July 07, 2001 Article - July 22, 2001 Article:

April St. Francis-Rushlow-Merrill claimed in this article of July 07, 2001 when Homer St. Francis Sr. died, that they were a descendants of Chief Grey Lock. Again, on January 11, 2003 in the Times Argus newspaper, April again stated, "What keeps me going is I’m doing this for the seven generations behind me. In our life system, you’re always doing it for the next seven generations and the next seven generations, whoever they are. Massacres, eugenics — they haven’t killed us out yet. A lot of us assimilated, but we have our own belief systems, we have our own culture. I know who I am and where I came from. I can trace my roots all the way back to chief Grey Lock in the 1700s, and then go back further than that."

April St. Francis - Rushlow - Merrill's ancestor (according to her and possibly from Mr. John Moody) was allegedly said to be "Francois St. Francis" born in May 1760 at Chambly. Francois' parents are given as Chief Francois Mitchell (who died June 1760 at Missisquoi in a battle with a group of Roger's Rangers) and his wife Marie Charlotte Nolette/ Wawanolet (born April 1737 at Fort St. Frederick). It was she who was the daughter of Chief Grey Lock according to the St. Francis family.

At first impression I guess one would conclude that April St. Francis-Merrill is an Abenaki descendant from Missisquoi as she alleges. But WAIT, here is the FACTUAL documented genealogical ancestry: From top to bottom (meaning down to April Merrill herself) her ancestors were François Semme dit Siroux dit St-François born in Rouen, Normandie, France who married to Élisabeth Isabelle Comeau September 29, 1772 at St. Joseph de Chambly, Chambly County, Quebec, Canada. Their son François Semme dit Siroux dit St. François born 1773 died December 11, 1845 at Marieville, Rouville County, Quebec, Canada. He married in Marguerite Hébert dit Larose January 28, 1799 at St. Joseph de Chambly, Chambly County, Quebec, Canada. Their son Francis Mitchell Siroux Giroux dit St. Francis born 1811 and died in 1863 married Charlotte "Carol" LaCombe on November 13, 1827 at St. Mathias sur Richelieu, Rouville County, Quebec, Canada. Their son Mitchell Siroux Giroux dit St. Francis born in March 1835 in Swanton, Franklin County, Vermont married to Cordelia Colombe (dau. of Louis S. Coulombe Colomb and Sophie Charbonnier dit St. Laurent) in 1860 in Swanton. Their son Nazaire St. Francis born June 08, 1867 in Swanton, died May 18, 1936 in Swanton. He married to Clara Hogue (dau. of Fabien Hogue and Adèle Vêtu dit Bélair) on September 05 1891 in Swanton, Vermont. Their son Nazaire St. Francis born Jan 31 1891 in Swanton married Florence Hakey, and it was their son who was Homer Walter St. Francis born on January 19, 1935 in Swanton, Vermont who is April's father. Yes, there is some 'Huron and or Western Algonquin Native ancestry" in April St. Francis' Merrill's genealogical background, that being Roch Manintoubeouich / Manitouabeouichit born ca. 1600 in Lake Huron, Ontario, Canada and his wife Outchibabhanoukoneau/ Outchibahabanoukouehou/squa born about 1606 at the same location. (Sherry Blanchard-Gould and Rhonda Besaw-True also share this couple in their perspective ancestries), Plus there is a few VERY distant (1600's) Mik'maq ancestors as well in her (April's) ancestry. So.....do the math. I don't see how the Swanton, Vermont "St. Francis family's ancestors" were "St. Francis Indians"/"Abenakis", let alone descendants of Grey Lock, who wasn't Abenaki in the first place! More genealogical information will be forthcoming on this blog from public sourced documents, on these people "reinventing themselves" into Vermont Abenakis. Grab your wader's, your hip-boots, and your paddle's (you don't want to lose one on the way into this mess).

