Nancy (nee: Millette) Cruger - Lyons - Doucet's “Petit Village de Rivière-du-Loup” of Yamachiche MYTH of March 30, 2007

I am a descendant of the Millette family of “Petit Village de Rivière-du-Loup” of Yamachiche. I have never been there only there only through the stories of my grandfather. He, as well as all Millette’s behind him are from Yamachiche area.
The things I was told about “Rivière-du-Loup” of Yamachiche;
That the large family of 16 children lived in a small house at Petit Village. They were very poor and sleep in cots above each other. The floor of the house was dirt and in the winter the snow would come into the bedroom at night. The boys would awake in the morning and look at tracks in the floor to see what came through visiting while they were sleeping.
My Grandfather’s brother would go out hunting each day for food for the family. He would leave each morning with his gun and one bullet. He would return each night with game. Sometimes, with as many as five rabbits but every time with his gun and one bullet. This puzzled the younger boys. They couldn’t figure out how he got game and still had his bullet. So one day the boys followed him and finally found out the secret was he used snares!
My Grandfather moved to New Hampshire in the States and he moved, got married and had children he was very poor. One of his brother’s back at “Petit Village de la Rivière-du-Loup” of Yamachiche worked in a mill and would send money or gifts for the kids for Christmas. My Grandfather always wanted to go home to visit so one time he got a babysitter so he and my Grandmother could go home to Petit Village to visit. When he got to the border they told him he could go in, but he could never go back to the States. I am not sure why. But had children back in New Hampshire so he never got to go home again. I am looking forward to going “home” and visiting in my Grandfather’s honor.
My Great Grandfather Christopher Millette came to New Hampshire after my Grandfather moved there. He was very upset about something that happened to his land and home at “Petit Village de la Rivière-du-Loup” of Yamachiche. He got a lawyer and was trying to file a suite against Canada. I am not sure all of the details but hopefully someday will find the records. I know he said Canada took his land while he was gone and he wanted it back.
When in the States my Grandfather was picked on for his accent and was often called “dumb Frenchmen” by drinking buddies which made him very mad! My Great Grandfather was a small man and one night a very large man called him “dumb Frenchman” and my Great Grandfather jumped up and hit the guy so hard he broke the guy’s nose and said “I ain’t NO Frenchman!!” He always said he was Indian.

In the summer of 2003, I stayed for three days at Odanak Reservation Canada with two elderly residents, the M’Sadoques sisters, who were in their late 80’s. I told them that my family was aboriginal from Yamachiche and asked if they knew anything of Petit Village de la Rivière-du-Loup” of Yamachiche.

This is the story they told me:

“Oh, Yamachiche, It is out there in the bush. Very isolated. The women in that tribe would walk to neighboring villages and pick out a nice handsome man to bring home with them. Once the woman was with child they would give the man the boot!! They made sure the aboriginal children were not fathered by family. AND I always wished I was Yamachiche!!”

Chief Walter Watso told me in the early 1990’s that the Petit Village de la Rivière-du-Loup” of Yamachiche as way out in the bush. No one would even go hunting out there without an Indian Guide. He said all the people in the village of Yamachiche were Aboriginal and their own tribe.

Signed Nancy Lyons (Millette) Date 3-30-07 [March 30, 2007]

Notarized State of Vermont Orange County 

At Randolph, this 30th day of March A.D. 2007 personally appeared Nancy Lyons and acknowledged this instrument by her sealed and subscribed, to be her free act and deed. Before me, Joyce L. Mazzucco

Notary Public [also Joyce is the Randolph, Orange County, Vermont Town Clerk & Treasurer]

My Commentary:

Recently, someone informed me that Carollee Reynolds - Matthews re-posted Nancy Millette's genealogy on Rootweb.com? 

Retrospectively-speaking, it was on August 01, 2008 that I had posted Nancy's genealogy up online, in varied genealogical forum website, such as www.genform.com, www.ancestry.com, and www.rootsweb.com, etc. Of course, she (Nancy) and her supporters/allies and 'members' of her group INCLUDING Carollee Reynolds herself, quite vehemently began to "smear me" and insinuate and "character assassinate" my person (even more so than they did in 2008) when I was on the Yahoo Message Boards "Olidahozi" and "Abenaki News Issues" etc, simply because of this blog's content and the questions I was asking (as of 2009 herein) of each and every one of them. Naturally, my putting up Nancy's genealogy for the first time, online, caused a outcry protest. Peggy Fullerton, and company made numerous complaints and protests to the above mentioned websites and Message Boards, demanding that Nancy's genealogical ancestors be taken off these sites that I'd mapped out. 

Now on March, 03, 2012 Carollee Reynolds did in fact (I see) indeed  re-posted Nancy Millette's genealogy up again, online. 

Here's the link.
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/NA-ABENAKI/2012-03/1331296509

Obviously, after August of 2008, I have done much further research regarding Nancy's ancestors (so didn't Suzette LeClair, Paul Joseph Bunnell, etc.) and what did Nancy Millette-Lyons-Doucet, along with her cronies, do? 

Their actions and words speak for themselves eh. Suffice it to say, Nancy did not like the "exposure." Why was she so afraid, and hostile? Here's why.....

The late Nancy Lee (nee: Millette) Wiggins-Cruger-Lyons-Doucet concocted an unvalidated "STORY" about her Great-Grandmother Flora "Una Ana" [Eunice] Ingerson - Hunt being "born on some Littleton-Bethlehem or Jefferson riverbank"; and or raised in some mythical enchanted forested Jefferson-based "Abenaki Indian Village" et;. or that her Great Grandmother Flora Ingerson - Hunt learned the Indian "medicines" and "teachings" from her mother Almira (nee: Rines) Ingerson - Pollock....."  it was just.....

A myth? A story I doubt that even Joseph Bruchac could have imagined and authored.

But ...... WAIT JUST A MINUTE! Could I be mistaken? No, I think not.

How could Flora have learned the "Abenaki" "medicines" and or "teachings" IF her mother left that family, of that wee little girl, for another man [John Pollock] when the wee girl was just about 3-5 years old? How many "medicines" and or "teachings" of the "Abenakis" could Almira, Flora's mother, actually have taught her, if she wasn't even IN the picture, let alone the family, after the girl was 3 to 5 years old, that the little girl Flora Ingerson could have retained (remembered into her adulthood) eh? 

