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Wednesday, February 13, 2013

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....


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[A] reviewer [like Douglas Lloyd Buchholz] may fairly cite largely from the original workif 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 20th 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 19th and 18th 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:


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 mythwhich 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

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