According to the book entitled "The Voice Of The Dawn, An Autohistory of the Abenaki Nation", written by Frederick Matthew Wiseman and Copyrighted in 2001, on page 170 under "The Investiture of Grand Chief St. Francis" it states that this Constitution was as a result of confidential advice for the Abenaki Tribal Council by Carol Neptun of the Abenaki Research Project (ARP), and Mark Nestor (Tribal Lawyer). This "confidential advice"/suggestions resulted in a rewrite of the Constitution, which we discussed in a November 05th, 1995 General Meeting and was "ratified" the following year on February 25th, 1996.
According to this author's own words he makes out like "Chief-For-Life" April (nee: St. Francis) Rushlow-Merrill graciously gave Fred Wiseman permission to quote from this Constitution a clause for it.
What astounds me, is that April St. Francis - Merrill implies that, because two children of the late Leonard "Blackie" Miles Lampman (they being Lance Matthew Lampman and his sister Lisa nee: Lampman - Rollo) and April's two siblings Harold "Charlie" St. Francis and Homer Walter St. Francis Jr., that the "core" families were represented at the time and signed the ratification of this Constitution! To make such an outlandish statement is outrageously absurd to my thinking! Another "signer" of this document was Dorcus (nee: Maskell) Churchill - Pellesier. I wonder if these were legitimate signatures from each and every person indicated to have signed their names to this document?
Think about this: on Page 171 of this book afore mentioned and recommended simply for comparative research, Homer St. Francis Sr. was directly quoted by the media as saying that, " Native American practice made it appropriate to keep the chieftainship in the St. Francis Family" and yet, Frederick Wiseman himself, "believes that this form of constitutional succession of power was unprecedented in the modern Wabanaki world". Then Mr. Wiseman states, " the Abenaki NEVER, by themselves had a Grand Chief. This "title" was reserved to the Chief of the Odawa's at the Great Council Fire at Kahnawake. The title of Grand Chief in intertribal confederacies was given to a highly respected leader who could hold several politically distinct communities together and speak on behalf of them. Certainly the documented histories of the various invented groups who to me were/are merely "incorporations" and self-created/ self-promoting alledgedly Abenaki "groups" in both Vermont and New Hampshire, it has been shown that even though so-called "Grand-Chief" Homer St. Francis Sr.tried to imply that he "spoke for" all of these other "groups", it has been (retrospectively-speaking) obviously documented that this was either or both an illusion and/or a delusion! So-called "Chief-For-Life"/ "Grand-Chief" Homer St. Francis Sr.'s daughter April Ann St. Francis - Merrill does not "speak for" nor does she "represent" all Abenaki descendant families who live either within the State of Vermont or New Hampshire, etc. though she will try to imply that she does! This is another illusion, distortion, and/ or a delusion on her part!
This "Constitution" is merely a setting up of a dictatorship of "power" and "control" out of a foundation of inflated ego's and self-importance on the part of the St. Francis family member's, who support(ed) and ally/allied with the late Homer St. Francis Sr. and/or his daughter April St. Francis - Merrill.