Sagakwa Pow-wow Twin Mountain, N.H. June 30 - July 01, 2001

Richard "Dick" Boisvert was stating that perhaps some later cultural material has been missed Boisvert acknowledges, but he is confident that from top to bottom the teams' methods have been painstakingly thorough. "It's almost beyond my imagination," he says, "that there were later occupations that haven't shown up." It could be we haven't found them yet, but after four years I'm confident it's exclusively Paleo-Indian." So, there was no Abenaki Village ca. 1850 - 1880 found by anyone? WOW, I wouldn't hold my breath if I were Mr. Boisvert in the hopes of validating Ms. Millette-Doucet's "stories" that there was such an Abenaki Village where her Great Great Grandmother Almira Rines was born or raised in! Same goes for Almira's daughter too! Maybe Dick Boisvert ought to have become a genealogical researcher instead is my thoughts on the matter.

June 30 - July 1, 2001 Twin Mountain, NH Article http://www.twinmountain.org/sagakwa.html 603-846-5044. This is a gathering of all Indian nations, highlighting the Native people of New England, Hawaii and South America. There will be native arts and crafts, storytelling, drum circles, dancing, a recreated 18th century village, and a grand entry of dancers each day at noon. Admission for adults is five dollars, three dollars for children aged 6-16, and under six free. A great learning experience for the whole family!

Notice the name "Rose Hartwell", owner of the Dawnland Quillwork, in Pepperell, MA. Now take a look at this website link http://www.elnuabenakitribe.org/Nawihla2007.html.
This shows evidence that Rose Hartwell was an active participant in a proclaimed "re-enactor group" calling themselves (prior to 2005-2006) El-Nu. They did "re-enactments" at Fort Ticonderoga, etc, as did Jim and Terri Clothey. Then AFTER May 2006 etc this group then joined up with Nancy Millette-Cruger-Lyons (now Doucet) and whom now call themselves The El-Nu Abenaki Tribe. They even have a internet website and a Great Seal. But are any of these people, in whole or in part, actually Abenaki from and of Vermont and or New Hampshire ancestrally-speaking? The wearing of shoelace-less tennis shoes and playing a plywood hooped drum and at the same time claiming it was what the Abenaki used in 1609 or using fake imitation sinew does make me wonder if these folks are legitimately Abenaki or simply "Playing Indian" in Vermont and or New Hampshire! They were a part of Nancy Millette's Littleton and Twin Mountain event's, consistantly from the late 1990's all the way forward.... Then when Vermont signed the Bill S.117 Abenaki Recognition bill, this "group" calling themselves the El-Nu Abenaki Tribe or sub-tribe of the Koasek Abenaki then led by Co-Chief's Brian Chenevert and Nancy Millette Cruger Lyons, jumped on the bandwagon claiming they too were Vermont Abenakis. It all makes one wonder.

June 10, 2001 Stephen Laurent Article - June 28, 2001 Rick Hunt Article

I worked with Stephen "Atian" Laurent "L8l8" of Intervale, New Hampshire in his elder years of life, regarding the Abenaki Language. He was a kind hearted and soft spoken man. I remember him sitting on his porch waiting for my arrival on most occassions. He would get into my old van and we would go down to get his mail out of his mailbox and then over to the store down the street to get some store bought meals. I enjoyed and still cherish the times we spent together, limited as those times were wherein he would be speaking Abenaki and me trying to learn it. He helped me recreate Tape No. 4 of Dartmouth's Collection of Gordon Day's material. I sent Dartmouth a audio cassette of Tape Number 4.

It's not $85,000.00 dollar Language Grants that I was ever interested in back then or nowadays. In retrospect, it was the small endeavors, the meager shoe-string $20.00 dollar trips that meant the most, and it was what went the farthest I think, in the long run. Just like going up to Odanak, Quebec, Canada to visit with Cecile Wawanolette to get her material from Swanton put onto audio cassette. I had probably $40.00 to get to Odanak, and a little under $20.00 to get back down home back then. I bought Joseph Laurent's original dictionary for $20.00 dollars from Steven Laurent. It was written in the back and front by Atian himself. It was a kindness he showed to me when he let me borrow the CD Masters of Father Aubrey's Dictionary but it was also a cherished trust he gave to me, a younger person I will never forget; so that I could get duplicate's. He said, "here, you take these, and when your done with them, bring them back". I took them to Patricia Lilly's home in Ossipee, N.H. and we had two audio cassette double-tape machines going non-stop to get the audio tapes duplicated since we didn't have a CD burner set up sadly said at the time.