It is quite obvious that what the late (now deceased) Nancy Millette-Doucet had done was create her own self-created "Abenaki" "Koasek" PERSONA, based on a MYTH perpetuated desperately by her, since ca. 1993 when she'd got her hands and eyes on Joseph Bruchac's book entitled "Fox Song" [published on September 15,1993 by Philomel Publishing] 

"wherein depicts a child who treasures and finds comfort in the many things her Abenaki great-grandmother taught her before her recent death. One morning, clinging to her dream of being with Grama, Jamie recalls gathering strawberries together, making a birch basket, seeing fox tracks in the snow, learning a special song of welcome. At the end, Jamie goes to Grama's special spot, sings the song--and is rewarded with a glimpse of a fox, a reminder (as Grama once said) that she's not alone. A quiet, gentle story, warm with nicely chosen details of old and young sharing lore of the natural world; Morin (Orphan Boy, 1991) provides paintings with impressionistic backgrounds luminous with golden sunlight and more specific rendering of the people, the fox, and the special handmade things Grama left behind."

Did Joseph Bruchac take Nancy's concocted "story" and make it into a book BEFORE the first Littleton Street Vendor Event that Nancy organized in the fall of 1993 ... only to have it published in September 1993?

Or did the late Nancy (Millette) Cruger, then living in Bethlehem, Grafton County, New Hampshire, working as a 'Town Promoter' for the Town of Littleton, Grafton County, New Hampshire simply "cook up her own little Indian Story" regarding her own Great Grandmother Flora "Una Ana Ingerson" - Hunt MERELY BASED ON Bruchac's Fox Song book AFTER it was published, gifted or bought by her in the winter of 1993 or the Spring of 1994 before her Pow-wow at Remick Park, in Littleton, NH? 

I know she just couldn't wait to show "Chief" Homer St. Francis Sr. and "Tribal Judge" Mike Delaney ... her family picture, to them when she'd heard or found out, that they were handing out St. Francis/Sokoki of Missisquoi "Tribal Cards" to anyone that claimed that they were "Abenaki" or Indian. Even Mary Warren got one, and she wasn't even "Abenaki" either! 

Then again, I got one too, the previous October of 1993 while living in Washington State, that signed by "Tribal Judge" Mike Delaney, and they didn't even know my family, at all. Go figure. Making up "Abenakis" and "Abenaki" alleged "incorporation's/communities" every which way they could through the years since 1976...... that's what was going on!

How many "abenakis" today are genealogically legit; and how many were simply created out of thin air, based on a "Grandma Said So" dynamic, who got a "Membership Card" or became a "Chief of the Koasek" like Nancy Millette-Doucet did, based on the above 'stories' over the years?

"Una Ana" I surmise was another one of her concocted Indian-ization's. Flora's middle name was E-U-N-I-C-E, not "Una Ana" by anyone's far fetch imaginative ideations, EXCEPT in Nancy's mind. 

Let's say for the sake of argument, that the N.H. Death Record of Flora Eunice Ingerson - Hunt is factually correct, and that she was born on March 25, 1874 in Littleton, Grafton County, New Hampshire AND that she died on March 11, 1963 at the age of 88 years, 11 months and 14 days..... give or take a few years around "1874" .... just to be on the safe side of things.

That would seem interesting .... because her mother Almira (nee: Rines) Ingerson - Pollock was born on August 29, 1850 and died on February 05, 1880 in Littleton, Grafton County, New Hampshire at the age of 29 years, 5 months and 7 days.

So, can anyone guess how old Almira's daughter Flora actually was, at her mother's passing?

Flora was 5 years, 10 months and 11 days old when her mother Almira Pollock died. I know wee lads and lassie's at that particular age, don't have a mind to sit, stay still, or pay attention too much. They'd rather be hopping, skipping and jumping all over the place from one end of tar-nation to another, they are so filled with youthful energy and excitement. 

So it is, that it begs to be answered, what in the world possessed Nancy Millette to concoct such a 'story' that Flora was taught by her mother Almire, pretty much anything, when that very mother, left that child's father George W. Ingerson, when the child wasn't even 5 years old? 

Now, when Flora Ingerson - Hunt died on Mary 11, 1961, like I said she was 88 years, 11 months and 14 days old. 

How old was Nancy Millette when her Great Grandmother Flora passed away in Monroe, Grafton County, New Hampshire? 

Nancy was just 10 years, 1 month and 13 days old. 

Just the right time of growing up, to stop making up "stories" and begin knowing when what was coming out of one's mouth, was either the truth or not, to my thinking. Yet, according to Nancy, "she'd made a promise to her Great Grandmother Flora, to find her people." 

Seems to me, Nancy said she was in the room (or at least allegedly IN the house) in Monroe, N.H. with her Great Grandmother Flora, along with other family relatives, such as Rhonda Besaw etc .... so why go making promises to a dying Great Grandma to go "look for her people" when they were all right there, in the first place?! 

Rhonda (nee: Besaw) True says Nancy didn't get to Flora's home until AFTER Flora had passed away. But then again, Rhonda says her father SAID she (Rhonda Besaw) was alleged to be "Eastern Abenaki/ Penobscot" too. I have never heard this from anyone, but only from Rhonda herself. Not even her own mother mentioned or implied this down in Monroe, NH...

Who to believe, and on what merits --- Oral History? Vital Records? Historical Records? Dark (Black or Brown) hair color? Dark eyes? Dark Complexion? High Forehead? Nice white possibly 'shovel-head' teeth? Occupation? 

I do think someone been caught in a ____, from way back when, that started right about the summer of 1993 to my thinking and research. And it progressed and got bigger and bigger and bigger, until it was told so many times by the late Nancy Millette, that even she thought it was her truth! 

Now, looking at the above two-page notarized document from Nancy Millette herself, dated March 30, 2007 here is yet another MYTH or STORY, that would make even Joseph Bruchac envious I am sure. 

Even the Jack and Beanstalk or Mary had a Little Lamb can't compare to this one!

Nancy Millette-Cruger-Lyons-Doucet inferred that her Great Grandfather, Christopher Thomas Mallette-Millette was from “Petit Village de la Rivière-du-Loup” of Yamachiche. Christopher was born July of 1865 in Vaudreuil, Vaudreuil County, Quebec, Canada situated on the right bank of the Ottawa river, in Canada. He died February 15, 1951 in Woodsville, Grafton County, New Hampshire.

His father and his ancestors (going all the way back to Pierre Mallet-Maillet who was born July 01, 1629 in Saint Columbe, Saint Amalo, Bretagne, France, who married Marie Anne Hardy) NEVER were in the “Petit Village de la Rivière-du-Loup” of Yamachiche, nor were they Indians or Abenakis either. At all. 

So, since that is the genealogical reality regarding Nancy's late father's direct paternal lineage ancestry, then really what merit or validity does the notarized March 30, 2007 Affidavit actually have, when it was signed by Nancy Millette-Doucet on that date? 

And on another note of address herein, Nancy said in this notarized Affidavit of hers, that she wanted to (quote) "going home and visiting in my Grandfather’s honor." Per this March 30, 2007 Notarized Affidavit she herself signed.

