BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Seneca Chief was the first boat to travel down the Erie Canal when it opened nearly 200 years ago in 1825.

Rebuilding this piece of history has been a community project. Some 200 volunteers came to the Canalside Longshed to bring the Seneca Chief to life.

Buffalo Creek, where the Erie Canal begins, was home to the Haudenosaunee. The construction of the canal came at a great cost to them. Seneca Chief not only commemorates the opening of the canal but is also being used to share this part of history.

“So what happened in the face of progress?" asked Brian Trzeciak, executive director of the Buffalo Maritime Center. "And we always talk about the Erie Canal as being this wonderful thing. And it is, but it also plays a role in the displacement of the Haudenosaunee. The Haudenosaunee are resilient. They're still here. They're still a part of our culture and we want to let people know that we must tell their story as well as it's intrinsically connected to the Erie Canal.”

Seneca Chief will be hauled out of the Longshed building at the beginning of May. She will float at the commercial slip and serve as a floating museum.

Then on September 24, 2025, she will trek down the Erie Canal to New York City, making stops at towns along the way. This will take place while the World Canal conference is in Buffalo as well.

Why the boat is called Seneca Chief isn't known, but it’s assumed the name serves as a tribute and memorial to the sacrifices the Haudenosaunee made during the construction of the Erie Canal.