The Burlington Free Press Newspaper
Abenaki story
unfolds at Johnson State College
Johnson State
College will host “Against the Darkness,” a multimedia
history of the Vermont Abenaki, at 4:00 p.m. Tuesday in Bentley Auditorium.
Using photographs, artifacts, live action and voice-over
by young Abenaki actors and the music of
songwriter Peter Buffett, the
40-minute digital video traces an American Abenaki
family lineage from 1765 through seven generations to today’s
indigenous community in Swanton, Franklin County, Vermont. [The 7-generation family is that of Charles
Henry Partlow down to his descendant, an actor in the DVD presented, Brent
Reader]
“Against the Darkness” was written
and produced by Frederick Matthew
Wiseman, an archaeologist, indigenous rights activist and author.
There will be a short question-and-answer session after
the screening of the video. Admission is free.
January 25, 2007
Vermont Commission
on Native American Affairs
Meeting Minutes
Members
Present:
Mark Mitchell,
Chairman
Jeanne Brink
(arrived at 1:10)
Judy Dow
Timothy de la
Bruere
Charlene McManis
Don Stevens
Hilary Casillas
Staff:
Jane Lendway,
SHPO
Scott Dillon,
Survey Archeologist
Diane McInerney,
Executive Administrative Assistant
Guests:
John Moody
Donna Moody
Todd Hebert
Tina de la Bruere
Chinka Buck
Phyllis Donovan
Helen Sawyer
Beverly Tarto
Dawn Macle
Jed Cutter,
County Courier
Robert Appel,
Human Rights Commission
Kelly Noltan,
Intern
Bill Griffin,
Vermont Assistant Attorney General
Susanne Young,
Vermont Governor’s Office
Jim Douglas, Vermont
Governor
The monthly meeting of the Vermont Commission on Native
American Affairs was brought to order by Mark Mitchell at 1:00 p.m. in the AOT
Board Room, 5th Floor of the National Life Bldg., Montpelier, Vermont. Approval
of December 28, 2006 Minutes
A correction was made to the minutes by VCNAA Chairman Mark W. Mitchell on Page 2; section 3
under Arts & Crafts; paragraph
4; the term ‘Indian Tribe’ means, as provided by the two United States
Codes should have read, (A) any
Indian group that has been formally recognized
as an Indian Tribe by the State Legislature, or by State Commission, or similar
organization Legislatively vested with tribal recognition authority. Mark W. Mitchell asked for consensus on
the minutes and the Commission unanimously approved the minutes with
corrections from the December 28, 2006 meeting.
Mark W. Mitchell then asked Tim to share updates for the 2009 Quadricentennial. Timothy de la Bruere explained that Frederick Matthew Wiseman has been representing the Abenaki people in numerous Quad meetings.
February 22, 2007
Vermont Commission
on Native American Affairs
Meeting Minutes
Members
Present:
Mark Mitchell,
Chairman
Jeanne Brink
Judy Dow
Tim de la Bruere
Charlene McManis
Don Stevens
Staff:
Diane McInerney,
DHP Exec. Administrator Assistant.
Guests:
Lee Kahrs, St.
Albans Messenger
Doug Brink
John Moody
Hall Bill,
County Zoning
Ficerek Vando
Kine Hathoway
Fred Wiseman
Doris Sedle
Jeff Benay
Jesse Larocque
Robert Appel,
Exec. Dir. Human Rights
Scott Manning,
NFVT
Patty Manning
S. 117 does not
define what or who an Abenaki person is, in Vermont. It is quite vague according to the Indian Arts and Crafts Board and it’s the
responsibility of this Commission, created by the bill, to make that
determination.
Judy Dow encouraged
those interested to visit the web site, and offer their input into the
process. She explained the (3) Criteria:
That the tribe/band shows a connection to
the land.
A connection to kinship.
A connection to each other.
She noted that the
Abenaki is a unique tribe, and that policy
and procedure will have to consider each tribe/band as unique. There also
seems to be a difference between what the Indian
Arts & Crafts people are saying and what the BIA is interpreting; ultimately making it difficult for the
Commission to work through legislative issues.
Just because a person claims to be an Abenaki from
Vermont does not mean that particular individual is a state recognized Indian
person or is an American Indian craftsperson as defined by the Federal Indian
Arts and Crafts Act.
The Indian Arts and Craft Board have clarified for this
commission the necessary requirements to protect an Indian under the Act.
