North Buffalo is home to a new neighborhood recognition, with the state announcing the Scajaquada Heritage Area.
The newly recognized district runs from Flint Hill and Forest Lawn Cemetery, west to Unity Island Park, and south along Lake Erie to Freedom Park. State Assemblymember Jon Rivera and State Senator Sean Ryan credit Black Rock Historical Society founding member MaryAnn Kedron as the driving force behind the new recognition.
It’s a major moment because the Scajaquada’s importance should be shared beyond the local community Kedron said.
“I cannot believe I went to the state, both sides, both the Assembly and the (State) Senate, and they both said, ‘Yes, I see what you see.’ And I'm like, ‘No, this is scary,’ but it is a gem," she said. "And it is an amazing thing to be shared with the state and the nation. We are significant, and we've named our place.”
The current area was chosen because of Scajaquada Creek’s significance in Seneca history, and the area’s historical role with several battle sites from the War of 1812, Kedron said.
Scajaquada Creek is a reference to Phillip Conjeckety, a member of the Seneca Nation who also was known as Ska-dyoh-gwa-deh or “Beyond the Multitude,” according to the New York Heritage Digital Archives.
"His life connects us to the Haudenosaunee presence along these banks, reminding us that this waterway has always been tied to people, memory and meaning," Buffalo History Museum Executive Director Melissa Brown said. "The new Scajaquada Heritage Area will give us a chance to honor all of those whose stories and all the people who shaped them, connecting to the institutions, the neighborhoods and the landscapes that line the corridor today."
