immanence

This is a follow-up to a series of posts shared here on the topic of Indigenous identity, allyship, and the situation in my local state of Vermont. The first three can be found here: titled “Reindigenization and allyship: starting points,” “Reindigenization & allyship, part 2,” and “Reindigenization & allyship, part 3: on getting it right.” I’ve been a co-organizer of several key events related to this issue at the University of Vermont, and I plan to share further thoughts on it in the future. Here I am just providing links to recent scholarship and reportage that could help bring readers up to date.

The conversation continues to evolve, and this page may be updated as it does. The list of links is not comprehensive. If you have other material you think should be here, please send it to me. This page was originally published on December 22, 2023, revised on May 7, 2024, and most recently updated on October 30, 2024.

In the last few years, it’s become widely known that many descendants of Vermont’s original Abenaki population, who largely reside today outside the state and are mostly affiliated with the Odanak and Wôlinak first nations, formally reject the 2011 and 2012 decisions by the State of Vermont to recognize four groups of people as Abenaki. Both Odanak and Wôlinak first nations are based and federally recognized in Canada, but not in the United States. The groups were not allowed to participate in Vermont’s state recognition process, despite the fact that they claim all of Vermont as their ancestral territory, have members living in the U.S. and in Canada, and reject the notion that state or federal boundaries should play a role in Indigenous recognition.

The University of Vermont has hosted a series of events of relevance to this issue.[See note 1] The first of them, called “Beyond Borders: Unheard Abenaki Voices from the Odanak First Nation,” was held on April 29, 2022, and it featured multiple speakers as well as performers from and related to the Abenaki of Odanak First Nation. A recording of the event can be viewed here.

The second event, called “Indigenous Sovereignty, Race-Shifting, and University Responsibility,” was held on April 28, 2023. It featured multiple Indigenous scholars discussing the question of Indigenous identity. Key parts of it, including the lecture by University of Alberta sociologist Kim TallBear (Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate), can be viewed here. (For full disclosure, I chaired this event.)

A third, related event entitled “Indigenous Belonging and Rights in the Northeast,” held on April 25, 2024, featured Mi’kmaw legal scholar Pamela Palmater and sociologist Darryl Leroux, and was moderated by Anishinaabe scholar Gordon Henry. The entire event can be viewed here.

(Another University of Vermont event featuring somewhat different perspectives was held on April 17, 2024. Called “Highlighting Abenaki: UVM Collaborations that Bridge Communities,” it can be read about here.)

All of these events have been followed by media reportage as well as responses from the state-recognized Abenaki groups, referred to in the coverage shared below. The following is a list of the more recent resources that bring these questions up to date since my post of September 21, 2022. They are listed in chronological order. The list may be expanded without notice, as appropriate.

