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Wednesday, November 3, 2010

State of VT's Response to Petition for Federal Acknowledgment of the St. Francis/Sokoki Band of the Abenaki Nation of Vermont: Pages i - vii:

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
Countervailing Evidence that the Missisquoi Did Not Return to Vermont as a Tribe After 1800.41
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
1948 to 1973.96
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
CRITERION (C) -- POLITICAL AUTHORITY.148
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

Preliminary Report on Abenaki Petition for Tribal Recognition - [Exhibits]: March 12, 2002: Exhibit 9:

Exhibit 9
PRA-12 (Page 01)
PHILLIPS GENERAL HISTORY.
GENERATION I (CONTINUED).

A#2. Antoine Phillips. (Old Antoine).

On the death certificate of his son Peter Phillips his name is given as Anthony. On the marriage certificate of his daughter Philemon his name is given as Alvine. Antoine's name is also spelled Antwine.
Matilda Leopard Phillips, IV, #138, states that Old Antoine and his children lived in Highgate, Vt. She seems to think that Old Antoine did not travel the way his children did but that he lived for a long time in Highgate and then somewhere out toward Fort Ethan Allen, Burlington.
Antoine Phillips was born in Canada about 1787. Matilda Leopard Phillips (Young Matilda) says that the reason Old Antoine came to Vermont from Canada was because of a war with the Fenians (Irish LINK: http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/021019/f2/021019-1402.7-e.pdf). She says that Old Antoine had Indian blood and had something to do with the Kickapoo Indians. (Agent H.E.A. Harriett E. Abbott thinks that the above statement is probably rather doubtful except for the fact that Old Antoine did have Indian blood and probably was related to some of the inhabitants of an Indian reservation in southeastern Canada. (The Mohawk Community of Kahnawà:ke, an Indian reserve on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada, across from Montreal).
Old Antoine married a woman by the name of Catherine Cadaive. Antoine and Catherine must have been living in Highgate, Vt. in 1846 as their daughter Philemon was born there at that time.
Antoine and his wife had the following children:--
Mike Phillips.
Peter Phillips.
Antoine Phillips.
Jane Phillips Peters.
Julia Phillips Shadrick Bissette.
Mary Phillips _________.
Philemon Phillips Trueheart.
Viso Phillips.

There is no real evidence to show that Old Antoine Phillips married twice. (Matilda Phillips Bissette speaks of a certain Margaret Codaire as being Antoine's first wife, and speaks of this wife as dying in Foster Hill up from Essex, Vt. There is no real evidence of this statement. Old Matilda was a little confused in her statements and at one time she spoke of Old Antoine's first wife as being Louise Myers. She stated that Old Antoine Phillips married a Myers and that Aiken Lesser (See Lessor Pedigree) married the sister of Antoine's wife).

Matilda Phillips Bissette said that Old Antoine's grandmother or great grandmother was a Trueheart and that her great- ... 
(Page 02)
PHILLIPS GENERAL HISTORY.
GENERATION I (CONTINUED).

...great-great grandfather came from St. Regis, Canada.

Antoine Phillips died in South Burlington on September 1, 1885. The cause of his death is given as Old age.
(Page 03)
PHILLIPS GENERAL HISTORY.
GENERATION II (CONTINUED).

CHILDREN OF CATHERINE CADAIVE AND ANTOINE PHILLIPS (CONTINUED).

A#2. Peter Phillips, the first.

The name of this individual is recorded in the vital statistics of his children in the following ways:--
In the birth record of his son Joseph his name is recorded as Pierre Philip.
In the marriage record of his daughter Selina, his name is given as Antoine Phillips.
In the marriage record of his daughter Rosana (or Louise) his name is given as Phillip Phillips.
In the marriage record of his son Peter the son's name is given as Felix Phillips and the father's name is given as Felix Phillips. (There are several explanations as to the various names. One is that the general public seem to have had the habit of calling all these older "Gypsy Phillipses' by the name of Peter. Another is that when Peter was in prison Peter's brother Antoine "took" Peter's wife so that Peter's brother Antoine may really be the father of Selina. Selina however says that her father's name was Peter. We do not know the explanation of the name Felix but there are several reasons for believing that that name was given in order to prevent people knowing of the marriage of Young Peter.