"If someone is
NOT an enrolled member of a state recognized tribe in the sense that the tribe
has been recognized and is a tribe and individuals can be members of the tribe,
they are NOT able to sell their art as Indian for the purposes of the
Act."
Kine Hathoway, Akwesasne Mohawk, expressed her personal experience and recommendations for the Commission to consider. It was her belief that tribes/bands should be the ones to decide which individual, from accurate
information through the aboriginal history of each tribe/band.
Education goals/Quadricentennial
–
The Commission will be looking for funding that may help
in the CD project for essential
understanding that will be available for
school use. These tapes will be simple
stories geared for 3rd and 4th graders with native words, places, and cultural
stories that will include interactive capabilities. This project may tie in with the Quadricentennial time line. There were many Quadricentennial projects described by Frederick Matthew Wiseman that may interest the Commission and they
are currently looking for tribal members
who may be able to help in the
building of a traditional long house, and a village at the Intervale.
New Business –
Charlene McManis
suggested that Abenaki tribal members celebrate May 3rd on the State House lawn
in recognition of the role the Abenaki are now playing in State Government. Frederick
Matthew Wiseman reminded the Commission that Governor Howard Dean established the first week in May as Abenaki Heritage Week and that this
would coincide with that day. It was suggested that a resolution be written in
appreciation for the Governor’s Recognition
of the tribe in 2006, the forming of the Commission, and for the
Commission’s role in moving forward with their goals and the cultural issues
set before them. A resolution will be
discussed at the next meeting.
March 25, 2007
The Burlington Free Press Newspaper
“The Moccasin
Village Project: Reconstructing the History of the French-Abenaki Communities
on the Winooski Intervale”
7:30 p.m. – Waterman Building at UVM
Judy A. (nee: Fortin) Dow, Abenaki basket maker and educational consultant, and Nancy Gallagher, historian and author.
Part of the Center for Research on Vermont Seminar Series
656-4389.
March 26, 2007
8:00 PM
Waterman Building - University of Vermont
Center for Research on Vermont: Seminars Series:
Center for Research on Vermont: Research Seminars
Partner: Center
for Research on Vermont
“The Moccasin
Village Project”
The French-Indian people in Chittenden County lived in
small neighborhood communities identified by names known only to them, and Moccasin Village in Burlington's Old North
End was one of these. Despite repeated attempts at forced assimilation such
as eminent domain, increased taxes, institutionalization, and eugenics, the
Abenaki oral tradition of storytelling has allowed these communities and their
ancestral traditions to endure beneath and within an external French-Canadian
identity. Judy Dow, who has deep ancestral roots to Moccasin
Village, and Nancy Gallagher, author of “Breeding Better Vermonters: The
Eugenics Project in the Green Mountain State”, began collaborating in 2004 in an effort to document and restore to
public memory the history of Abenaki
culture in Winooski Interval communities and in Vermont at large. In this
program they present their findings on the various means of adaptation to
social, political, environmental, and economic changes that enabled the Abenaki
culture to survive.
June 11, 2007
From: Frederick Matthew Wiseman
To: Douglas Lloyd Buchholz
Subject: Re:
Ceremony
Hi Douglas--
I read your critique of Nancy Millette-Lyon's event and am interested in your ideas
regarding proper Abenaki ceremony. As you know, I do a lot of consulting on this issue. For example, I am helping the Penobscots in developing the proper protocols for
death ceremonies based on the Wampum Records. I would like to convene a group to consider a
similar thing for us here, without
"borrowing" from Odanak. You seem to know of local American indigenous ceremony -- I'd appreciate
your advice in this. We only have bits and pieces left here at
Missisquoi [Swanton, VT]. It would be a neat idea to try to get a real
(with historical antecedents) ceremony going in the Western Abenaki
territory. I am aiming for the 2009 Champlain Quadricentennial-- since
I may be able to get Grant Monies to
support it.
Any thoughts?
Frederick
Matthew Wiseman
June 12, 2007
9:58 AM
From: Douglas Lloyd Buchholz
To: Fred Wiseman
Subject: Re:
Ceremony
Yes, I would be glad to speak of this endeavor with you
Fred. I will try and communicate with you this evening if at all possible.
Right now, "I am on the run, getting stuff done today" with little
time to address this with you. But indeed I would like to talk with you about
this.
