The Environment and Sustainability Graduate Student Association (GSA) with the support of the Anthropology GSA, Indigenous Student Collective, the Indigenous Studies and Environment and Sustainability Departments, held its first public-facing event on October 24th, 2024 – a screening of the new short film Unheard Voices: The Fight for the Tonawanda Seneca Way of Life. The film portrays the existential threat posed by the WNY STAMP mega industrial site to the sovereign Tonawanda Seneca Nation. Featuring commentary by Tonawanda Seneca Nation members and impressive aerial footage, Unheard Voices reveals both the scale of the STAMP project and what is at stake for the Nation and Western NY in general. After the film, Christine G. Abrams and Grandell Logan of the Tonawanda Seneca Nation and Dani Goldthwait, a student from Dr. Isabel Porto-Hannes’s Environmental Capstone class provided even more historical, ecological and cultural context for the audience. Unheard Voices was produced by the Tonawanda Seneca Nation and Allies of the Tonawanda Seneca Nation and will be released on a public platform in the near future.

The Science & Technology Advanced Manufacturing Park (STAMP) is a massive industrial project being developed in Genessee County with millions of dollars in state and federal subsidies due to its designation as a “green” project. Situated between Buffalo and Rochester, the STAMP project is immediately adjacent to Tonawanda Seneca territory, the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge, and the Oak Orchard Creek Watershed – a major tributary of Lake Ontario. Besides showing how big the partially-developed STAMP site is, Unheard Voices gives the viewer an incredible visual perspective of the Big Woods – one of the last remaining old-growth forests in Western NY that has been stewarded and protected by the Tonawanda Seneca Nation for many generations. The film’s birds-eye view of industry crashing up against forest, grasslands, and wetlands, interspersed with the testimony of the Nation members and footage of the area’s cultural and biological richness had a big impact on the audience.

For more information about the Stop STAMP campaign and to learn how you can get involved, check out the Allies of the Tonawanda Seneca Nation website: alliesoftsn.weebly.com or email them at allies oftsn@gmail.com.

Article by Heather Squire