Peter Phillips was probably born in Canada. On his death record it is stated that he was born in Montreal in 1809. According to the vital statistics of most of his children Peter Phillips was born in Canada but in the birth record of his son Fred Phillips it is stated that Peter was born in Highgate, Vt. According to the marriage record of his daughter Louise he was born in Swanton, Vt., and according to the marriage record his son Jacob he was born in Burlington, Vt.

We know that Peter Phillips the first was married twice. His first was Delia Bone.
As some time Peter and Delia must have been living in Canada as their daughter Selina was born there. Somewhere about 1847 they were living in Highgate Falls, Vt. In 1865 they were living in Rutland. Some time between 1878 and 1885 they were living in Quechee, Vt.

Peter Phillips the first was part Indian, part French, and part negro. On his death certificate he is recorded as colored. He was very decidedly negroid in appearance. Chief Russell of Burlington remembers Old Pete Phillips who looked like an Indian. He was very fleshy like most of the Phillips.
Redacted Document from the Exhibit 9 (Page 04)
The Middle English word (from Latin redactus and it's first known usage was in the 15th century) "Redact" means: to select or adapt (as by obscuring or removing sensitive information) for publication or release. To edit.
Unredacted Document Pertaining to Exhibit 9 (Page 4)
PHILLIPS GENERAL HISTORY.
GENERATION II.
CHILDREN OF CATHERINE CADAIVE, AI, #1, AND ANTHONY PHILLIPS, AI, #2.

A#1. Delia Bone.

This individual goes by a great variety of names. The vital statistics of her children record her name in the following ways:--
Rosella Bonne, Caroline Bone, Delina Bonno, Lemas Beam, Delina Bones (or Boner), Delina Benware, Rose Dellabaum, Delia Bowman, Delorne Bon.

Cora Stark Phillips, III #15, says that Lemas Bone was part Indian and part French. She came from an Indian Reservation Caughnewaga, sixteen miles from Montreal. The same informant says that Lemas Bone had a sister living at that reservation. She also has half/brothers, Tom and Frank Benway, living in Burlington on Winooski Road. Matilda Leopard Phillips (Young Matilda) said that Delia Bone Phillips has a sister, Lucy Bone Pecor, wife of Louis Pecor, a Civil War veteran. "Aunt Lucy" and her husband lived in Charlestown, N.H. Louis Pecor has a Government Pension. Lucy was really a half-sister of Lemas (crossed out). Delia Bone was the first wife of Peter Phillips the first.

At some time Peter and Delia must have been living in Canada as their daughter Selina was born there. Somewhere about 1847 they were living in Highgate Falls, Vt. In 1865 they were living in Rutland. Some time between 1878 and 1885 they were living in Quechee, Vt.

According to the marriage record of her daughter Louise, Delia Bone was born in Quebec, Canada.

Delia Bone had sixteen children by Peter Phillips and some of these children are the following:--
Celia Phillips.
Jerry Phillips.
Joe Phillips.
Peter Phillips.
Antoine Phillips.
Selina Phillips Lessor.
Napoleon (Paul) Phillips.
Josephine Phillips Blake.
Melinda Phillips Myers.
Delia Phillips Bissette.
Eliza Phillips.
Louise Phillips.
Louisa Phillips Baker Martin.

Delia Bone is buried in St. Joseph's Cemetery, Burlington. We have not verified her death. Vermont redacted this following section: Delia's sister, Mrs. Louis Pecor, stated that Peter Phillips beat Delia so just before her child was born that she died at the birth of the child.
Redacted Document from the exhibit 9 (Page 05)
PHILLIPS GENERAL HISTORY.
A#3. Eliza Way.
Unredacted Document from the Exhibit 9 (Page 05)
PHILLIPS GENERAL HISTORY.
GENERATION: II (CONTINUED).