Douglas Lloyd Buchholz
(603) 788-4585
(but I will call you)
[See and Review August 23,
2007 10:01 AM Fred M. Wiseman PhD Response to Douglas Buchholz]
June 23, 2007
The Burlington Free Press Newspaper
By John Curran – The Associated Press (AP)
Abenaki
recognition denied on appeal
MONTPELIER – The federal government has denied federal
recognition to the Abenaki Indians of Vermont, saying the group doesn’t meet
the federal criteria, state’s Attorney General William Sorrell said Friday.
Echoing a Proposed Finding issued November 2005, the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs issued a Final
Determination Friday saying the St.
Francis-Sokoki Band of the Abenaki Nation of Vermont doesn’t meet the
criteria required to prove it is an Indian tribe.
“It’s disappointing, but it wasn’t unexpected,” said
Abenaki tribal historian Frederick Matthew
Wiseman, a professor at Johnson State College.
Bureau of Indian Affairs officials could not be reached
for comment on the decision late Friday. A telephone message left after hours
at the agency’s Washington, D.C.-based office was not immediately returned.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs, which manages 55.7 million
acres of land held in trust for American Indians, Indian tribes and Alaska
Natives, said when it issued the Proposed/ Preliminary Finding/Report in November 2005 that the Abenakis had failed to show the following:
A. had
descended from a historical Abenaki tribe
B. the tribe had existed since 1900
C. it has been
part of a continuous community
The federal government recognizes 561 tribes. The status
is highly sought after because it exempts tribes’ state and local laws and
entitles them to ask for reservation and trust lands when it is granted.
Last year Vermont Governor Jim Douglas signed into law a
bill, S.117, recognizing the Abenakis existence in Vermont, but it was a
largely symbolic gesture.
Summer 2007 -
Aaron Todd York,
a member of the Abenaki Nation, completed an 18-foot birch bark canoe as an
artist in residence at the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum in Vergennes, VT.
York fashioned the canoe body from a single sheet of birch bark, using a cedar
frame and spruce root stitching and Woodland
Confederacy held a ceremonial launching of the canoe in early August of
2007. The canoe is a replica of the type used by Samuel de Champlain in his exploration
of the Lake in 1609. The canoe project received research support from
Professor Frederick M. Wiseman of Johnson State College and the Wôbanakik
Heritage Center.
(What Frederick Wiseman
doesn't say in this article is that Aaron York is his wife's son by a previous
marriage! They are relatives
supporting each other, thus by the absence of this clarification by
either man's relationship to each other they are both implying that they are
getting support “independent” of each other’s truthful relationship to each
other. Secondly, Wôbanakik
Heritage Center is created, promoted, and curated by Frederick Matthew Wiseman
himself)
Judy Dow stated, “I took my
ethno-botany class to watch Aaron York when he was the apprentice of a white
guy at the Maritime Museum. I never laughed so hard.”
July 18, 2007
Burlington Free Press Newspaper
By Terri Hallenbeck
- Free Press Staff Writer
Still Waiting
A year ago May [of 2006],
Vermont’s Abenaki and other American Indians converged on the Vermont Statehouse Legislative
lawn to celebrate the signing of a law granting long-awaited Vermont State Recognition of their
existence. The law, a compromise after year
s of disagreement, fell short of what many wanted, but was nonetheless
highly celebrated for providing some measure of Vermont State Recognition. The discovery since then that the law is
probably not specific enough to allow native artists and craftsmen to sell
their wares as American Indian-made has irritated many who thought that was one
of the most valuable things the legislation would provide. Last month, the
federal government dealt another blow, issuing its final decision denying the St. Francis Band’s application for federal
recognition. “I wish I could tell you that a lot of things have changed,”
said Fred M. Wiseman of Swanton, Vermont
who runs the Abenaki Tribal Museum
and worked extensively for State of
Vermont and Bureau of Federal Acknowledgement Recognition. “The main thing
is a sigh of relief that the state’s not on our backs. I think we’re two-thirds
of the way there.”
“We had good intentions. Maybe we didn’t do what we meant
to do.” Fred M. Wiseman said he felt
duped because Vermont State Legislator’s
were told the law’s wording would clear the way for arts and crafts, only to find out a few months later it wouldn’t.
So does Brian
Chenevert, a chief of Koasek Abenaki
Nation in Newbury, Vermont who
called the bill “an illusion, a sleight of hand trick that gives the appearance
of Vermont State Recognition to the
Abenaki; but in reality it provides no hard recognition and does not help, for
the Abenaki.”