• Josh Crane, “Odanak First Nation’s Mali Obomsawin tells Indigenous stories through music,” National Public Radio, November, 2022 – Odanak citizen Mali Obomsawin briefly discusses this issue in her interview
• Elodie Reed, “UVM officials apologize to Vt. state-recognized tribes while Odanak reps continue to denounce them,” Vermont Public, February 9, 2023
• Elodie Reed, “Vt. Native American commission official says she’s resigning over members’ false claims of Indigeneity, misogyny,” Vermont Public, February 13, 2023
• David Savoie, “Controverse autour de l’identité abénakise de quatre groupes au Vermont” (“Controversy surrounding the Abenaki identity of four groups in Vermont”), Radio-Canada (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation), April 30, 3023
• Julie Furukawa, “Review of genealogies, other records fails to support local leaders’ claims of Abenaki ancestry,” New Hampshire Public Radio, May 22, 2023
• Kim TallBear, “Self-Indigenization, Genocide, and Native Resistance,” Unsettle, July 13, 2023 – This includes the script of the talk TallBear gave at the April, 2023, event at UVM mentioned above. TallBear (Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate) is Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Peoples, Technoscience, and Society at the University of Alberta and one of the most cited Indigenous scholars in North American academia.
• Darryl Leroux, “State Recognition and the Dangers of Race Shifting: The Case of Vermont,” American Indian Culture and Research Journal 46.2 (2023), published on July 14, 2023, https://doi.org/10.17953/aicrj.46.2.leroux – This peer-reviewed article provides a detailed examination and refutation of claims of Abenaki descendancy among Vermont’s four state-recognized tribes. The article is in part responsible for much of the coverage of the issue since its publication. Leroux is an associate professor of sociology and political studies at the University of Ottawa. He maintains the Raceshifting resource.
• Julie Furukawa, Elodie Reed, “Why Vermont tribes, New Hampshire groups might claim to be Abenaki without ever having to prove ancestry,” New Hampshire Public Radio, August 8, 2023
• Chris Churchill, “Is Joseph Bruchac truly Abenaki?” Times Union, September 30, 2023
• Brave Little State, “Recognized”: Parts 1, 2, and 3, Vermont Public, first aired/uploaded on October 19, 2023 – This three-part radio/podcast series provides the most comprehensive coverage of this issue to date.
• Tom Fennario, “Abenaki in Quebec allege tribes recognized in Vermont are committing cultural identity theft,” Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN), October 20, 2023
• Shaun Robinson, “‘A false narrative’: Abenaki leaders dispute the legitimacy of Vermont’s state-recognized tribes,” VT Digger, November 14, 2023
• Media Indigena, The debate over state vs. federal recognition of tribes in the U.S., episode 334, December 3, 2023 (minutes 3’45” to 28’30” are especially relevant to the Vermont situation; note that the Vermont case gets singled out as the “worst” of state recognition processes)
• Kevin McCallum, “Fighting between Québécois and Vermont Abenaki tribes puts conservation groups in a bind,” Seven Days, December 13, 2023
• American Indians in Children’s Literature, “Leaders of Abenaki Nations request Educators stop using books by specific individuals in Vermont’s ‘Abenaki’ tribes,” February 20, 2024
• Jessica Dolan, “The Abenaki Nation has collective rights in their unceded homelands of Vermont,” The Commons, February 21, 2024
• Elodie Reed & Mitch Wertlieb, “Abenaki Nations call for Vermont to reconsider state recognition is getting mixed response,” Vermont Public, March 26, 2024
• Alex Bertoni, “Panel highlights UVM collaborations with Abenaki,” UVM Today, April 17, 2024
• APTN National News, “Identity fraud discussed at UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues,” Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN), April 17, 2024
• United Nations Web TV, “Identity fraud and Indigenous self-determination,” UN WEb TV, April 17, 2024 – Complete video of the Odanak First Nation’s testimonial event at the United Nations.
• Marie-Laure Josselin, “Défendre l’identité des Abénakis à ‘ONU: ‘on est le rêve le plus fou de nos ancêtres” (“Defending the identity of the Abenakis at the UN: ‘we are the wildest dream of our ancestors’,” Radio-Canada, April 18, 2024
• Elodie Reed, “Abenaki peoples speak at the United Nations about Indigenous identity fraud in Vermont,” Vermont Public, April 18, 2024
• Dan D’Ambrosio, “Chief of the Abenakis of Odanak once again denounces Vermont Abenakis as frauds,” Burlington Free Press, April 19, 2024
• Dan D’Ambrosio, “Vermont Abenaki chiefs defend their identities in advance of UVM symposium,” Burlington Free Press, April 24, 2024
• Ka’nhehsí:io Deer, “Abenaki in Quebec take identity fraud concerns to the United Nations,” CBC News (also shared at Indigenous Watchdog), April 24, 2024
• Dan D’Ambrosio, “Vermont’s Abenaki tribes are once again called out as frauds at UVM symposium,” Burlington Free Press, April 27, 2024
• Shaun Robinson, “Dispute over Abenaki identity in Vermont grows more entrenched,” VT Digger, May 3, 2024
• David Massell, “The awkward truth about Vermont’s ‘Abenaki’,” VT Digger, May 29, 2024
• Tim de la Bruere, “Abenaki people were excluded from the state recognition process. I was one of them,” VT Digger, July 3, 2024
• Dan D’Ambrosio, “Odanak Abenakis to press their case before UN in Geneva that Vermont Abenakis are frauds,” Burlington Free Press, July 5, 2024
• Richard Witting, “Any ‘truth and reconciliation’ must begin with truth,” VT Digger, October 10, 2024
• Richard Witting, “Accounting for those sterilized: An analysis of eugenical sterilization certificates filed under Vermont’s 1931 Act for Human Betterment by Voluntary Sterilization,” University of Vermont History Review vol. xxxiv (2023-24): 116-166. – This research includes the results of the first systematic analysis of those actually targeted by Vermont’s notorious 1931 “Act for Human Betterment by Voluntary Sterilization” (eugenic sterilization act).
• Lexi Krupp, “Vermont’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission marks new phase with first public event,” Vermont Public, October 16, 2024
• Shaun Robinson, “As Vermont’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission lays out its plans, it faces renewed criticism from Abenaki leaders,” VT Digger, October 17, 2024.
• Lexi Krupp, “The sprawling task ahead for Vermont’s historic truth commission,” Vermont Public, October 30, 2024

For more detailed background, including links to historical documents, the following are especially recommended:

• Unsettling Vermont, an independent web site compiled and maintained by scholars and Indigenous people: https://unsettlingvermont.com/
• Abenaki Heritage, the web site of an organization founded by the Abenaki Councils of Odanak and W8linak and the Grand Conseil de la Nation Waban-Aki: https://abenakiheritage.org/
• A list of relevant articles maintained by Debbie Reese (Nambé Pueblo), curator of American Indians in Children’s Literature, last updated October 20, 2023
• Links to the web sites of the four state-recognized Vermont Abenaki groups can be found here: https://vcnaa.vermont.gov/cultural-resources.
• See also https://www.atowi.org/, created by current Vermont Commission of Native American Affairs chair Rich Holschuh, which includes responses from state-recognized tribes. (On Holschuh and the reasons for Beverly Little Thunder’s resignation from the VCNAA, see the February 13, 2023, Vermont Public article, listed above.)

Again, this list is a work in progress and may change as more information becomes available.

1. The wording in this sentence was changed on Dec. 22, 8:45 pm, to correct the impression that the University as an institution was responsible for organizing these events. While a number of departments/programs co-sponsored them, the University administration was not involved in their organization. University administrators have avoided any statements of support for the position of Abenaki groups other than the state-recognized tribes.↩