CHILDREN OF CATHERINE CADAIVE AND ANTOINE PHILLIPS (CONTINUED).

A#3. Eliza Way.

Eliza Way goes by a number of names:-- Louisa, Loisa, Lisa, Eliza, etc. Eliza's parents were Jacob Way and Diantha Smith of Peacham, Vt. Her father was often known as "Devil Jake" Way. The family lived in Paradise Alley, Peacham, Vt. This place was in Peacham but was nearer to the center of West Danville than to the center of Peacham. Paradise Alley was a rendez-vous for the Philipses and Ways to come to when they wanted to rest from their travels.

Eliza was probably born in Peacham, Vt. but according to the birth record of her daughter Mabel, Eliza was born in New Hampshire. According to the birth record of her son Fred she was born in Hardwick, Vt., and according to the marriage record of her son Jacob, she was born in Malone, N.Y. According to the marriage record of her son Hollis, she was born in Danville, Vt.

Eliza Way was the second wife of Old Peter Phillips the first. According to the vital statistics of her children she must have been living with Pete Phillips in South Burlington in 1887, in St. Albans in 1889, in Danville, Vt. in 1901, and Peacham, Vt. about 1903.

Vermont redacted this following section: Old Pete Phillips is said to have been very cruel to his wives and as a result of this Eliza left him and ran off to Canada with a man named "Jockey Jim," leaving three young children, Isaac, Freddi and Agnes to be cared for by the Town of Peacham.

Eliza Way Phillips was illiterate. Her sister-in-law, Cora Stark Phillips says that Eliza was light in complexion. Eliza has the following siblings:--Helen Way Burbank Woodward Sweetser, Ivy Way who married Pete's son Joseph, making Ivy Way both Eliza's sister and her step daughter-in-law, and Newton Way.

Eliza Way's father, "Devil Jake" Way was the black sheep of a fairly good family. Degeneracy perhaps began with "Devil Jake's" father Nathan Way. We have nothing seriously anti-social against the record of Nathan Way. Reports merely mention him as being very poor and not being prosperous like his brothers. He did not marry as well as his brothers (Nathan Way married to Sarah Jane Woodward) and he had a terribly large family. His brothers assisted him in....
Redacted Document from the exhibit 9 (Page 06)
PHILLIPS GENERAL HISTORY.
CONTINUED....A#3. Eliza Way.
Unredacted Document from the Exhibit 9 (Page 06)
PHILLIPS GENERAL HISTORY.
GENERATION II (CONTINUED).

CHILDREN OF CATHERINE CADAIVE AND ANTOINE PHILLIPS (CONTINUED).

Vermont redacted this following section: various ways so that he managed to get along. Some of his many children did fairly wall but most of them were not up to the standard of the other Ways in Peacham, some of whom are among the best citizens, but his son "Devil Jake" Way became notorious. He drank, was shiftless, dishonest, and was always getting into trouble. His home, known as Paradise Alley, in North Peacham, was the rendez-vous for all the ne'er-do-wells. Practically all of his children were sex offenders. The better members of the Way family lay Devil Jake's downfall to his marriage with Diantha Smith, but Dianth came of a fairly good family in Hardwick, and the good Smith's in Hardwick consider that it was Diantha who made the bad marriage. The whole Jake Way's family lived at the Poor Farm for some time when the children were little and some Frenchman taught the whole family to make baskets. After the Phillipses stayed in Paradise Alley with the Way 's, the two families traveled together as gypsies making baskets and selling them. One of Devil Jake's daughters, Sarah, married a man names Samuel Sweetser. She was Eliza's sister. Sarah Way was very popular with the summer people. She died, and although her daughters still make baskets the summer people say that no one can make them as well as the old lady did.

