One reality: Vermont recognized Abenaki work hard to preserve language, share culture, and even have food banks for the less fortunate. Another possible reality: they have used claims of indigeneity to obtain hundreds of thousands… Read More »APTN Investigates: Abenaki in Quebec allege tribes recognized in Vermont are committing cultural identity theft
“There’s ample, ample evidence, documentary evidence that the individuals today claiming to be Abenaki in Vermont, who are members of these tribes, are the descendants of primarily people who came from Quebec in the 1800s.… Read More »NHPR: Why Vermont tribes, New Hampshire groups might claim to be Abenaki without ever proving ancestry
“Mississquoi, Elnu, Koasek and Nulhegan also asked the Vermont Legislature that some of the federal recognition criteria not be included in the state recognition process. The Legislature obliged. “For starters, the groups didn’t want genealogy… Read More »Vermont Public: Why are Abenaki Nations challenging the legitimacy of Vermont’s state-recognized tribes?
Leaders of the tribal government at Odanak First Nation have also called out the Nulhegan Band’s chief, Don Stevens, as falsely claiming Abenaki heritage. Two detailed genealogies of Stevens’ family provided to NHPR show no… Read More »NHPR: Review of genealogies, other records fails to support local leaders’ claims of Abenaki ancestry
“We are a nation, as simple as that, and we inherit our rights from our families and our ancestors who were here first.” Read more at Seven Days.
Joseph Bruchac, the city of Saratoga Springs’ designated poet laureate, has made his name and reputation as an Abenaki storyteller and writer. He may even be the Abenaki’s most prominent living representative, a role that… Read More »Times Union: Churchill: Is Joseph Bruchac truly Abenaki?