A deeply disturbing documentary about a little-remembered cultural tragedy in the 1960s, filmmaker Paul Lamont’s Lake of Betrayal reveals yet another shameful instance of indigenous people in America being robbed of both rights and land that was lawfully ceded to them via treaties. The focus here is on the building of the Kinzua Dam on the Allegheny River in Pennsylvania, which displaced the Seneca Nation of Indians from ancestral lands in breach of a treaty signed by no less than George Washington. As Roosevelt-era federally-funded public works programs turned into a postwar jumpstart for the economy, dam-building remained a popular solution for meeting heightened demand for electricity. The decision to build the Kinzua Dam despite the objections of Seneca Indians and others resulted in a 27-mile reservoir that flooded beautiful reservation land that not only long supported a population but also was the burial ground for generation upon generation. The full story of the Kinzua project--which was touted as a solution to flooding problems in Pittsburgh but was actually a for-profit hydroelectric giveaway--makes for compelling if also sober viewing, employing a wealth of archival footage capturing the heroic efforts of Seneca activists to try to stop a catastrophe. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (T. Keogh)
Lake of Betrayal
(2017) 57 min. DVD: $19.95 ($125 w/PPR). Vision Maker Media. Closed captioned. Volume 33, Issue 3
Lake of Betrayal
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