Tuscarora Environment News Summer 2001 page 1

The Niagara River was once a prolific fishery. Early Seneca people undoubtedly harvested the rich runs of lake trout, Atlantic salmon and blue pike. But the Niagara was once the venerated source of river monsters, prehistoric legions of fish giants that grew larger than grown men. The Tuscarora brought ancient coastal knowledge from North Carolina into Seneca territory and onto the shores of the Niagara over two hundred years ago. Their fishing prowess continued well into the 20th century when Tuscarora men mastered the art of using hinged-barb “flybeard” spears to harvest the giant fish:

“And of course with those you had to be very careful… If you caught it wrong with your flybeard, why, it could swing out into the stream, and if you tried to hold on to it, first thing you know you were off balance and it’d pull you into the river down there. Once he was out in the current you didn’t stand a chance. You had to get it right behind the head. If you got it anywhere beyond halfway, you were going for a fast ride. If you didn’t give up your flybeard.” – Chief Edison Mt. Pleasant, Tuscarora Nation, tells of the fish giants in “Beyond the Falls” (1992) by Lisa Aug.

Although the Tuscarora were experts at bringing home lake sturgeon from the turbulent waters of the mighty Niagara, those days have faded into a nebula of pollution, habitat destruction and over fishing. Today, the sturgeon survives in a fraction of its original Great Lakes range, while the Atlantics and Blues have become extinct, save a few hatchery-stocked salmon. Almost 80 species of fish have been recorded as residents or migrants in the Niagara River, making it one of the most diverse freshwater fisheries in the world.

Hydropower facilities, invasive fish stocking programs and habitat degradation has changed all of this today. An important issue for many hydroelectric facilities is their impact on fish populations. The movement of water through dams, conduits, turbines, reservoirs or penstocks to produce electricity undoubtedly has an impact on aquatic life. Sometimes there are benefits to a ....

continued on page 3

Well Contamination Among the Haudenosaunee

Two popularized incidents in Walkerton, Ontario and Washington County, New York have brought the issue of drinking water safety out of analytical reports and into the limelight. Clean drinking water is becoming a rare occurrence where human impacts have destroyed the hydrologic balance of the Natural World. This includes many native communities across North America who rely on private wells for their drinking water.

Residents across Haudenosaunee territory at Akwesasne, Onondaga, Kanesatake and Cattaraugus have recently faced the news of contaminated drinking water in or near their community, sending leaders scrambling to find solutions.

Contaminated drinking water is not a new issue for the residents at Akwesasne. In 1998 contractors digging wells for a casino ruptured a pocket of salt water locked in the bedrock formations. The saline tainted groundwater spread to a number of residential wells on the reservation, forcing the Mohawks to extend a water line to residents affected by the contamination. However a recent report cites that as much as 30 percent of the private wells in Akwesasne are contaminated with bacteria. Grand Chief Mike Mitchell has been lobbying Ottawa for an extension of the public water system, where plans for the $24 million project have been on hold for

continued on page 2