Artists like Aaron
York of Swanton, who makes native canoes, paddles, knives and other items,
depend on being able to market their goods as native-made. Aaron York has Recognition in Canada through his wife, but
other Vermont American Indians are not legally allowed to label their work as
such because neither the State of
Vermont nor the Federal Government
has recognized specific members of specific tribes. “I’m quite displeased,” Aaron York said. The status does not
give artists an automatic path to success, he said, but it provides them with a
marketing tool that can make the difference in a sale.
Frederick Matthew
Wiseman, too, despite his disappointment over the arts and crafts issue, said he believes Vermont State Recognition is a meaningful and not simply a symbolic
gesture. “It was the result of Vermonters and Abenakis coming together to say
that the State of Vermont does have Indians, and both are proud of that fact,”
he said.
July 19, 2007
The Burlington Free Press Newspaper
Monday
Birch Bark Canoe
Construction
10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Mondays through August 05, 2007
Lake Champlain
Maritime Museum, in Ferrisburgh, Vermont – Ongoing Demonstration
First Navigators
Project
Abenaki craftsman Aaron
Todd York creates a traditional birch
bark canoe in the style used by Samuel de Champlain in 1609 when he journeyed
on the lake.
August 23, 2007
10:01 AM
From: Frederick Matthew
Wiseman
To: Douglas Lloyd Buchholz
Subject: Re:
Ceremony
Douglas-
Due to the comradeship that we have shared over the
years, I will respond to your address only, a short response to your unprovoked
attack against my work that you saw fit to post to the internet. From your diatribe, it is obvious that you
know nothing about my involvement in the St.
Francis Sokoki Band petition. I had nothing to do with the petition
itself-- the genealogical and
historical work was done by John Moody, Chris Roy and Carol Neptun, before
I began working with the Missisquois in the role of Tribal Historian in
1998. There was nothing of my research
in the original petition, which, I agree was a flawed work.
When the Fed’s had Missisquois petition "go active“
about two 1/2 years ago, they demanded that Missisquoi provide more information
on a very short deadline. I was asked to add additional material,
which I did, and on time-- on material culture only, which is my specialty.
I did add a couple written historical references that I found in my Quebec
archival research. I was given a very
short time to complete this complex academic task. Nevertheless, each artifact submitted was well vetted as to a Vermont provenance in
my field notes. Each item was then
checked for Native American material authenticity and Abenaki stylistic
cultural appropriateness by a team consisting of myself, archaeologists,
curators, conservators and material cultural specialists at UVM, SUNY Plattsburgh and Shelburne
Museum, who were ready to rebut any question by the Fed’s regarding the
objects' authenticity.
This was all done without recompensation to me or my
consultants.
However, the Fed’s
did not question the materials' authenticity, or a Vermont origin, both of
which were impeccable -- due to my meticulous research. Instead, as you may see in their
"findings" they created
alternate illogical and entirely unsubstantiated counter-arguments against a VT
Abenaki provenance for the items, without any requisite expertise in Northeast
Native, or even Abenaki material culture.
For example, they asserted as fact that Abenaki artifacts that came from known
Missisquoi families, and of types and styles not known from Odanak, were made by itinerant Odanak citizens
traveling in VT. I rebutted this
misinformation in detail in the last Missisquoi submission, but the Fed’s entirely ignored the documented
rebuttals and reiterated their "smoke and mirror" counterarguments. They had no intention of allowing any data or
scholars' credentials to stand in the way of their predetermined conclusion.
Also, "Against the Darkness" was never designed for Federal Recognition, but to sway VT
legislators (which it did), then become an educational tool for high school
students (which it is).
When you came to my house to see it, you only saw a small
portion of the documentation associated with the artifacts.
It is too bad that you have chosen a path of public
divisiveness rather than collaboration- we could have done much together. Alas.
Frederick M.
Wiseman
August 23, 2007
11:03 AM
From: Douglas Lloyd Buchholz
To: Frederick Matthew Wiseman
Subject: Re:
Ceremony
Wliwini (Thank you) Fred Wiseman,
I appreciate your words and again. My comments regarding
your work were not an unprovoked attack against such. But was and is merely my
reading the Final Report of the Abenaki Petition for Recognition and so
forth.
