Rigidized® Metals Sculpture Pays Homage to Indigenous Heritage

Learn more about this sculpture and the celebration event, here.

Below is the story of the history of the area, and how Gastowë’ came to be:

Reviewing a title search in 2001, I stumbled upon the fact that Rigidized is in fact located on land, which belonged to Buffalo Creek Indian Reservation right here on Ohio Street or as the Title search reads “Lot No. 65, Township 10, Range 8 in the Buffalo Creek Reservation.” The search did not show when the Seneca Nation received the land, but it would have been around 1797 when the Treaty of Big Tree was signed. It did show that by Treaty “The Seneca Nation of Indians conveys” a certain portion of the premises on “January 15, 1838 to Thomas L. Ogden and Joseph Fellows for the Consideration of $202,000.” This date coincides with the Second Buffalo Creek Treaty. But this Treaty was widely repudiated, which led to the ratification and confirmation of the Third Buffalo Creek Treaty dated May 20, 1842, Acknowledged October 14 1845 and (finally) Recorded January 27, 1849.

To be a better steward of our portion of the Buffalo Creek Reservation, I resolved to learn more about the Haudenosaunee and more specifically the cultural heritage of the Seneca Nation. So we dug in and named a trail starting at Ohio Street following an old field railroad track, and running deep into Silo City: “Došyowëh,” which means “between the basswoods” and was what the Haudenosaunee long ago called the land around Buffalo Creek.

I also wanted to know why the Senecas were forced to leave the Buffalo Creek Reservation. What I found was that beginning in 1837, four agents of the “Ogden Land Company, Herman Potter a Buffalo attorney, Orlando Allen, James Stryker, and Henry P. Wilcox bribed, intimidated and deceived 43 of the more than 80 Seneca chiefs to agree to the Second Buffalo Creek Treaty,” which was part of the Indian Removal policy initiated by President Andrew Jackson. It required the Seneca of Western New York to cede all of their reservation lands and move west of the Mississippi River specifically to Wisconsin and Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma), within five years. But, actually, after many legal battles in the 1850’s, Buffalo Creek was the only Haudenosaunee reservation to be dissolved and it sold to the Ogden Land Company.

Throughout the last decade, we have hosted several arts and cultural events with the Senecas next door at Silo City. And in 2021, I thought the time had come to commission a larger sculpture to celebrate the rich cultural heritage of the Haudenosaunee. The best location would of course be at the Došyowëh trailhead just three hundred yards from the Great Lake Erie.

We chose a renowned Seneca performing and visual artist Bill Crouse to lead the charge and come up with a suitable design that would utilize Rigidized Stainless Steel as the main material element. And wow what a perfect sculpture to challenge our Fabrication Department and pay tribute to our “Keepers of the Western Door.” Bill designed the traditional Seneca headdress or Gastowë’ with a single upright feather surrounded by several smaller bent feathers fabricated from our Rigidized pattern 1CS. Underneath the headdress is the traditional Hiawatha Belt wraps around the base of his sculpture, representing the original five (5) Haudenosaunee Nations and fabricated in pattern 1HM with a 1NA background.

Our fabrication team, led by Tom Shunk, executed Bill’s vision with their usual aplomb and the artist praised the team; “it’s better than I could have ever imagined!” So come on down and visit the sculpture and pay homage to the Guardians of our Harbor – The Keepers of our Western Door.”

-RSSIII July 2024