Seneca Nation of Indians Partners with National Park Service on Exhibit and Cultural Education at Fort Necessity

Michael Galban, a Public Historian from Ganondagan State Historic Site in New York puts some finishing touches on the "Seneca and the French and Indian War" exhibit.

Chuck Wagner

News Release Date: April 14, 2014

Contact: Brian Reedy, 724-329-5470

FARMINGTON, Pa., The National Park Service has partnered with the Seneca Nation of Indians in New York. This partnership includes a museum exhibit, cultural festival, and cultural training. The Seneca-Iroquois National Museum in New York has developed the exhibit entitled "The Seneca and the French & Indian War.Installation is in progress and the exhibit opens April 19, 2014 for National Park Week at Fort Necessity National Battlefield.It will be displayed in the park's visitor center through March 31, 2015.

In celebration of National Park Week, April 19 and 20 is a fee free weekend at all National Parks. Entrance fees will be waived at the National Park sites in western Pennsylvania – Fort Necessity, Johnstown Flood National Memorial, and Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site.Flight 93 National Memorial and Friendship Hill National Historic Site are National Park sites that do not have entrance fees.

The Onöndowa’ga:' (Seneca) are one of the six nations of Haudenosaunee (“Iroquois Confederacy”), or people of the Long House.The Onöndowa’ga:’ are known at “Keepers of the Western Door” within that political alliance.In the 1700’s their influence extended far beyond their traditional homelands in New York State as they played a prominent role in the political and military events surrounding the French and Indian War.

“The Seneca and the French and Indian War” reveals aspects of the Seneca and Haudenosaunee culture and how it influenced the events of the mid-1700s.Artifacts on loan from the Rochester Museum & Science Center and the Seneca-Iroquois National Museum will be displayed along with pieces from Fort Necessity’s collection.

A cultural weekend is planned forJune 28-29, 2014 at Fort Necessity. Guest lecturers and cultural demonstrators will highlight the event with focus on Seneca life in mid-18th century America. Special programming at the event will include demonstrative arts of traditional dance and children’s games, as well as talks on the Seneca involvement in the French and Indian War and the use wampum in Seneca culture.

While the exhibit and cultural weekend highlight Onöndowa’ga’:s (Seneca’s) roles as diplomats and warriors in the French and Indian War, and in the development of “The Seneca Plan” that eventually became known as Pontiac’s War, they also aim to inform that the Seneca are still a vibrant and dynamic sovereign Nation in New York State.

During the fall of 2014, members of the Seneca-Iroquois National Museum and the National Park Service will conduct a teacher's in-service Haudenosaunee culture and history.

Fort Necessity National Battlefield is located 11 miles east of Uniontown, Pennsylvania on US 40 – The Historic National Road.Admission to the park is $5.00 per adult, children 15 and under are free of charge.The fee is collected at the Interpretive and Education Center and is valid for seven days.For more information on park programs, call 724-329-5811 or visit the park web site at www.nps.gov/fone.