Yet eight (8) days before this Affidavit was created by her, she'd released this news article to the media:


March 22nd, 2007
Meets South at Nawihla!
Nancy Lyons

The Koasek Abenaki Nation will host it’s first Native American Festival and Pow Wow on June 2 and 3, 2007 at the Woodsville Community Field, Woodsville, NH. The schedule includes over 30 arts and crafts venders, four drum groups, December Wind Native Folk Rock Band on Saturday night and a special guest performance each day featuring the Aztec Dancers from Mexico. A detailed time schedule will be available to the public in advance of the Pow wow.
The Luis Salinas and family Aztec dancers have performed all over the United States. They will do many dances and explain their culture and what the dances mean before each performance. The most exciting part of the show will be when they invite the public in the circle to dance with them on some occasions. They will end their performances with a traditional Fire Dance; one of the most outstanding Aztec dances.
The Native American Pow wow has been named Nawihla which in Abenaki means
“ I am returning home”. Haverhill and Newbury meadows have historically been the center of commerce for the Koasek Abenaki until the contact era. Back in historic times many other tribal nations would come to the meadows to trade with Abenaki by way of the Long River ( the Connecticut River). Nawihla will be a huge celebration welcoming the Abenaki and other Native People back home. It is especially an honor for Chief Nancy Lyons to return home with her people. Chief Lyons was born and raised in Haverhill and went to Haverhill Academy and Woodsville High School.
To bring back a glimpse of what life was like for the Abenaki in the meadows the El Nu Abenaki Tribe will set up a historic village complete with blanket trading and craft making demonstrations through out the weekend. The public will be welcome to visit the village and ask questions and even purchase some of the hand tooled items on the trade blankets.
Nawihla organizers have been working in partnership with other area business for the Native American event. Haverhill Alumni Hall will host a lecture with Trudy Ann Parker on May 30th. Trudy Ann Parker (Abenaki) is the author of Aunt Sarah, Woman of the Dawnland and Big Snow Little Snow. Aunt Sarah is a book about Trudy’s Aunt who lived to be 108 winters. Big Snow Little Snow is based on the logging day of the Connecticut River. On May 31st Joseph Firecrow, Northern Cheyenne Granny Nominee will perform a music concert 
at Alumni Hall.
Chief Nancy Lyons will be working with area schools on the possibility of featuring Fred Wiseman and his DVD Against the Darkness to area schools prior to the pow wow weekend. Against the Darkness gathers together, for the first time, an impressive array of genealogical information, historic objects, documents and photographs to refute this cleansing of Northeastern indigenous history. Using live action and voiceover by young Abenaki actors and the stirring music of songwriter Peter Buffett, this digital video inspires as 
well as informs.
The video footage has been carefully screened by over 100 American and Canadian Abenakis of all ages. Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, Wendat, Mohawk, Narragansett, Wampanoag, Pequot, Mahican and Euroamerican elders, scholars and filmmakers provided an "external" Native perspective. Their sage advice has been incorporated into the Against the Darkness System.
The events listed above have been sponsored by the Town of Haverhill, Nootka Lodge, Woodsville Guaranty Bank and Koasek Tribal Nation.


Really? I thought she stated that  “Petit Village de la Rivière-du-Loup” of Yamachiche was where her Indian ancestor's "home" was? Either she was confused, making stuff up, or simply needed to get her directions straight, as to where her "home" actually was. Last time I checked, her "home" was in Swiftwater (near Bath Twonship), in Grafton County, New Hampshire living at 45 Pioneer Park, with her husband, Mark E. Doucet! 

http://reinventedvermontabenaki.blogspot.com/2010/04/nancy-lee-nee-milette-doucet-vs-douglas.html

So which was it? “Petit Village de la Rivière-du-Loup” of Yamachiche or Haverhill, N.H./Newbury, Vermont? I'm sort of confused here (by what she was implying). That's two countries, and 218 miles apart from each other. If her ancestor's home (hypothetically) was, for the sake of argument, this Yamachiche, in Quebec, Canada, then how can she be a "Koasek" "Abenaki"? Secondly, she claimed her ancestors were FROM the Haverhill, N.H. - Newbury, VT areas. Sure, they moved up or down into those area's, from other geographical locations previously. That doesn't make her or those ancestors "Koasek" let alone "Abenakis" now does it?

And that DNA claim of her's by National Genographic after November 27, 2008, I think is just more of her nonsense and delusions. She claimed to be showing the Haplogroup Marker X. 

Sent: Friday, October 23, 2009 2:13 PM
From: nmillette@roadrunner.com [Nancy Millette - Doucet]
To: dfloyd@nycap.rr.com [Eric Scott Floyd of Pittsfield, Berkshire County, Massachusetts]
[she also used the email address of "Nancy Millette" Foxsong06@yahoo.com. foxsong06]

Subject: no more bullshit
My DNA came in from national geographic. I am very much Native American and if I hear anymore bullshit I will be proving in court defamation of character and proof in front of a judge! I am sick of the bullshit from Salmon [Douglas Lloyd Buchholz], Paul Bunnell Paul Pouliot and Ray Lussier. Now I have blood and bone results they better be careful about what they have to say about me or they will see my records up close while sitting on stand in front of  a jury!!
talk later..nancy


Ok, so what does "that" mean?

The mtDNA Haplogroup X Project was opened in May, 2006 per FTDNA.com, as a resource for those wisHaplogroup X diverged from Haplogroup N more than 30,000ybp. It further split more than 20,000ybp into 2 main subgroups, X1 and X2. Haplogroup X is found in Europe, the Near East, Central Asia, North Africa and North America, and is believed to have migrated to the Americas about 15,000 years ago, making up a very small component of the Native American population (less than 3%). Bryan Sykes in his Seven Daughters of Eve book named this mtDNA haplogroup Xenia.hing to learn more about their Haplogroup.

So, again if it (the DNA testing) was so legit, then why didn't Nancy Millette-Doucet state and show the results of that DNA testing; and subsequently allow other's to independently evaluate, the alleged "testing results" and the merit of her claim(s) of being "Abenaki" or "Koasek" etc?

Here's what I previously stated on this blog, my thoughts on DNA testing in regards to Native Americans:

http://reinventedvermontabenaki.blogspot.com/2009/10/nancy-nee-millette-doucet-and-her.html

What was Nancy Millette doing? Fill in your answer._________________.  
(I know what I wrote down.)

The answer is, that it has no truth to it whatsoever, no standing, no merit, no validity and no truth to her Declarations, her created Oral Histories, her Proclamations, her stories .... whatsoever. Period. 

Her ancestor(s) did not go there, they did not live there, they did not visit there, and they did not come from “Petit Village de la Rivière-du-Loup.” If those ancestors did go there, live there, visit there, or leave from there, there would have been some indication historically-socially-and genealogically speaking. But it doesn't exist, because it never existed documentarily in the first place!

It only existed in Nancy's mind......yet again.

