BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — A tree is planted in Buffalo. It is planted in the brush along the Buffalo River on what used to be Seneca land.

The tree is an Eastern White Pine, known to the Haudenosaunee as the Great Tree of Peace. The planting is a symbolic and hopeful gesture in advance of the historic voyage of the replica canal boat Seneca Chief.

To commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Erie Canal, the boat leaves Canalside Wednesday morning on its voyage to New York harbor with stops at 28 ports along the way. At each port, an Eastern White Pine will be planted, just as the first one was planted in Buffalo Sunday evening.

Dozens of people gathered in Seneca Bluffs Park off Seneca Street in Buffalo in a small ceremony before the tree planting. Seneca Bluffs was once part of the Buffalo

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