Peter Phillips and Eliza Way had the following children:--
Willie Phillips.
Mabel Phillips.
Freddie Phillips.
Jacob Phillips.
______Phillips (female), II
______Phillips (female), II
Hollis Phillips.
Isaac Phillips.
Agnes Phillips Russell.
 Chart B
PEDIGREE: ST. FRANCIS
GENERATION : I
DEFECT:

INDIVIDUAL: Clara Hoague  #2
SOURCE OF INFORMATION: [redacted...by State of Vermont A.G.]
HUSBAND: Nezer St. Francis
Nationality: French
Death: Died spring of 1922 (?) of shock. At the time of her death, it is record that she died of paralysis.
Chldren:
Nezer St. Francis
Louisa St. Francis
Nellie St. Francis
Jean St. Francis
Ida St. Francis
Leo St. Francis
Julia St. Francis
Chart B 
PEDIGREE: ST. FRANCIS
GENERATION: I
DEFECT:

INDIVIDUAL: Nezer St. Francis  #1
SOURCE OF INFORMATION: [redacted by State of Vermont A.G.]
WIFE: Clara Hoague
Nationality: French
Occupation: Laborer
Mentality: [redacted by State of Vermont A.G.]
HABITS: [redacted by State of Vermont A.G.]
RESIDENCE: In 1924--Swanton, Vt.
CHILDREN:
Nezer St. Francis
Louise St. Francis
Nellie St. Francis
Jean St. Francis
Leo St. Francis
Ida St. Francis
Julia St. Francis
File in family St. Francis folder next after Bushey
PEDIGREE:
GENERATION:
DEFECT:
INDIVIDUAL: -------
SOURCE OF INFORMATION: Mr. Bartoo, principal of the High School in Essex Junction, who formerly was located in Swanton for four years, gave the names of the following people who could give information about families in Swanton.
Dan Furman.
Attorney Fred Webster.
C. A. Webster, lumberman.

Mr. Bartoo says that Back Bay, Swanton, was settled by the French when they thought they were settling in Canada. The result is a French and Indian mixture. He says that the St. Francis Indians are French and Indian mixture.
END OF EXHIBIT 9

At this point, as follows, is what I have in my possession documentarily. The late (now deceased) so-called "Chief" or "Grand Chief" Homer St. Francis Sr., his daughter April Ann (nee: St. Francis) Rushlow - Merrill have repeatedly stated "that their relatives were targeted, and sterilized by the Eugenics Survey..." THIS IS A MYTH PERPETUATED BY THESE INCORPORATION'S CLAIMING TO BE ABENAKI TRIBES, when IN FACT, the documentary evidence from the Eugenics, indicates and points quite clearly and convincingly, to a different conclusion altogether. Homer Walter St. Francis's relatives were NOT STERILIZED by the Eugenics Survey. REMEMBER, the Field Researchers were...
S-U-R-V-E-Y-I-N-G
...researching as a genealogically-oriented person would do then, and just as any genealogically-minded person would do such research today in November 2010.
--HOAGUE--ST. FRANCIS--CHART A--
DEFECTS, INSTITUTIONS, ANTISOCIAL, BEHAVIOR, ETC.
Name - Generation and No. - Defect - Cause of Death - Institution

Leo (?) St. Francis
Generation and Number: II #1
Defect: Delinquent
Cause of Death: [Blank]
Institution: V.I.S. (Vermont Industrial Reform School)

Raymond St. Francis
Generation: #2
Defect: Delinquent
Institution: V.I.S. (Vermont State Industrial Reform School)

--HOAGUE--ST. FRANCIS--CHART B--
DEFECTS, INSTITUTIONS, ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIORS, ETC.

