The Daily Bulletin Archive

The Equity and Campus Diversity Office, the Communication Department, and the Burchfield Penney Art Center are thrilled to announce the Buffalo premiere of Lake of Betrayal: The Story of Kinzua Dam as the next film in the fall 2017 Beyond Boundaries: Dare to Be Diverse film screening and discussion series, on Thursday, October 26, at 7:00 p.m. in the Burchfield Penney Art Center.

Lake of Betrayal is scheduled for release to PBS stations in November for Native American Heritage Month but will have an advance screening at Buffalo State through the Beyond Boundaries series. The film explores the history of Kinzua Dam on the Allegheny River in Warren, Pennsylvania, and its impact on the Seneca Indians, whose lands were taken for the reservoir and floodplain. The Senecas lost more than 10,000 acres, one-third of their treaty-protected land, on the Allegany Territory and all the adjacent Cornplanter Tract, which had been given by the State of Pennsylvania to Chief Cornplanter and his descendants. The project, completed in 1965, forced the removal of more than 130 Seneca families from their homes and properties and resulted in the destruction of many communities and towns along the upper Allegheny River.

The film’s director and co-writer, Paul Lamont, said, “Lake of Betrayal looks at how Kinzua Dam so drastically affected the Senecas’ way of life, and it examines the hidden agenda and political debts behind the United States government’s abrogation of the Canandaigua Treaty of 1794, which had guaranteed the Seneca Nation the free use and enjoyment of its lands forever.”

The film will be followed by a panel discussion featuring Mr. Lamont; Scott Sacket, producer and co-writer; Caleb Abrams, associate producer; and Suzanne John Blacksnake, Seneca, Deer Clan, storyteller. Please help us promote the film by displaying and distributing the poster.

We hope you will join us in supporting this important new documentary. We anticipate a large crowd, so please come early to ensure a seat.

Watch the trailer.

Visit the Facebook event page.