At the end of the day, having read the Proposed Findings (2005) and the Final Report (2007) from the BIA, and
watching the Against The Darkness video and thereafter seeing that there is no validation to any of the points given,
it leaves the Abenakis to look like we are fraud's and
appropriators of someone else's historical past.
Apparently the
backbone research was not done or it would have been included in the Report
by the BIA. For example....this Alice
Roy interview. There is no property map to show where her father was living
when she was born. Now, one asks as they listen to this woman speak of this
transient poor people living nearby.....several people who have watched the
video ask "were there railroad tracks nearby?" Simply because these
people mentioned by this elderly woman Alice
Roy could have been merely hobo's, non-native transient people's who
"rode the tracks" and happened to hop off to seek food, shelter, and
perhaps the chance of employment where she lived.
Point after point
after point in the claims that were
made, were not solidified by anyone as having any foundation.
I find your words are
contradictory Fred, because if
the Against
the Darkness DVD materials were not meant to be used for Federal
Recognition, then why was it put forth to the BIA in the first place?
Actually Fred, I
never made it to your home, in Swanton, Vermont. I couldn't locate it, in
time to watch this video. Only later when I made communication with Jeff Benay did I obtain a DVD and yes,
it is an excellent media format in which to present Abenaki historical
realities etc. and our presence.
My issue is that the
materials presented in this particular DVD cannot be substantiated by anyone. Names to these photographs were
not given. What is the photographs sources (what families did they come from;
etc).
In the BIA Report (again and again) they ask both you and
Mr. John Scott Moody for
substantiation and they received nothing in which to validate these claims that
were made, from either you “scholars”.
Two Lampman audio tapes were made mention of, but no
transcriptions or the tapes themselves (duplicates) were made and given to the
BIA at any time.
[Only AFTER the June 2007 BIA Report was done, did the
BIA receive an alleged “typed transcription by John Scott Moody” of a clearly
melted audio cassette tape]
The BIA was requested to evaluate and substantiate a
petitioning group that gave them nothing (in simple words) that would
substantiate the Abenaki reality past or present.
Well, in the first place, I was never asked to help in
this endeavor for recognition Mr. Frederick
Matthew Wiseman at any time by anyone. Sadly said, you claim that I am
choosing a path of public divisiveness, rather than collaboration with you.
If this is the case, then simply said, your saying (or at
the very least implying) that no one ought to comment on your work UNLESS it is
of a strictly positive note.
I consider my comments part of the process and I can only
comment on what has been put out there in the first place.
As an Abenaki descendant whose ancestors are from the
heart of Vermont I have every right, title and interest in speaking in regards
to this Final Report of the BIA as
it pertains to Mr. John Scott Moody
or yourself Fred M. Wiseman as
public representatives of the Abenaki.
I didn't expect you to agree with my words Fred, but I
also didn't think your intellectual thinking would conclude that I was "attacking"
your work. It is what it is, good bad or indifferent. Some folks thinks it’s
great. I think it is so-so. I think
it ought to have been better and at least had a foundation to it. Apparently it
didn't or else your fellow reinvented Abenaki descendants would "see"
what you have, regarding what you yourself presented to the BIA.
Again, I apologize if my comments pertaining to your work
has upset or offended you Fred Wiseman.
Yet I reserve the right to comment on anything as it pertains to my Abenaki
ancestors whether you like what I have to say, or not. It’s called ‘peer
to peer review’. I don't like my critics either, yet I have many of
them.
You inquired of me about Abenaki Ceremonies in regards to
burials awhile back and I have been silent because of my issues surrounding
this BIA Report and the fact that
you inquired of me over the internet and appropriately a person-to-person,
passing of tobacco was never done between us.
I will say it simply. If our ancestors were in the
ground, then they go back into the ground. It doesn't take a voodoo ceremony or public pontification to put them back into the ground again and
leave them there respectfully. Ultimately speaking, each family had their own
way of respecting the departed.
Again, I was not "attacking" anyone's
endeavors. Merely I have been speaking of what it is we are giving or not
giving to our 7th Generation at the end of the day. It is of great concern to
me, and speaking of these dynamics, I understand might not make me any close
friends, at the end of the day.
So be it, I accept that my road is a lonely one. I wish
you well Fred Wiseman.