Nezer St. Francis
Generation: I  #1
Defect: "Not bright," Alcoholic
Cause of Death: [Blank]
Institution: [Blank]

Clara Hoage
Generation: #2
Cause of Death: Shock

------- [no name]
(male)
Generation: #5
Defect: Sex offender
[NOTE: The Eugenic Field Researcher used this term or label "Sex offender" somewhat freely when "studying" "particular" families, including the Sweetser families, and various other families.]

Nellie St. Francis
Generation: #5
Defect: Sex Offender, Two illegitimate children

-------- [no name given]
(male)
Generation: #7
Defect: Sex offender
Institution: V.S.S. [crossed out] (Vermont State School for the Feeble minded)

Ida St. Francis
Generation: #9
Defect: Feeble minded, Town Pauper, I.Q. 44
Institution: V.S.S. (Vermont State School for the Feeble minded)

Leo St. Francis
Generation: #10
Defect: Delinquent, Feeble minded, I.Q. 60, Town Pauper
Institution: V.I.S. and V.S.S.

-------[no name given]
(sex unknown)
Generation: III #1
Defect: Illegitimate

-------[no name given]

(sex unknown)
Generation: III #2
Defect: Illegitimate
--HOAGUE--ST. FRANCIS--CHART C--

DEFECTS, INSTITUTIONS, ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIORS, ETC.

William Morits
Generation and No: II #1
Defect: Alcoholic

Mary Hoague
Generation: #2
Defect: "Not Bright"

Francis Hoague
Generation: #8
Defect: Truant
Institution: V.I.S.

Frank Morits
Generation and No: III #1
Defect: Larceny
Institution: V.I.S.

William Morits
Generation: #2
Defect: Larceny
Institution: V.I.S.

So, as one can evaluate from the actual Eugenics Survey documents, the people "targeted," "investigated" and eugenically-studied were NOT in the Eugenics Survey because of this contemporarily perpetuated DISTORTION repeated in the media, in the various books related to the alleged and re-invented "Abenakis" nor the "environment" of Vermont, by such people as "Chief" or "Grand Chief" Homer St. Francis Sr., his daughter April St. Francis-Rushlow-Merrill, Charles Lawrence "Megeso" Delaney, John Scott Moody, and numerous other persons affiliated with these "Abenaki" Incorporate groups throughout Vermont and or New Hampshire.

What the Eugenics Survey Record documents to indicated and point out, quite clearly, is that the Field Researchers employed by Henry Farnham Perkins, under the University of Vermont, pulled Burlington Free Press newspaper articles, etc and began studying the "social histories" of various persons that were delinquent, truant from educational institutions (i.e. schools), or because they were mentally defective and had been placed already in Institutions (such as the Brandon State School for the Feebleminded; Vergennes, Vermont State Industrial School, etc. i.e. "Reform Schools"), or for their apparent "criminality" and anti-social behaviors within the perspective communities in which the subject family lived.

What the Field Researchers of the Eugenics Survey did, was use what was already available pertaining to the particular family and or person, from the various Agencies and institutional intake records etc, such as the records from
the "Children's Aid and Protective Societies" found throughout New England (the Eugenics-allied Agencies in various States, then was called the "Children's Aid and Protective Society." It was when that agency was actually the early development and creation" that it was allied with the Eugenics Survey of Vermont. It is what we, in 2010, know today, as the "Children's Protective Services" Department, a.k.a. Department of Child and Youth Services, and in Vermont the State had retrospectively used the acronym S.R.S. for C.P.S. / and it was a.k.a. .... D.C.Y.F.)
Before I end this particular posting I want to add this particular email that I received recently, to clarify a few "points of concern from others", that I have become aware of.
From: Greg Sanford gsanford@sec.state.vt.us

To: 'douglaslloydbuchholz@yahoo.com'
Subject: Eugenics Records
Monday, November 1, 2010 1:55:29 PM

Mr. Douglas Lloyd Buchholz:

This is a follow-up to our conversation of a few minutes ago by telephone.