In the meeting of the Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs this previous November 2012 (or maybe it was the December meeting (this shit gets deep and deeper as they open their mouths!), Bernie Mortz sitting at the table, pontificating and proclaiming that the late Nancy Millette-Doucet had or has "done so much for the Abenaki Nation" blah blah blah, is just plain BS. 

She helped herself pure and simply said. In a lot more ways than I will say here.

Say I am wrong? .... I knew her for years too, at least since 1994. 

Sure, she organized a Pow-wow here and there since 1994. Big Deal. She was a promoter for sure, but a promoter of herself, first and foremost!

Sure she got to hob-nobbing with this and that politician (on both sides of the Connecticut River) and got the 3 or so then VT/NH State Governor's to sign her concocted Native American "Proclamations" every now and then, that were a dime-a-dozen, if you knew the right politician in either one's County, who knew the right door to go through/the right telephone to call, down in Montpelier VT or Concord NH. Big Deal.

But I have to ask, what did she actually do for an "Abenaki Nation, and" the "Abenaki People" on this side of the United State's border, for that alleged "Abenaki Nation" that does not exist anymore; except to ____ and ____ on her own ancestors histories! 

When the FACTS genealogically sat right there in the very Town Clerk's Office's that she'd lived in for years, and the township she was employed in for a number years as well? 

She wasn't crippled, she could have done the very same trip down to the Town Clerk's Office's and seen for herself the very same historical records, that I did find. ..... But she didn't. Why not? It was because she wanted to believe what she wanted to. Whether it was truthful or not, is up to interpretation eh. 

Yes, you heard me correctly boys and girls, "Abenakis" and all over here, and over there across the river in Vermont, I am SAYING that Nancy Millette was a story-teller, just like Joseph Bruchac and the rest of the gang of this concocted VT Indigenous Alliance composed of the four groups, that are now legislatively "recognized" by the State of Vermont.

I think and conclude that she, as well as the Bruchac's are inferring/implying and making up, that they are Abenakis, but based on what? 

MYTH, Story-Telling, Concocted "Oral Histories", that have not been SUBSTANTIATED, with any real historical documentation. Why? Because they are not Abenakis in the first place and never were Abenakis?

Where is the substantiation to their claims and statements, after all these years since 1974-1976? 

Nancy Millette-Doucet made her contemporaneous persona of being "Koasek" "Abenaki" with her stories about Flora Ingerson - Hunt; and when that didn't work, she tried the same old b.s. by telling another myth about her Great Grandfather Christopher Thomas Mallette-Millette and that “Petit Village de la Rivière-du-Loup” notarized nonsense in 2007. 

So what does that say about the late Nancy Millette-Doucet. And the company she kept, that being the Vermont Indigenous "Abenaki" Alliance, composed of Roger Sheehan's group, April St. Francis-Merrill, Luke Willard, Don Stevens Jr. and Frederick M. Wiseman etc.? 

If she was manipulating her own family historical record, to suit her created persona, of alleged being "Abenaki" what does that say about the people of whom she has kept company with as mentioned above, eh? Have they been manipulating the scholarly created data, to suit themselves? Have they been manipulating the VCNAA (Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs) to suit themselves? Have they been manipulating their data and membership list(s) with their State of Vermont Recognition Application(s) per each group, to suit themselves, to help themselves to a VT State Recognition that honestly does not belong to them? 

How about Senator's Hinda Miller and Vincent Illuzzi (to name just two here). Were they distorting and manipulating their involvement with these four groups historically and socially through the years, and then advocated for the Recognition of these groups claiming to be thee historical "Abenaki" Tribal Communities of Vermont?

How about Juilus Canns, was he manipulating as well? 

Frederick Matthew Wiseman, PhD? 

A perfect set of examples that comes to mind in regards to these alleged re-invented "Abenakis" of Vermont today and their scholarly data manipulation(s), are: the Wabanakus of Highgate Springs, Vermont Postcard; the Antoine Phillips Jr. RPPC; and the Four Indians of Alburg, Vermont ca. 1863. 

And now we can see another manipulation regarding Nancy Millette's genealogical background, making it up as she went along, assuming no one, like myself, would bother seeking the truth out.

These people, these "abenakis" of Vermont DEPEND on ignorance of the good Public and the honest Politician alike, to get away with what they have done, and continuing to do, or intend to do.

The rotten apples do not fall far from the rotten tree, as they would say.

Are you a critical discerning public and or an honest decent open-minded politician? 

Because apparently a whole lot of the public and the politician alike have been fed a lot of nonsense, with their eyes closed. Open them up, research the "Abenakis" who claim to be..... WHERE do their GENEALOGIES go to?.... how far back in time/generational-speaking? Why doesn't the VCNAA have a legitimate un-biased HISTORIAN and a INDEPENDENT GENEALOGIST on the Scholar's Panel having reviewed ALL of the Applications for Recognition from day one. Who helped create the Recognition Criteria in the first place? 

The Cherokee's aren't the only one's with a "Wannabiak" Epidemic, that's for sure!

Under the Fair Use section of the 17 U.S.C. § 107 my usage of a copyrighted work, including such use by my person for the purposes of such criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching scholarship, or research, I INTEND TO USE for the purposes of my research into the Re-Invention of the VT/NH "Abenakis"  including using "fair and reasonable" criticism in my commentary on this blog of the "Abenakis" throughout New England etc, and it is not an infringement of copyright. 

Just my thoughts for the evening...... so back to work I go...... sometimes I will post here, and sometimes I will be working on my 'other' project (besides this blog content).....that is, my book on all of the research regarding the Wannabiak wji N'dakinna. 

Joseph Bruchac, "Marge" Margaret (Bruchac) Kennick; and Joe's sons James and Jesse Bowman Bruchac regarding their ancestor Lewis Bowman and Lewis' ALLEGED "Abenaki" Ancestry/Parentage....

Fair use is a exception to the exclusive right granted by copyright law to the author of a creative work.

17 U.S.C. § 107

Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 17 U.S.C. § 106 and 17 U.S.C. § 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. 

[A] reviewer [like Douglas Lloyd Buchholz] may fairly cite largely from the original work, if his design be really and truly to use the passages for the purposes of fair and reasonable criticism.

How is it that Joseph Bruchac (and  his sister Marge's ancestors) are legitimately-speaking Abenakis?

Here is THEIR Genealogy:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6Q1YTLuaLqPVEh5YjJ0VXZRY3M/view?usp=sharing


In recent retrospect, Wabanaki Beadwork Facebook Group Rhonda Besaw True identified her next project of beadwork as, "Third in the series "The Strength of the Nation Lies with the Women" to honor Dr. Margaret Bruchac (Abenaki) is DONE!...funded by Native Arts New England, a program of the New England Foundation for the Arts, made possible with funding from the Ford Foundation, the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation, and Anonymous Donors...."