Kind regards to you sincerely,
Douglas Lloyd Buchholz
October 26, 2007
The Burlington Free Press Newspaper, Pages 1A-7A
By Terri Hallenbeck, Free Press Staff Writer
Abenaki wary of legislation: recognition law
may be determine who can sell crafts
"We cannot assume all state entities have our best
interests as a nation at heart," said Fred
Wiseman, a humanities professor at
Johnson State College who worked on
the 2006 legislation that now disappoints him. Frederick Matthew Wiseman is also tribal historian of the St. Francis/Sokoki Band of the Abenaki Nation
of Missisquoi, but said he wasn't
representing the band at the hearing.
Frederick Matthew Wiseman urged
the commission not to include a date. He said the commission should
be the entity that grants recognition and should not hamstring its decisions by
setting dates in law.
A draft of the legislation would grant the Legislature
the final authority to recognize tribes.
Frederick Matthew
Wiseman said that would be a mistake. "You've got to protect your own
authority, your own decision-making, from end-around’s that are going to
come," he said.
The 2006 legislation would have given the commission that
authority at one time, but was changed during the legislative process.
While speakers were wary of the state, some were also
mistrustful of other tribes.
Roger Sheehan of
the El-Nu suggested that members of the Odanak band not be allowed to determine
other tribes' eligibility for recognition. The Odanak Abenakis have federal
recognition under the Canadian Indian Act from Canada, and some fear that
members would be disinclined to allow more artisans to compete with them,
within the United States. Frederick
Matthew Wiseman also cited past anti-Missisquoi statements by Odanak Abenakis
as a root of mistrust. [See and review September 02
– 29, 2003]
The Missisquoi, the best-known tribe in the state, didn't
submit testimony. Frederick Matthew
Wiseman said tribal leaders are unhappy with the makeup of the VCNAA
commission. Commission member Don
Stevens, a member of the tribe, said he doesn't represent the tribe,
although its leaders are following the proposed legislation.
October 31, 2007
The County Courier Newspaper
By Jedd Kettler
Public Comment
given on Native Recognition Amendment
MONTPELIER: The Vermont Commission on Native American
Affairs heard from Abenaki from around the region Thursday, October 25, 2007 about amending Vermont’s Native
recognition law, S.117.
The amendment aims to rectify incompatibilities with
federal Indian Arts and Crafts laws,
which came to light in fall and winter 2006. S.117 was signed into law in May 2006.
Allowing Native arts labeling by Vermont’s Abenaki was among several key goals.
“We’re only looking at tribes ... We’re only talking
about an entity that’s tied to the land - that tradition,” said VCNAA Commissioner Donald Warren Stevens,
Jr., “We are not determining who is Abenaki ... It’s up to the tribe
to recognize their people.”
Some of the most specific and concrete suggestions
offered last week came from Frederick Matthew Wiseman, a Johnson State College Professor of Humanities, who served on the previous Governor’s
Commission on Native Affairs until last year.
Frederick Matthew
Wiseman is also a member of the Missisquoi Abenaki Tribal Council, but he
said he was testifying as an individual, not a representative of his band. Fred M. Wiseman was the only member of
the Swanton-based band to testify last week.
Outlining specific changes to language in the amendment
to ensure inclusiveness and protection of the spirit of S.117, Frederick Matthew
Wiseman also stressed that the VCNAA
should include language that would specifically vest the VCNAA with authority to recognize
bands.
Such authority was originally spelled out in S.117 … but was stripped near the end
of the Vermont Legislative process.
“The authority that was gutted ... (by) a seven word
change,” Frederick M. Wiseman said.
He offered this perspective as a reason to carefully
consider word changes and also not to
concede the VCNAA Commission’s role too easily.
“The goal is to keep
your power here ... We can’t assume
that all State entities have our best interests at heart,” Frederick M. Wiseman said. “You need to
protect your own plenary authority
once it goes out into the Legislature ... I would suggest you think very seriously about giving up your
plenary authority.”
As for giving
authority to recognize bands to the VCNAA, Mark W. Mitchell and others
are hesitant. While the VCNAA suggested an amendment in March 2007 which
would have given arts and crafts authority to the VCNAA, he and others have since said they want to leave the option up to VT
legislators.
“This Commission would certainly accept any authority,” Mark W. Mitchell said.
Frederick M. Wiseman
responded, “I just want you to protect
any authority you’ve got.”
Frederick M. Wiseman
also stressed the importance of
widespread testimony from Abenaki throughout Vermont when such an amendment
goes before Vermont lawmakers.