The records you have that were drawn from relatives and other non-government sources are outside our legal custodianship. You collected some records in May of 1996 from the then Vermont Public Records Division within the Department of Buildings and General Services and were not asked to sign any non-disclosure form about the release of Personably Identifiable Information (PII). Based on conversations with the Attorney-General’s Office the State of Vermont has limited, if any, jurisdiction over those copies. The Attorney General’s Office and the Archives agree that HIPPA does not apply to these records.

I will re-iterate the points I made in our conversation.

Our interest is not in promoting any claim of State secrecy, but rather a concern for any lasting stigma attached to families that were subject to the Eugenics Study. We ask that researchers not disclose personal names to protect the subject families. In this specific case we can do no more than ask.

The Vermont State Archives and Records Administration (VSARA), which gained custody of the Eugenics records as part of the Archives Act of 2003, does have a Non-Disclosure Agreement, which we will review in light of the current case. We continue to believe that 1 V.S.A. §317 (c)(7), the personal information exemption, may apply, though not in the case of copies that you made 14 years ago without a non-disclosure agreement. We will look at that as part of our review of these policies.

You also asked about microfilming the records given their fragility (deterioration due to handling by the public)At this point it is really a resource problem and even if we gain the resources, it will probably be to digitize, rather than microfilm, them.

Gregory Sanford
Vermont State Archives and Records Administration
(802) 828-2369

MY RESPONSE:
I have, at this point in time only, concluded that I have addressed enough of the Eugenics Survey documents in my possession (for the present time) to make my point.

The woman, "Dear Miss Harriett E. Abbott" who was a eugenically-trained Field Researcher at Cold Springs Harbor, New York (who had previously worked in the Children's Aid and Protective Society) was not hunting down Abenakis with a scalpel, surgical sewing thread and needle, with a pair of medical scissors in hand....across Vermont or anywhere else (she used a typewriter and a fountain pen). To believe otherwise (like author Beth Kanell for example and her book "Darkness Under the Water") is to not understand really the period of time the Eugenics mind-set swept the country, as it had been sweeping across Germany; nor does believing that the Eugenics Survey "sterilized" Abenaki men, women and children" does anyone any real healing....because it is based on a distortion (which has been perpetuated again and again by the likes of the St. Francis/Sokoki group led by the St. Francis family members up in Swanton, Vermont) based not a PURE VERMONT YANKEE MYTH, but on PURE CONJECTURE that has no factual documentary evidence (in these "Abenaki" Inc. groups' hands or otherwise) to support their mythical claims!

Harriett Abbott and the other Eugenics Field Researchers were SURVEYING "eugenically" (as they had been "trained" to do) the "mix-blood" descendants of families in Vermont (or who had come into Vermont) that were self-identifying as "French," etc., who were deemed "Feeble minded" "Diseased" "Retarded" "Syphilitic" and or numerous other "Defects" such as having T.B. or Tuberculosis Bacillus (which is a common and often deadly infectious disease caused by various strains of Mycobateria, usually Mycobacterium Tuberculosis in humans).

Remember, the American Society as a whole was traumatized by the Spanish Flu Epidemic of 1918 (where literally whole families were dieing, literally in a matter of days, and weeks, and no one knew if the epidemic would claim more victims or not. Aside from the sudden death rates in communities and Cities across America, there was WW1 and WW2 where Town "coffers" were constantly being "drained" by the poor, and the sick. Transients were living on Poor Farms. Remember, they had no Social Security nor 401K Plans, and monetary nest eggs were usually "only for the rich." Everyone "in the upper crust of society, who lived "up on the hill" in the fancy homes, with the neatly dressed children (who got in trouble too, but were "saved" by wealthy parents who contributed to the educational institutions, to the banks, and to the Town coffers) wanted a Utopia, and a PURE YANKEE VERMONT "Norman Rockwell" scenic State.