Margaret "Marge" M. Bruchac

Born: 08 Dec 1953
Father: Joseph Edward Bruchac
Mother: Marion Flora Bowman
Sibling: Joseph Bruchac
Niece of: James and Jesse Bowman Bruchac

How is that Margaret (nee: Bruchac) Kennick actually an Abenaki woman? From what I can discern genealogically, they have merely IMPLIED that there allegedly exists a Vital Record, which allegedly states that their ancestor was born at "St. Francis"....

Yet, this DOES NOT mean Odanak nor even St. Francois du Lac, in Yamaska County, Quebec, Canada. Of course, the Bruchac's after-all-these-years of book-selling "Abenaki" stories etc. and doing Educational Presentations, seemingly descend from the MOHAWK People. So now they wear the Kanien’kehake People's form of headdress called the Guhsto:wa.

Jesse Bowman Bruchac 

(on the left)

His father Joseph Bruchac

(on the right)

Ca. September 27, 2011

ACW Native American Writers Series

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LP5EKRIHPto

Hmmm, let's take a look at several different points of interest regarding the Bruchac Family.

First, they CLAIMED in their book (by implied reference) that they were descended from the O'Bomsawin's of Odanak, Quebec, Canada (across the river from Saint Francois du Lac, Yamaska County, Qc, Canada) by way of Obomsawin = Bowman, that their ancestors Lewis/Louis Bowman b. 20 Jul 1844 in "Canada" came from "St. Francis" (Odanak). 

Page 343: Also in 1910, in Highgate, a Bouman (Obomsawin) and Brisbois family appear in the records of Missisquoi. 1519. These two families hail from central Vermont and the Lake George community. Their presence suggests that migration back and forth to that area as well as Odanak was still occurring in 1910. In fact, oral tradition from the Bowman Joseph Bruchac family  and the Maurice Denis Adirondack Abenaki family has confirmed the existence of the Vermont Abenaki community in the 20^th century. 1520.

Footnote 1519. See Household # 232 in 1910 Highgate, Vermont Census in Appendix 11.

Footnote 1520. 2282, 8/5/83: 2283, 8/5/83: 1-4.

Page 344: In the Bouman Bowman family, present family members recall when their grandfather Jesse E. (Elmer) Bowman would “disappear” for awhile to go visit relatives  “in Vermont” in this century.

Also see and read these various books written by Joseph Bruchac:

“Bowman’s Store, A Journey to Myself” by Joseph Bruchac ©1997. Pages 10 & 11, 153 & 154.

“Roots of Survival, Native American Storytelling and the Sacred” by Joseph Bruchac © 1996. Pages 179 to194 … Pay close attention to

Page 185 …“Bomazeen: The name comes from Obum-sawin. It means “Keepers of the Ceremonial Fire.” It is a name which has been spelled many ways by Abenaki people, some of whom still carry variations of that name. Joseph Obowmaswine was a veteran of the War of 1812, fighting on the Canadian side. Today, at Odanak (the Abenaki reserve on the St. Francis River in Quebec Province), the Obomsawin family still lives. And the name Cowin, which was that of a family of Indians in Vermont in the late 1880s, probably came from Obomsawin. Names are changed frequently from father to son among the Abenaki. Sometimes …

 Page 186 …an Abenaki name has been Gallicized, then re-Abenaki-ized, andthen Anglicized. Sabbatist. Saint Jean-Baptiste. Sabbatist. St. Pierre. Sa Bial. Sabael. Obum-sawin. Bomazeen. Bowman. The name of mother’s father  --  Jesse Bowman.”

“The Heart of a Chief” by Joseph Bruchac ©1998. Author’s Note (In Part) “I decided, however, not to set this novel on a real reservation. Some of the issues in the book, such as casino gambling, leadership, and alcohol abuse, are too sensitive for me to do that. Instead, I have imagined a reservation where none currently exist, although they should: in New Hampshire. The Penacook are one of the nations of my own Western Abenaki people; but there is, at present,no state or federally recognized Penacook community.”

In a telephone interview with Joseph Bruchac (Abenaki), by Eliza T. Dressang, to accompany the October 6, 1999 discussion of Native American literature for children and teenagers, on CCBC-Net, Mr. Joseph Bruchac (in part) has this to say:”I belong to the Abenaki Nation which is a non-recognized nation in the United States. My great-grandfather [Louis Bowman] came from the little village of Odanak in Canada. I do not have a card from a federally recognized Native American nation.”

Joseph Bruchac’s younger sister, Margaret Bruchac, repeatedly in publications claims to be a Missisqoui Abenaki woman.

“The Winter People” by Joseph Bruchac ©2002. Pages 160 to 168. Pay close attention to Page 163: “For many years I thought of writing about the events of Roger’s Raid. It was, in part, a personal thing. My own great-grandfather Louis Bowman was born in St. Francis.”

“Hidden Roots” by Joseph Bruchac©2004. Pages 130 to 136.Pay close attention to Pages 31 to 44; and 134 of the Author’s Notes. “Sophie” wife to “Uncle Louis” in the book is in reference to Sophie Senecal; and “Uncle Louis” is in reference to Louis Bowman (Sophie nee: Senecal’s son).

“March toward the Thunder” by Joseph Bruchac ©2008. Pages 291 to 293. Pay close attention to Page 293: “My great-grandfather was Canadian, but a Canadian of Native descent whose ancestral roots were in what became the United States. Records list his birth place as St. Francis, the name then used for the Abenaki Indian reserve of Odanak, a mission village made up largely of refugee Indians from New England who fled north to escape the English during the eighteenth century.” … “Like numerous other young Canadian Indian men, my great-grandfather came south to find work because little was available around the reserve.

And, 1864, it was in the United States that a recruiter for the Irish Brigade found him.”

From Jesse Bowman Bruchac (son of Joseph Bruchac) Date: Wed, 06 May 2009 01:12:29:

“The suggested Bowman/Obomsawin connection has been made by many, but directly to us by an Odanak elder Maurice Denis who proposed to my aunt and father in the 70s that it was a name change. Maurice was my father’s mentor at the time and I spent many days as a young child in his kitchen hearing the Abenaki language as he taught my dad the traditional stories of long ago. Maurice lived not far from us and ran an Indian village in Old Forge NY where we spent many summers. Anyway, he believed we were Obomsawin, but this has not and likely cannot be proved. In addition, as suggested in this thread it may not be the case at all. However, even without a name change, Bowman itself is a very old Eastern Algonquin family name. On the record in the 17th century in Massachusetts among the Nantic people. To present it remains a common family name of the Nipmuc, Stockbridge Munsee Mohicans and is also connected with the Wampanoag families, many of whom trace their Native ancestry through Bowman lines.

