This is a brief follow-up to the 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.” As I’ve been a co-organizer of a few key events related to this issue at the University of Vermont, I have other thoughts I intend to share when I get a chance. Below I am simply providing links to recent scholarship and reportage that could help bring readers up to date on the topic. The conversation continues to evolve. If you have other material you think should be here, please send it to me. (This page last updated on April 19, 2024.)
Much has happened in recent months around this question of Vermont’s Indigenous people. 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, both based and federally recognized in Canada but not in the United States, formally reject the 2011 and 2012 decisions by the State of Vermont to recognize four groups of people as Abenaki. 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 and reject the notion that state or federal boundaries should play a role in Indigenous recognition.
The University of Vermont has hosted two recent events relevant to this issue.* 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,” featured multiple Indigenous scholars discussing the question of Indigenous identity. Key parts of it, including Kim TallBear’s lecture, can be viewed here. (For full disclosure, I chaired the latter event.)
A third, related event entitled “Indigenous Belonging and Rights in the Northeast,” featuring Mi’kmaw legal scholar Pamela Palmater and sociologist Darryl Leroux, and moderated by Anishinaabe scholar Gordon Henry, will be held on April 25, 2024. Further information is here.
Both of the earlier events were 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. They are listed in chronological order starting in February, 2023. The list may be expanded without notice, as appropriate.
- 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 leadrs’ claims of Abenaki ancestry,” New Hampshire Public Radio, May 22, 2023
- 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 of claims of Abenaki descendancy among Vermont’s four state-recognized tribes. It is in part responsible for much of the coverage of the issue since its publication.
- 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
- 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
- APTN National News, “Identity fraud discussed at UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues,” Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN), April 17, 2024
- 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
For more detailed background, including links to historical documents, the following are highly 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, Inc.: 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.
*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.
Another arrival to read:
« The bot so invisible border »
Note: while the USA establishes Native decent by heredity, kinship or blood quantum and the
He amount changes, Canada “renews” Indianess every so ma y generations. The 1822 Odanak census lists only 79 people there. In order to have reached to number of 3500 today, they would have to marry out or suffered severe health issues for marrying too closely with relatives. There for, without being “renewed” they approximately the same amount of heritage we do.
Note: There were no Watso’s in that list. His family went there in the 1900s proving the existence of families not at Odanak. The 1% notes in the failed recognition report on the Mississquoi also proves there were people who did not run to Odanak.
Note: Odanak was only one of approximately five forts and missions in the affected territory. But because of our fluid life style even Hesuits complained it was difficult to get and accurate count or roster of all the Abenaki who passed through.