The Eugenics Survey was merely a concocted and planned "stepping stone," for removing  the "unwanted" which were looked upon as "the smudge" in the imagined Utopia of Rural Vermont Development painting. Rural Development, City Design, and Vermont Tourism, all conflicted with the reality, that in particular "geographically-perceived area's (such as the Burlington Waterfront) "perculiar" families lived in places that were called "Stove Pipe City" "Paradise Alley" "Rouser's Town" that "got in the way" of the "Good Families" (that is to mean, the richer families) plans.

"Nazism"....it's ideations, concepts and thoughts in Amerika were just as much a reality as it was in Europe during the time. "The Cost To The State" still is heard in some circles of conversation today.... really it was and is all about Control, Power, and Ego. People attempting to control other people.

Now these so-called "Abenaki" groups (who are merely incorporation's sanctioned under Vermont and or N.H. State Laws) are "whoring themselves out," and attempting to give themselves Official "Vermont State Recognition," to themselves (and just for themselves) while sitting on that Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs today. Their excuses for the lack of genealogical, historical, and social connection(s) to the Abenaki Communities, and the reality that they only began self-identifying as "Indians" or as "Abenakis" on any record after 1976, is simply....."the Eugenics Survey caused us all to hide-in-plain-sight."

Well, what about BEFORE the Eugenics Survey occured? Where is the clear and convincing Abenaki genealogical connection(s) between 1630-1750-1799-1820-1850-1890-or 1900 for the members in these Incorporations? (Silence?)

No wonder these so-called and self-identifying "Abenaki" people are "concerned" about my putting out on this blog, these actual Eugenics Survey documents. Because just as the genealogical dynamic (requirement) doesn't work for these Vermont and New Hampshire Inc. groups (just like that alleged "Abenaki" Watch Mr. Fred M. Wiseman PhD. used, and that RPPC meaning a Real Photographic Postcard)...didn't work for that group's retrospective B.I.A./O.F.A. Recognition Petition in 2005 nor in 2007....... the Eugenics EXCUSE isn't going to work as an EXCUSE for the lack of Abenaki genealogical connections regarding these groups either!
Anyway, I will "address" and post these photocopied Vermont Eugenics Records  in the blog (later on when I get to that point). Reviewing the Exhibit material, I could not simply place this documentation up on the blog, without, first explaining WHY I was going to post this redacted and then the subsequent un-redacted documents. The reason the St. Francis family (in part) was looked at, and investigated in the Eugenics Survey of Vermont, was because those particular family members were living in particular geographical locations (such as a specific tenement housing in Burlington for example), that the City wanted to redevelop. So the Eugenics Survey would come along, take down a name of the tenant, and begin to "study" that person, where they came from, etc. Then they would travel to, or write to the "home" location of the person (such as Swanton, Vermont or Peacham, Vermont) and begin to "map" out the family ancestry, ask questions of Town Clerks, Institutional Caretakers, School Truancy Officers, Poor Farm managers, and so on.

What strikes me as very particularly odd, is that...out of thousands of people in a particular family, not a one of them mentioned being "Abenaki" or being of "Abenaki descent" and that such declarations weren't recorded by the Eugenics Survey? Not one of the people interviewed, and who were repeatedly questioned by the Eugenics Field Researchers (such as Miss Abbott or Mrs. Webster)....not a single School Teacher, Prison Administrator, Poor Farm manager, nor a Town Clerk that KNEW THESE various families, ever mentioned, that these particular families and or persons were descended or connected to the Abenaki?

Right now, I want to begin posting next.....the State of Vermont's Response To Petition For Federal Acknowledgement of the St. Francis/ Sokoki Band of the Abenaki Nation of Vermont which was compiled and created by the State of Vermont Attorney General, Mr. William H. Sorrell and Eve Jacobs-Carnahan, Special Assistant Attorney General, that was published in 2002 and 2003.

