P
State of Washington v. Satiacum encourages
northwestern Indian fishing.
The Washington State Supreme Court hears State
of Washington v. Satiacum, a case involving the ar-
rest of Robert Satiacum, a Puyallup and Yakama
Indian who is accused of fishing steelhead trout
with gill nets out of season. The court dismisses the
charges, which will encourage many northwestern
Indians to start taking more advantage to the fish-
ing rights granted to their ancestors by treaties with
the United States.
1958The Seneca object to the construction of the
Kinzua Dam.
The Seneca begin a campaign to stop work by the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the Kinzua Dam.
“I would like to point out that
the 1794 Treaty was signed by
the Seneca Nation,... [which] re-
mains today exactly what it was
165 years ago—in the words of
the court... a ‘quasi-sovereign
independent nation.’... I know
it will sound simple and per-
haps silly but the truth of the
matter is that my people really
believe that George Washing-
ton read the 1794 Treaty before
he signed it, and that he meant
exactly what he wrote.”
—Seneca Nation president
George D. Heron, speaking out
against the Kinzua Dam project
before the House Subcommittee
on Indian Affairs in 1960First proposed in 1908, the dam is intended to con-
trol flooding along the Ohio and Allegheny Rivers,
but its reservoir would flood two Seneca reserva-
tions, one in Pennsylvania and one in New York,
forcing the relocation of some 130 tribe members.
The dam would also destroy the Cold Spring Long-
house, the Seneca’s spiritual center, and flood the
cemetery where 18th-century Seneca leader Corn-
planter is buried.
In the media and the courts, the Seneca claim
that building the dam is a direct violation of the
1794 Treaty of Canandaigua, which gave the
Iroquois possession of the lands that would be
damaged by the redirected waters. The tribe also
hires engineers to find an alternate site where the
dam could more effectively control flooding with-
out threatening the Seneca’s reservations. Ignoring
their efforts, the U.S. government will move ahead
with the dam’s construction (see entry for OCTOBER
1964).Mungo Martin creates a totem pole for the
British Columbia centennial.
Kwakiutl artist Mungo Martin is honored by
Queen Elizabeth of England with a commission to
create 100-foot totem pole for Windsor Great Park
as part of British Columbia’s centennial celebration.
Despite the Canadian government’s ban on the
potlatch ceremony (see entry for APRIL 19, 1884),
Martin has devoted his life to making ceremonial
carvings that, in large measure, have been respon-
sible for keeping the Kwakiutl’s artistic traditions
alive.The Tuscarora fight to prevent the
New York State Power Authority from
seizing their land.
To the ire of the Tuscarora, the New York State
Power Authority announces a plan to locate a res-
ervoir on a large portion of their land near Niagara
Falls. The Tuscarora Tribal Council rejects an offer
of monetary compensation, maintaining that the
land is more important to them than money. The
council decides to take its case to court (see entry
for MARCH 7, 1960).