November 13, 2007
Indian County Today Media Network.com
By Donna Laurent Caruso
New Abenaki-owned maple sugarhouse opens in Vermont
EAST MONTPELIER, Vt. - A strong Canadian dollar during the 2007 fall foliage tourist season has helped Abenaki partners Todd Hebert and Shirley (nee: Hook) Therrien start up their Abenaki-owned Maple Sugar House in East Montpelier with a certain measure of sweet success.
''We are right on the main route [Route 2] from Montpelier to Maine,'' explained Hebert. ''And tourists [including buses] are accustomed to shopping at this location because it was once the Danforth's Sugarhouse.'' The old sugarhouse is well-known because Danforth's not only supplied the tourist industry of northern Vermont with maple sugar, but also sold maple sugaring equipment to the sap collection business.
''Against the Darkness,'' a documentary by Frederick M. Wiseman, professor of humanities at Johnson State College, was scheduled to be shown November 14, 2007 free of charge to the public at the sugarhouse.
Frederick Matthew Wiseman is an indigenous rights activist and ethno-botanist, and the author of ''Voices of the Dawn'' and ''Reclaiming the Ancestors.'' Fred M. Wiseman gifted the film to be shown to Todd Hebert for educational purposes. It is considered to be the first Abenaki-made documentary of post-contact Abenaki/European conflict, and portrays the triumph of cultural survival. Fred M. Wiseman combined re-enactments, interviews, historical objects, maps and photographs to trace an Abenaki family's seven generations to contemporary Swanton. The family's roots begin in the film with a signer of the 91-year Robertson Lease of Missisquoi Lands of 1765. (Missisquoi was originally known as Mazipskwik, land of the flint.)
Todd Hebert's family can also ALLEGEDLY be traced to a signer of the 1765 Robertson Lease.
November 28, 2007
The Burlington Free Press Newspaper
From staff reports
Film screening at
Johnson State College
As part of National
American Indian Heritage Month, the Humanities
Department at Johnson State College will screen a film about the European
discovery of Lake Champlain at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday in the Ellsworth Rooms of
the Library and Learning Center.
Following the 25-minute video screening of “1609:
The Other Side of History,” Humanities Chairman and professor Frederick Matthew Wiseman will answer
questions and discuss planned American Indian involvement in the
upcoming Lake Champlain Quadricentennial Celebration.
The film, written and produced by Fred M. Wiseman, is the
second episode of the “Against the
Darkness” video trilogy outlining the Vermont Abenakis’
culture in the Champlain region.
Admission is free.
November 29, 2007
“Point people like Nancy Millette,
who has experience working with pow-wows and native American themed music
festivals will be working with Nick Warner and the City of Burlington”
according to Frederick Wiseman.
Fred Wiseman noted that Nancy will be making
sure that there will be something going on along the waterfront and at other
locations. Bruce Hyde (Deputy Commissioner-Tourism & Marketing) suggested
having a signature event like a powwow would work best for Saturday July 11,
2009, and people interested in working for this event should get in touch with
Nancy Millet.
December 06, 2007
The County Courier Newspaper
Written by Contributor
Future of
Recognition Amendment Depends on Sponsorship
MONTPELIER: With a proposal to amend Vermont’s Native
recognition bill finalized last week, the Vermont Commission on Native American
Affairs is now seeking sponsorship for Vermont
Legislative Action in the coming session.
The changes aim to bring S.117, the state recognition law, in line with federal laws for
allowing Native artisans and craftspeople to label their work as Native-made.
Earlier drafts of S.117 included this same authority for
the VCNAA Commission, and could have
accomplished the same goal earlier, said Vincent
Illuzzi and Frederick M. Wiseman,
a professor of humanities at Johnson
State College, filmmaker, and curator of Swanton’s Abenaki Tribal Museum.
Vermont Senator
Vincent Illuzzi pointed out that because
of these last minutes changes, taking this authority out, he declined to speak at the May 2006 Signing
Ceremony on the Statehouse Legislative steps.
Frederick Matthew
Wiseman said Vermont Legislative
Counsel assured supporters that federal Indian Arts and Crafts officials had said the new wording would
meet the same goals. The last minute changes, though, left Native artisans
without the ability to label their works under federal law.
“The wording was changed and weakened at the last minute,
and both Vince Illuzzi and I [Frederick M.
Wiseman] were told (by VT
Legislative Counsel) that it would work,” Frederick M. Wiseman said.