So, for right now, I will set aside the Eugenics documents of these particular families afore-mentioned (but in the near future, I will work with those materials in a more in depth way on this blog). I know some people have been sending inquiring emails and making phone calls to the State, "as if the sky were falling on their heads," in their concern about my intentions to placing the actual Eugenics Survey Records (redacted and un-redacted) onto this blog. I going to expose these Eugenics Records to the light of day, whether some alleged and re-invented "Abenakis" like it or not. Just not-right-now. I will also be placing the un-redacted Woodward Eugenics documentary material as well, onto this blog (right along with the rest of the material) because such relates to the other families that were "studied eugenically" too, from ca. 1914 up into the 1930's.

I fully acknowledge and do relate to the feelings of other's apparent anxiety, hesitation, and mental anguish....in realizing what I am going to do with these particular documents, pertaining to the Vermont Eugenics Study. How long are we all going hear and talk about the Vermont Eugenics with such a distorted lens (where relatives who seek these records, are asked to perpetuate this so-called "de-identification" of historical record documents) pertaining to those persons and families who were subjected to the likes of Harriett Abbott's (including Josephine Webster, and Henry Farnham Perkins) distorted "scientific study" of Eugenics, here in N'dakinna/ New England?

I refuse to let the State of Vermont seemingly attempt to "bury" these Eugenics documents using the HIPAA Law, as if these records are "medical", or that these historical records mean nothing to the present generation or to the future generations within Vermont.

As with any sharp piece of obsidian (volcanic glass), which can cut life-sustaining meat from the body of a moose, deer or rabbit, that very same tool can be used to cut the fingers of the hunter as well, depending on the attention of the person doing the cutting. I understand, acknowledge and respect that duality.

My family's Woodward ancestors descendants (and kinship relatives) were partially investigated, labeled, harassed, institutionalized )and yes documentarily some were very likely "surgically sterilized" before leaving the Pembroke Sanitarium and or the Concord, N.H. State Hospital in the early 1920's to mid-1930's). But not because they were self-identifying or having been identified as "Abenakis," "Indians" or "Native Americans" or "Mixed Bloods."

The Eugenics Field researchers were also "looking their noses down" on women who had become divorced, had allegedly committed adultery, etc. Young girls (particularly if they were pretty) and Miss Harriett Abbott paid particular (nearly obsessively) attention, in "keeping their attention on these young women like Christie May nee: Phillips Collins Sargent Sweetser Place Ingerson.

Harriett Abbott and the Eugenics Survey were simply creating a "Repository" (much like a library would be for books). In these Eugenics Office(s) repositories, there would be "indexed" Master Name cards (and the accompanying eugenic files) on the identified "good" families (good traits and genes) which were to be promoted....and even more importantly, the identified and labeled "bad" families (bad traits and genes), of whom were to be institutionalized, housed, gotten rid of, and or sterilized. After the Eugenics closed down for lack of funding, it simply took on a new name (it didn't go away btw)....because now-a-days Eugenics is called "GENETICS" .... and Cold Springs Harbor is still open for business, as is I.B.M. too.

Perhaps Nancy (nee: Millette) Doucet might like to sit back and perhaps re-think the retrospective reality of her participation in the National Genographic Project? But then again, allegedly testing her own DNA, she has (retrospectively-speaking) finally found that elusive [very distant 30,000 year old?] "Indian" DNA, so now she can be Chief of a supposed bonefide Koasek of the Koas Abenaki...considering that everything else from the retrospective "Koasek Abenaki Academy", the "Abenaki Village" in Jefferson, New Hampshire, where her ancestors Flora Eunice Ingerson-Hunt and Almira Rines-Ingerson-Polluck allegedly were born, and lived.....were merely concocted, unsubstantiated half-baked "stories" that have been proven to be just that....stories. Nothing more and nothing less. 

Oh that's right, the VCNAA there in Vermont is already calling Nancy Doucet a CHIEF!
Even on some websites on the Internet, Nancy Doucet's group has already been claiming to be Vermont State Recognized, right along with the St. Francis/ Sokoki Band of the Abenaki Nation of Vermont being led by April Merrill !!!

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