Page 344: “After 1910, there are few specific indications of Odanak/Missisquoi relations before 1974/5. The Petition and the Day (1981) identity work on Odanak both underscore the disruptive effects of WW 1, the Depression and WW 2 on the family trading and travel networks. 1521. National security combined with economic protectionism to prevent the Odanak Benedict/ Panadis family from returning to work at Highgate Springs from 1915 to 1930.”

Footnote 1522. 78 in Moody, Field Notes, 1983.

Page 353: Of course, numerous oral traditions which link the present community to their 19^th and 18^th century ancestry have also appeared in the research. The Swasson Morits story is not only a traditional naming tradition, but also a clear sign of linguistic and inter-family continuity at Missisquoi. 1563. 

If one wishes to review the FULL context of what I have (meaning Pages 343 to 353, please refer to this data: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6Q1YTLuaLqPRlF0ODZ6cmxOU1k/view?usp=sharing

Here is Lewis Bowman's Civil War Pension Records cited in the book entitled "March Toward the Thunder" copyrighted  in 2008:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6Q1YTLuaLqPZDhBdkFDLVgwNGs/view?usp=sharing

Mr. Joseph Bruchac, his sons James and Jesse Bowman Bruchac, along with Margaret M. Bruchac-Kennick have IMPLIED in this book "March Toward the Thunder" on page 293, that Lewis Bowman was ...." born at "St. Francis", the name used for the Abenaki Indian Community of Odanak, a mission village made up largely of refugee Indians from New England who fled north to escape the English during the eighteenth century."

Ok so WHERE in this Pension Record, does it ever mention Lewis Bowman ever being born at "St. Francis"? 

What documentation do they the Bruchac's actually SOURCE, by Book Title, Page, Location, etc.?

Please, if anyone (including the Bruchac's can inform my person or the PUBLIC of the actual PROOF documentarily of this St. Francis = Odanak connection, DO SHOW and PROVIDE such DOCUMENTATION, as it pertains to Lewis Bowman, who died on September 10th, 1918 in Greenfield, Saratoga County, New York. 

CLARIFICATION: In the summer of 2009 it was my person, that informed Jesse Bowman Bruchac, of the Owisto'k "Ots-Toch" (Mohawk woman) and her husband Cornelius Antoneson "BroerCarnelis" Van Slyck(e) genealogical ancestral connection with the Bruchac descendants. BEFORE that, they didn't know about this genealogical connection to the Mohawk woman.

I'll post more about the Bruchac's at a later time. Suffice it to say, that again, it would seem that they, as with many people, have re-invented themselves into being "Abenaki" simply because..... yet there is no documentation to substantiate their claims, but here is their genealogy just the same, for review:

Owistok Ots-Toch Descendants as of 08-07-2009 to Jesse Bowman Bruchac:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6Q1YTLuaLqPdUFLOWFHX0Q3YzA/view?usp=sharing

I would also like to point out the following: 

Per an email from Cynthia Bisca to my person that was dated August 08, 2009

"It is true that Cornelis Van Slyke "married" (had a liaison) with a Mohawk woman from the Canajoharie Castle or Village.  But she was not the daughter of Jacques Hertel, who probably never came to that part of the Mohawk Valley. Her name is unknown as is her date of birth. She had other children by a Mohawk, who stayed in the village.  She was supposed to have had a sister who married a Bradt, (untrue) which is why I [Cynthia Biasca] did the research which showed some of the myths about the names of the two daughters and their appearances, obviously manufactured in the 1800's by someone who wanted to romanticize the story.  The full debunking is in her article.

So in the case of the Van Slycks, there was a Mohawk mother of unknown name and age who gave birth to 3 or 4 Van Slyck children (Martin is questionable) whose names were/are Jacques, Hilletje and Leah.  They did not have an Elizabeth to my knowledge, nor were any of their children born in Holland!  Ots-Toch is not even an Indian name, I have been told. 

Indian blood  =  yes.  Hertel and the name Ots-Toch and a date of birth for her = no.

Hope this helps.

Cynthia

The following are the article pages she sent to me, kindly: 

Jacques Hertel and the Indian "Princess"

Page 91 

Jacques Hertel and the Indian "Princess"

Page 92-93 

 Jacques Hertel and the Indian "Princess"

Page 94-95

Jacques Hertel and the Indian "Princess"

Page 96-97

I wish these were better scanned copies, but they are what I obtained directly from  Cynthia Brott Biasca, author of the above research.

In essence and conclusion, Ots-Toch is reputedly a Mohawk Indian, but there is considerable discussion about whether she was a daughter of Jaques Hertel. There is some discussion below on this.

Regarding the "Castle," it was a palisaded Mohawk village. On the web at the various Canajoharie sites (located through Google.com) is this 1927 discussion of proposed markers in Canajoharie: "In the Herkimer/Montgomery County area (an) interest was reflected in a series of lengthy articles run by the Fort Plain Standard in the summer of 1927. Among the numerous markers being proposed we find: INDIAN CASTLE - The Upper or Canajoharie Mohawk Castle stood on site of Greene farm greenhouses. Church was Mohawk Indian Mission built by Sir William Johnson, 1769. Fort Hendrick, British army post, erected near here during the French and Indian war (1754-1760). FORT CANAJOHARIE, 1756-1760 - British fort, built during the French and Indian war to guard river ford. Stood on high ground near here. (Fort Plain Standard, June 23, 1927). The church referred to was the Indian Castle Mission Church that still stands, overlooking Route 5S and the Thruway at Indian Castle and sporting the date of "1769." It is this locale that traditionally has been represented as the site of the Upper Mohawk Castle (palisaded village) of the eighteenth century - hence the name of the hamlet.

There is a considerable body of lore regarding Cornelis' (one of many spellings) Mohawk Indian wife, by whom he bore four children. In an article from The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, vol. 128, Number 2, pages 91-97, JACQUES HERTEL AND THE INDIAN PRINCESSES, the author Cynthia Brott Biasca dismisses the notion that Cornelis wife was a princess, the daughter of Jaques Hertel. She believes the story comes from some 1860 notes by a Schenectady researcher. She notes "Anyone who has done significant research on the Van Slyke (Van Slyck) and Bradt families has come across the story, promoted as fact by people like historian Nelson Greene, that a French trader named Jacques Hertel came to the Mohawk valley and there fathered two daughters by a Mohawk "princess." They were said to be named Ots-Toch and Kenutje, the former being "wild and savage like her mother while Kenutje was small and handsome and very white, like her father." Ots-Toch, in this tale, married Cornelis Van Slyck and Kenutje "married a Bradt."

She continues later "There is ample proof that Cornelis Van Slyck had several children by an Indian woman at the Canajoharie Castle, as their village was referred to. But was she the daughter of a French trader? At first I uncritically accepted this theory, which has been promulgated by many members of the Van Slyke family, among others, offering very questionable "proofs" from various sources. But the time frame of the birth of the two daughters did not correspond with the age Kenutje would have been had she been the mother of Arent Andriessen. And in my research it became apparent that Kenutje was a part of the entire tradition of Hertel, his two daughters, their names and descriptions. Kenutje did not stand alone as an Indian maiden who was the mother of Arent Andriessen Bradt, but in conjunction with her sister, who was born about 1620 and who had son Jacques/Ackes Van Slyck in 1640.