The June 26, 2001 Rick Hunt artist article, I find most interesting, in that Rick Hunt stated, "that he was Abenaki", just like his cousin Nancy Millette Cruger was doing. But again, where is the genealogical evidence from their ancestry to show this was true? Oh, thats right, anyone who demands or even hints at asking for the genealogical proof/evidence is perpetuating "genealogical genocide" against these people. "Playing Indian" in the Vermont/New Hampshire area has become quite popular and profitable over the years to some and to many.

April 19, 2001 Courier Article......

Nancy Millette-Cruger (at the time) stated, "I came on board to manage and promote Howard Lyons last season and we both felt New England promotion would be of benefit to his career," Cruger said. "We predicted it would take some time to get established in this area, but we have already exceeded our expectations! I am very pleased to see New England recognize the talent of Howard Lyons!" [Nancy] Cruger is also of Native American (Abenaki) decent and holds a titled of ambassador. Really, where is the Abenaki ancestry?! This alleged "Abenaki ancestry" of Nancy Millette a.k.a. Nancy Doucet (as she is called today) will be addressed documentarily later on in this blog.

Feb. 15, 2001 - March 14, 2001 Articles plus some other good stuff.

Mr. Frederick Wiseman himself stated in this first article "that the purpose of his opening up the "museum" and "Cultural Center" was for the benefit of Official Recognition, either from the State of Vermont and or from the Federal United States Government. Quote, "through that Recognition, the Abenaki will be able to gain access to the $$$$MONEY$$$$. They will say they need the money to get out of being unemployed, to combat low education levels, and to fend off poverty. Perhaps, but then again, I doubt it. At 37 years old Fred Wiseman at the age of 51 years old, admits that he became aware of his Abenaki heritage at the age of 37 years old. That is interesting......so what was happening before the age of 37 years? Was he simply not able to know that he was allegedly "Abenaki", or was it simply that he didn't realize he wasn't wearing pants one day, and decided to put some on, and then say he was always a pants wearing kind of guy? I do have to wonder. Where were his Elders to inform him he was "allegedly Abenaki" before the age of 37? Were they unable to inform Mr. Wiseman before the age of 37, and if so, why? I find this all so very interesting indeed, that at the age of 37 years, one suddenly becomes aware of their Abenaki "heritage" and seemingly before that, there was no awareness of "heritage"?

On February 15, 2001 in the Courier there in Littleton, N.H. Nancy Millette (now Nancy Doucet), at that time a promoter for Howard Lyons, put another article in the newspaper.

On March 14, 2001 on Page 07 of the Coos County Democrat newspaper, Frederick M. Wiseman's book was being evaluated by Edith Tucker, who was periodicly writing about the Jefferson, N.H. Archaeological "digs". It is most interesting that Fred Wiseman stated, "that the nomadic hunters who visited Jefferson shortly after the glaciers melted over 10,000 years ago, were genetically the ancestors of the Abenaki." REALLY?! Hmmmm I have seen no reports of human remains having been found in the Jefferson, N.H. Archaeological site area's, in which to test a male comparatively to that of that nomadic hunter's direct male descendant, who may or may not claim to be an Abenaki of today. So how does the math add up to Mr. Wiseman's statement in this article?! Maybe we can bring the nomadic hunter back to life, ask him for a cheek swab, and then cheek swab Mr. Wiseman, since he claims to be "Abenaki", and then since he claims these nomadic hunters/people's were genetically ancestral to the Abenaki, the Y-DNA ought to match right up with few mutations in between. Anyone want to wager dollars to donuts, the math nor the Y-DNA numbers don't match up?! I do have to laugh. But go ahead, check out the book from your local library and compare FACT from FICTION. Do the math and see for yourself what is real and what isn't real.

