arrangements, I took the opportunity with outstretched arms. While performing office duties, I would ask questions to those around me about their research while making them aware of my ultimate goals. This was my foot in the door into a biologist’s world, and alas, the opportunity paid off.

Over the 5 years working with USFWS, researchers gave me the opportunity to research the feeding requirements of Pacific Lamprey, to capture them in streams and rivers with electrofishing equipment (a common method of catch and release field sampling), and research their upper thermal tolerances. The researchers at USFWS supported me and gave me the opportunity to present our research at professional conferences, publish in a peer-reviewed journal, and meet wonderfully brilliant scientists who became my biggest advocates and mentors.

 

To this day, when I look back on some of my gloomy dark and rainy Pacific Northwest days spent at the library cramming for calculus and chemistry, I am not sure how I pulled through…but I did, and it was because of my ability to adapt combined with the support of others. In the Spring of 2017, after 6.5 years long years, I graduated from Portland State University (Portland, Oregon) with a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science.

Fast forwarding to the present, I write this from a cozy coffee shop in Lewiston, Idaho after my second day teaching middle school and high school students on the Nez Perce Reservation. As part of my master’s program at the University of Idaho, I am teaching students on the Reservation how to fly Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), AKA drones, to help them gain a sense of place and purpose.

Much like how lamprey lay down a scent trail to guide the way for other lamprey to find optimal upstream habitats, I have discovered how I can help the next generation of scientists succeed and adapt! I am currently one of two graduate students participating in a National Science Foundation funded project to build Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) identity in Native American Students as I pursue a M.S. in Natural Resources with a graduate certificate in Environmental Education and Science Communication at the McCall Outdoor Science School through the University of Idaho.

I know that there are obstacles ahead that I must overcome, but I have learned how to be adaptable and continue in the pursuit of my goals and purpose. I live in a yurt full time, on campus, with all of Idaho’s stunning backcountry as my playground. My cohort consists of incredible students from across the country and my advisor and professors are all top-notch. Leaving the comforts of my friends, family, and supporters in Portland, Oregon was challenging, but my journey continues, my resilience persists, and life is good.

As I wrap this up, I remind you, that my journey sounds great when it is all laid out like this in words. However, it was the ability to accept support and adapt in response to some of the most negative moments of my life that I was able to achieve what I have. I share this with you because I want you to know that I believe in you. I want you to know that there are others like you -individuals who identify with underrepresented, minority groups, who struggle with mental health, who are first-generation students, who are children of divorced parents, those who come from poverty, and those who have felt like giving up over and over again. We stand with you. I stand with you, and I can’t wait to see what you accomplish.