The persistence of this tradition was highlighted by the publication, in late 1996, of a book on the Van Slyke family by Lorine Shulze, a descendant of Jacques Van Slyck. Included is a chapter on Jacques Hertel as the father of Ots-Toch but not Kenutje, who, she says, is controversial and, to her knowledge, only mentioned in one source. Her thesis is that Hertel could have been the father of Ots-Toch, since there was peace between the Iroquois and the French of New France from about 1622 to 1627, a period in which Ots-Toch could have been born. However, Mrs. Schulze only cites 19th and 20th century secondary sources to support her thesis. She presents no primary evidence that Hertel actually was ever in the Mohawk Valley or that he fathered children by a Mohawk woman. As shown below, the primary evidence that does exist shows that the mother of Cornelis Van Slyck's children was a full-blooded Indian."

And, after several more pages of anaysis of records, she ends "What remains from the whole myth of Hertel and his daughters that can be substantiated? The only unchallenged facts are that Cornelis Van Slyck "married" an Indian woman from the Mohawk Castle at Canajoharie. Nowhere in Danckaerts' Journal, where he discusses the Van Slycks, and Hilletje in particular, does he give her mother a name, and his information indicates she was a full-blooded Indian. We know Van Slyck fathered at least four children, and that his wife probably had other fully Indian children. And we know that Jacques Cornelisse, son of Cornelis Van Slyck, had three children who married Bradts, passing on somewhat diluted Indian blood to many Bradt descendants.

Since 17th century primary sources do not support the Hertel tradition, it seems ill-advised to accept as accurate the versions of that tradition that appear two or three centuries later, backed by no factual data. It is time to drop the MYTH of Hertel, Ots-Toch, and Kenutje; drop the idea that Arent Bradt was the son of an Indian "princess"; and stop romanticizing a genealogy that can stand on its own feet without the need to invent details, names, and dates that have no substance in fact."

ABENAKI-BOWMAN

Re: ABENAKI-BOWMAN

migakawinno (Jesse Bowman Bruchac)

Posted: 6 May 2009 1:12AM GMT

Classification: Query

Kwai Doug [Douglas Buchholz], Carolee [Reynolds-Matthews] and other friends I know in this thread. I hope you are well. Since I've been mentioned a few times by name and this revolves around my family, as well of course, around many of ours, I thought I'd share a little of what I know. 

As we have always said more is unknown than known. A great deal of faith and courage went into my father's decision to embrace his Native heritage. He took a leap and I thank him for this and for raising me with an awareness and great respect for everything beautiful about life, Native culture and the earth. This is a respect, Native or not, we should all have. There is much beauty. My life now centers around many circles, one of which has remained for almost 20 years now the fight to keep the Western Abenaki language alive. If you would like to learn more about it, please visit http://westernabenaki.com

First this thread needs some clarification. To suggest that the 1700's were a time when Native people had no concerns with racism shows a lack of knowledge about Native history. This was the time of the forced removals and the most likely time for one to hide their identity if possible as Native in order to literally save their lives. Indians in the northeast at this time literally had bounties put on their heads. 

Secondly what we now call the Abenaki are in fact a coming together of many diverse groups. Many were from New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, New York, Massachusetts and from peoples as diverse as the Mohawk, Wendat (Huron), Nipmuc, Wampanoag, Penobscot, Sokwaki, Mohican etc.. etc.. etc.. The term Abenaki simply means "easterner". Grey Lock himself was Woronoco. 

As for the Bowman family, the Indian blood is there. The full extent will likely never be known. Most of the family hid their Native ancestry in order to find work and live normal lives in their homelands without threat of removal or racism. Others likely forgot, or did not care enough to remember they had Native ancestry at all. 

The suggested Bowman/Obomsawin connection has been made by many, but directly to us by an Odanak elder Maurice Denis who proposed to my aunt and father in the 70's it was a name change. Maurice was my fathers mentor at the time and I spent many days as a young child in his kitchen hearing the Abenaki language as he taught my dad the tradition stories of long ago. Maurice lived not far from us and ran an Indian village in Old Forge NY where we spent many summers. Anyway, he believed we were Obomsawin, but this has not and likely can not be proved. In addition, as suggested in this thread it may not be the case at all. However, even without a name change, Bowman itself is a very old Eastern Algonquin family name. On the record in the 17th century in Massachusetts among the Natic people. To present it remains a common family name of the Nipmuc, Stockbridge Munsee Mohicans and is also connected with the Wampanoag families many of whom trace their Native ancestry through Bowman lines. 

The Senical (Seneca, Senecal) line (Lewis Bowman's mother Sophie Senical) is equally interesting. The Senecal family has a documented history with Odanak, Yamaska and surrounding communites. Intermarrying with the Gill's in the 1840s and prior to this making some failed business deals together, even selling off some of the reserve with help of the then Odanak chief Gill. The famous artist, Charles Gill has a Senecal grandfather. Not clear if this family is Sophie's family, but Senecal's landed in Three Rivers Quebec in 1640-ish from France, 40 years before the Abenaki community of Odanak was established and are are still there today. 

Other unanswered ancestors in our geneology are numerous. Out of Vermont, the Bedel's on my mom's side, and through the Dunham line (my grandmas mom), the Mann's and Spear's all drop off fast and may have Abenaki links. Like most ancestries, ours has more questions than answers, but a clear pattern emerges. Close contact with northeast Native communities and most lines being in the northeast from first European contact and before. 

What is known Native-wise is Jesse Bowman's Mohawk ancestry through his mother Alice Van Antwerp is well documented and multi-layered. One line below is to Ots Toch Hartell (Snow Bird). Also another branch of the Van Antwerp line hits Grietje, who has been mentioned. 

This might help some of you:

10 Jesse Bowman

9. Alice Van Antwerp 

8. Daniel Wynet Van Antwerp 

7. Winant Van Antwerp 

6. Douwe VanAntwerp

5. Hendrikje Fonda VanBuren

4. Aaltje VanNess VanBuren

3. Cornelius VanBuren

2. Elizabeth VanSlyck 

1. Ots Toch Hartell 

Kwai Mskwamagw ta kdagik nid8bak ta nid8baskwak. N'kawachowi kd'agakimziba aln8baiwi askwa.