Mid-January 2001 News From Indian County Abenaki Burial Article

The one aspect of this article that strikes me as interesting, is that "Chief" April St. Francis - Rushlow - Merrill says these are "her" or "their" ancestral remains that are being disturbed; etc. BUT ARE THEY REALLY HER OR THEIR ANCESTORS? Now to some folks, that might seem a bit harsh to even inquire such a question, but then again, it goes back to genealogical merits and standands. It has been said that the St. Francis family were made aware of the burials by the Lampman family years ago. Just because these contemporary people, such as the St. Francis family lay claim that the burials "are their ancestors", genealogically speaking without documented connectedness to those that were living at one time, seems doubtful at best. David Skinas, a previous archaeologist with the Vermont Division for Historical Preservation who (at the time of this article in mid-January 2001, worked for the U.S. Dept. of Argriculture, stated, "the evidence suggested the people of the Boucher site are the predecessors of today's Abenaki," said Skinas. So what was he saying, "that these remains that were buried as early as 885 B.C. up to 2,500-2,000 years ago, are the direct and or indirect ancestors of the contempory people claiming to be Abenaki"? Hmmmmm. Genealogically, Historically, Socially where is the PROOF and EVIDENCE that this is the reality. 2,500 years ago until 2001 one is a bit of a leap, to say one burial area is related genealogically or otherwise to those that claim to be Abenaki, but may not be Abenaki at all.

I could go to Germany and go to a Berlin Cemetery, where there are Buchholz buried there, and say those are my ancestors just because the burial stone's say Buchholz, yet perhaps they are not my ancestors at all. Just because I say I am a Buchholz by surname doesn't mean I am related to ALL BUCHHOLZ descendants living today.

April St. Francis - Rushlow, in this article claims, "that the taking of bodies out of the ground has got to stop. I view it as my responsibility to my ancsetors and my children and grandchildren and those not yet born". So was April Rushlow implying that the human remains in these burials were HER ancestors? I have to ask myself, where was her Grandfather, his father and his father (her ancestoral people) to make sure that these Burials were PROTECTED from day one to the present tense, documented in the Town Records, the local Swanton Library, and with the State of Vermont?! IF the St. Francis family KNEW of this Burial Area on Monument Road from day one, they ought to have stepped away from "hiding in plain sight" and at least documented the burial area so that the burial area wouldn't have been disturbed in the first place! And who says these "archaelogists" don't PLANT something while their "investigating" a certain piece of land, like a Chert Flake or something"? Indeed, April St. Francis-Merrill can look at a green and silver metal plaque stating that the Jesuits had built a Christian mission in 1744..... but that does not mean or even show evidence clearly and convincingly to anyone that she, nor her family or "group" calling themselves "Missisquoi Abenaki" are descendants of the Abenaki of Missisquoi there were there in 1744, 1760, or even later. If they were legitimately descendants from those buried on Monument Road, you would think that they would have respected their ancestors enough to document the area as a burial ground of their ancestors BEFORE ANY HOUSES, etc., were built on that land in the first place. Then again, perhaps these people claiming to be Abenaki from and of the area, are not who they purport to be, genealogically speaking or otherwise?

October 25, 2000 - November 16, 2000

It is yet another interesting newspaper article out of the Coos County Democrat newspaper of Octer 25th, 2000 that I am placing on this blog. Again, another two inch complete fluted point made some 11,000 years ago had been found by volunteers participating in a four day workshop on a newly discovered Paleo-Indian site along side Route 115A. Yet, no ca. 1850 ca. 1880 "Abenaki Village" was found.

The second article, was found in The Courier newspaper while researching microfilm. This is where Howard Lyons, a Mohawk muscian decided to reside with Nancy Lee (nee: Millette) Cruger. She was his "promoter". Around this time, Howard Lyons had retrospectively asked me if I was "musically inclined" because he needed someone in his band "to shake the rattle". I declined the offer. Of course, during that winter of 2000/2001, once in the door of their home on Mt. Cleveland Road, Nancy quickly began pointing to her "Certificate" from Walter Watso, and the photographs they had taken in November 2000 when they had gone to the NAMMY Music Awards out in New Mexico. On the way home, Howard Lyons who was driving hit "black ice" and we tried to get onto Route 3 northbound by taking a short cut "cross country". Luckily no one was harmed and we got out of the trees & ditch and back onto the road. We back to their place in Bethlehem, N.H. and I spent the night at their place, then returned to my own home in Lancaster, N.H.