STATE OF VERMONT'S RESPONSE
TO PETITION FOR FEDERAL ACKNOWLEDGMENT
OF THE ST. FRANCIS/SOKOKI BAND
OF THE ABENAKI NATION OF VERMONT
~
STATE OF VERMONT
WILLIAM H. SORRELL, ATTORNEY GENERAL
Eve Jacobs-Carnahan, Special Assistant Attorney General
December 2002
STATE OF VERMONT'S RESPONSE
TO PETITION FOR FEDERAL ACKNOWLEDGMENT
OF THE ST. FRANCIS/SOKOKI BAND
OF THE ABENAKI NATION OF VERMONT
~
STATE OF VERMONT
WILLIAM H. SORRELL, ATTORNEY GENERAL
Eve Jacobs-Carnahan, Special Assistant Attorney General
December 2002
Second Printing, January 2003
CONTENTS
ABBREVIATIONS.v
MAP.vi
LIST OF TABLES.vii
INTRODUCTION.1
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND.1
Historic Tribe Elusive.1
Major Scholars of the Western Abenakis.3
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.5
Seventeenth-Century History is Sketchy.5
Some Noteworthy Events of the Seventeenth-Century.7
EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.8
Population Movements In and Out of Missisquoi During the Eighteenth Century.8
Grey Lock's Dominance.10
Epidemic and Slow Repopulation: 1730-1740.11
Missisquoi Villagers Move to Odanak/ St. Francis: 1744-1760.12
Return to Missisquoi: 1763-1775.16
Abandonment of Missisquoi During American Revolution.22
NINETEENTH CENTURY.28
The Insubstantial Evidence of Continued Tribal Presence in the Nineteenth Century.28
Comments on Recent Scholarship.36
Travlers, Historians, and Surveyors of Indians.41
Federal Census Enumerations.46
Sightings of Indian Visitors and the Basket Trade.50
Rowland Robinson's Indian Friends.55
French-Canadian Migration to Vermont.61
Caughnawagha Claims Presented to Vermont Legislature.64
TWENTIETH CENTURY.67
Twentieth Century Claims of Abenaki Continuity.67
The Eugenics Survey of Vermont.67
ANAYLSIS OF CRITERIA.78
CRITERION (A)--IDENTIFICATION BY OUTSIDERS.78
1900 to 1929.82
Researchers Identify Vermont Abenakis of the Past.82
Federal Government Records Identify Only a Tiny Number of Individual Abenakis.87
Records of Vermont Eugenics Survey Do Not Identify Any Abenakis.89
Newspapers Fail to Identify Any Abenaki Tribe in Vermont.92
Swanton Birth Records.93
1930 to 1947.94
External Observers Silent on Existence of Any Contemporary Abenaki Tribe.94
Researchers Failed to Discover Any Contemporary Vermont Abenaki Tribe.96
Other Material Attests to Absence of Abenaki Tribe From Vermont.108
1974 to 1981.110
External Observations.110
1982 to Present.118
External Observations.118
Summary of Failure of Evidence to Satisfy Criterion (a).119
CRITERION (B) -- COMMUNITY.121
Swanton Church is French Canadian, not Indian.123
No Indian Cemetery was Used by Petitioner's Ancestors in Twentieth Century.126
No Indian School Existed in Franklin County.128
Petitioner's Ancestors Were Active Participants in White Business and Social Groups.128
There Has Not Been a Continuous Georgraphic Concentration of Indians in Franklin County.131
The Petitioner Did Not Immigrate to Vermont as a Group as Any One Time.132
The Abenaki Language Was Not Spoken by Petitioner.140
Cultural Practices Were Not Retained in Any Abenaki Community in Vermont.141
Membership in the St. Francis/Sokoki Abenakis is Loose and Fluid.142
There Were No Social Ties Between the Bulk of Petitioner's Ancestors and the Visible Abenakis in Vermont.144
Summary of Failure of Evidence to Satisfy Criterion (b).147
Vermont Abenaki Silence in the Face of 1950's Caughnawagha Land Claims.149
Creation of Abenaki Tribal Council in 1974.152
The Petitioner's Political Organization was Dominated by One or Two Families.154
Summary of Failure of Evidence to Satisfy Criterion (c).160
CRITERION (E) -- DESCENT FROM HISTORIC TRIBE.160
An Overview of the Progenitors.162
Moody's Genealogical Work is Incomplete and Speculative.166
Petitioner's Family Charts Do Not Trace Back to Any Historic Lists of Known Abenaki Indians.169
Petitioner's Family Charts Do Not Include Anyone Identified by Federal Census as Indian From 1870 to 1910.172
Petitioner's Other Lists From Censuses are Speculative.175
Petitioner's Evidence of Indian Births is Contradicted by the Original Records.177
Individual Family Genealogies Contain Unproven Assumptions of Abenaki Heritage.183
Petitioner Self-Identified as White.191
Summary of Failure of Evidence to Satisfy Criterion (e).194
CONCLUSION.194
SOURCES AND AUTHORITIES.196
ATTACHMENTS
Affidavit of John Alexander Dickinson
Affidavit of J. Kay Davis
ABBREVIATIONS
The following abbreviations are used throughout this Response:Petition
refers to the Petition for Federal Recognition as an American Indian Tribe submitted to the Bureau of Indian Affairs by the Abenaki Nation of Vermont dated October 1982
Petition Addendum
refers to the Addendum to the Petition for Federal Recognition as an American Indian Tribe submitted to the Bureau of Indian Affairs by the Abenaki Nation of Vermont, January 10, 1986, in Response to the Letter of Obvious Deficiencies and Significant Ommissions (6/14/83), Part B.
Second Addendum
refers to the Second Addendum to the Petition for Federal Recognition as a Native American Indian Tribe, Genealogy of the Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi, submitted to the Bureau of Indian Affairs by the Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi, Vermont, December 11, 1995.
Family Descendancy Charts
refers to genelaogical charts submitted by petitioner as part of the Second Addendum in December 1995.
MAP
Ontario-Quebec-New York-Vermont-
New Hampshire-and Maine
LIST OF TABLES
1. Summary of Indian Population in Vermont as Shown in Federal Census Reports.48
2. Dates of Immigration of Families on Petitioner's Family Descendancy Charts.133
3. Continuity of Generations in Canada with Pattern of Immigration of Individuals in Petition Addendum.138
4. Analysis of Swanton Birth Records Cited in Petition Appendix E.180