Wlalamegw8gan,

Migakawinno (Jesse Bowman Bruchac)

Descendants of Owisto'k / Ots-Toch Mohawk Woman to the Bruchac Family:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6Q1YTLuaLqPdjRpUmwzYWRIVjg/view?usp=sharing

Re: ABENAKI-BOWMAN

Cynthia Biasca

Posted: 3 Aug 2009 5:44 PM GMT

Classification: Query

Surnames: Bradt, Van Valkenburg, Clement, Werner

Hi - You are essentially right. However, Maria Bradt, bpt 1713, did not marry Isaac Van Valkenburg; she had an illegitimate child by him bpt. 17 Dec. 1732 at Schoharie Lutheran Ch. However, he used his father's last name. Isaac the father went on to marry Jannetje Clement in 1737.

Isaac the son married Anna Marie Werner. They had ten children, three of whom married Bradts. By then they used the name Vollick.

The family did NOT go back to Ots Toch - she was a myth, which I debunked a few years ago. See my book "Descendants of Albert and Arent Andriessen Bradt" and the article in the NY Genealogical and Biographical Record of April 1997 called "Jacques Hertel and the Indian Princesses."

Cynthia Brott Biasca

For a more detailed review of the message board thread of communications back and forth between Carollee Reynolds-Matthews and the Bruchac descendants:

http://boards.rootsweb.com/topics.ethnic.natam.nations.abenaki.abenakinat/240.8.1.1/mb.ashx

As for the alleged Mohawk woman named "Grietje" whom married to Pieter de Steenbaker Borsboom (of which Carollee (nee: Reynolds) Matthews and her daughter Takara Cynthia Matthews descend from [Grietje/Borsboom>Mabie>VanDyke>Partlow>Covey>Hilliker>Reynolds>Matthews], claims to be "cousins" with the Bruchac's. How far back (how many generations into their perspective genealogical backgrounds does it go) in order for the relationship to show up between Carol Reynolds - Matthews and Jesse Bowman Bruchac?

Perhaps the Mohawk Ancestry, that Carollee (nee: Reynolds) Matthews and her daughter T.K. claim to have, doesn't actually exist in the first place, except in MYTH/wishful thinking? Do they live in a Mohawk Community, speak Mohawk, etc? No (?), they claim to be Vermont "Abenakis."

For Carolle (Reynolds) Matthews (and Takara C. Matthews Ancestral Connection to Grietje in further genealogical detail, please review the following PDF:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6Q1YTLuaLqPN2VJQnFrOHViZlk/view?usp=sharing

Head Quarters Department of Washington

Office East Commisary of Musters

Washington D. C.

Jan. 25, 1865

Sir,

I have the honor to request that the name of Pvt. Lewis Bowman, Co. E., 69th N.Y. Volunteers, be erased from the M.O. Rolls dated June 3rd, 1865: forwarded to your office. His name was placed on the M.O. Rolls by mistake of the Surgeon in charge, he should be discharged in Surgeons Certificate of Disability.

Very Respectfully,

Louis Bowman

Age: 20 years

Born: Canada

Occupation: Laborer

Eyes: Black

Hair: Black

Complexion: Dark

Height: 5 ft., 8 1/2 inches

Just because he was described as having black eyes, black hair and a dark complexion DOES NOT MEAN HE WAS INDIAN, or ABENAKI at all.

No. 1522 

Lewis Bowman

White

Residence: Greenfield, N.Y.

Birthplace: Canada

Father: Joseph Bowman

Mother: Sophia Rasberry [Not Senecal]

Birthplace of parents: Canada

2nd Wife: Mary E. (nee: VanAntwerp) Goodrich

[widowed sister of Lewis's 1st wife Alice Marie Van Antwerp]

Residence: Greenfield, N.Y.

Born: Wilton, Saratoga County, New York

Father: Winant VanAntwwept

Mother: Susan Barney

Birthplace of parents: Warren County, NY

Does finding an Native Ancestor in the family genealogy ca. July 2009 all the way back 200-300 years ago (for example, allegedly this Mohawk by the name of "Owisto'k" "Ots-Toch") make the Bruchac's ...... now all-of-sudden Mohawk's/ Kanienkehaka, what with wearing Kastoweh's during their "presentation's" i.e. "Story-Telling" [see pictures in this post above, of Joe Bruchac and his son Jesse] and writing numerous books regarding Native People's, making a $$ PROFIT $$ off Native Communities, copyrighting their stories, their culture, their heritage, whether Wabanaki, Abenaki (btw, there is a difference between the two) and or Mohawk? 

Whose "stories"? Whose "songs"? do the Bruchac's take from and copyright, for themselves?

Is such 'traditional' Abenaki? Mohawk? Etc.? When did the Abenaki or Mohawk Culture, Stories, Songs, Traditions, Dances, etc get a PRICE TAG and a Copyright Symbol on them?

I ponder this question: are the Bruchac writing books like "the Arrow Over the Door" - "Hidden Roots" - "The Winter People" - "Roots of Survival" "Bowman's Store" and "March Toward the Thunder" not so much for anything else, but to promote their own "story" ... that they are allegedly "Abenakis"? 

Are they promoting the subject matter in the books, or themselves, in their attempts at identifying as "Abenakis" without ANY real evidence to back up what they say? 

How many "St. Francis" locations are there in the Province of Quebec, Canada that Lewis Bowman ALLEGEDLY came from, to Saratoga County, New York? 

Let's see how many St. Francis there really is:

1. Saint-François, Laval, Quebec, a district of Laval, Quebec that was an independent city before 1965.

2. Saint-François-de-l'Île-d'Orléans, Quebec, known simply as Saint-François until December 2003.
3. Saint-François-de-Beauce, Quebec, now part of Beauceville, Quebec, Canada. 
4. Saint-François-du-Lac, Quebec, Canada.
5. Saint-François-de-Sales, Quebec in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region.

(confusingly, some of the other Saint-François were also known historically as Saint-François-de-Sales parishes)

6. Saint-François-de-la-Rivière-du-Sud, Quebec, Canada.
7. Saint-François-d'Assise, Quebec, Canada
8. Saint-François-Xavier-de-Brompton, Quebec, Canada
9. Saint-François-Xavier-de-Viger, Quebec, Canada.

So, why did Joseph Bruchac jump to the conclusion that it automatically just had to be Odanak and or #4. Saint-François-du-Lac, Quebec, on page 293 of his book entitled "March Toward the Thunder"? There is at least 9 (and probably MANY MORE "St. Francis" locations in both Ontario and Quebec, Canada) that I found just using Google.com Search engine, so why immediately pick Odanak's Abenaki Community? There was another known Abenaki Community or Enclave situated around or near #3 back in the day, called "Sartigan" And some of the Native residents of Sartigan did in fact relocate to Odanak.

I will be posting more on the blog about the Bruchac's assuredly.... in due time....

Something to think about and ponder..... 

again.....

Genealogy 

without factual historical documentation 

is 

plain and simple 

merely 

a mythology

Mythology is not genealogy

Genealogies created by mythology

isn't factual historical proof