After reading the VCNAA
draft on Monday, Frederick Matthew
Wiseman said the proposal lays out a detailed
Recognition Process and Criteria. While there will still likely be issues
to address, Frederick M. Wiseman is
encouraged that the VCNAA Commission
really listened to comments and spent time with the proposal.
“It seems as though they took a lot of care and listened
to everybody’s concerns,” Frederick M. Wiseman
said.
Frederick Matthew Wiseman
said it will be important that the Abenaki community be involved and attentive
when discussions on the amendment occur.
“We have to get this amendment put through the Vermont Legislature on a fast track
as soon as possible,” he said. “There will have to be a lot of good
communication between the VCNAA
Commissioners and the Vermont Legislators.”
January 24, 2008
VCNAA Commission Meeting
Members present:
Mark Mitchell Chairman, Tim de la Bruere, Charlene McManis, Don Stevens, Judy
Dow, Jeanne Brink, and Hilary Casillas.
Staff:
Giovanna Peebles, VT State Archaeologist, Jane Lendway, SHPOI; Scott Dillon,
Survey Archaeologist. Frederick Mathew
Wiseman expressed sovereignty as the defining characteristic of his work
and will be taking the perspective from specific advocates; Missisquoi and the Seven Nations of Canada Alliance.
February 07-08, 2008
“Committee hearing
next week on Native recognition amendment “
Written by Jedd Kettler
The County Courier Newspaper
MONTPELIER: Draft legislation to amend Vermont's Abenaki
recognition law will get its first Statehouse vetting before the Senate
Economic Development Committee next week.
Senator Vince
Illuzzi (R-Essex-Orleans Counties, Richford, Montgomery), a strong champion of the original recognition
law and Chairman of the Senate committee, will hold the first hearing on
the amendment Friday, February 15, 2008 at 9:00 a.m. in Room 27 of the Statehouse.
The amendment, to be introduced as a committee bill,
seeks to close a gap which federal officials have said leaves Vermont's Abenaki
artists vulnerable to violations of federal law. It lays out procedures and
criteria for tribes and bands seeking State recognition. Such recognition would
legally allow members to sell their arts and crafts as Native-made under
federal law, something they cannot do now.
A handful of Abenaki, including Mark W. Mitchell, Chairman of the Vermont Commission on Native
American Affairs (VCNAA); Missisquoi Abenaki Nation Chief April St. Francis-Merrill; and Johnson
State Humanities Chair, filmmaker, and historian Frederick M. Wiseman, will
testify.
February 16, 2008
Burlington Free Press Newspaper
By Terri Hallenbeck – Free Press Staff Writer
“Abenaki appeal to
legislators”
MONTPELIER -- Vermont Abenaki told legislators Friday
that their own bands -- not the Legislature or a commission -- should decide
who is an Abenaki. "Indian decides
who's Indian," Nancy Millette
of Newbury, Vermont, and former chief of
the Kaosek Traditional Band of Abenaki, told the Senate Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs Committee,
citing the findings of a recent United
Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People.
The issue of official recognition of the Abenaki
resurfaced in the Legislature after the Vermont Commission on Native American
Affairs discovered last year that a law passed in 2006 did not meet the federal
Bureau of Indian Affairs regulations. Those allow only members of state or
federally recognized tribes to sell their arts and crafts as native-made, and
the 2006 law gave no one the authority to grant recognition to specific tribes.
The committee heard from several bands of Abenaki on
Friday, as legislators try to fix the law by giving somebody the authority to
recognize specific bands. Figuring out who, though, won't be easy.
"I don't think the Legislature has the right to
decide who is Abenaki," said April
St. Francis Merrill, chief of the St.
Francis/Sokoki Band of the Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi, based in Swanton.
She [April St. Francis-Merrill] also said that she
doesn't trust the seven-member
Commission on Native American Affairs to decide which tribes should be
recognized. Her band has refused to have
an official representative on the VCNAA Commission because Commissioners
were not required to provide historical documentation that they are Abenaki [speaking of Judy
(nee: Fortin) Dow], she said.
Nancy Lee Millette
agreed that the VCNAA Commission
poses problems. The VCNAA Commission has two members who are from the Odanak
band of Abenaki [speaking of Jeanne (nee: Deforge) Brink and Timothy de la Bruere]. That band has official recognition in
Canada, which allows them to sell arts and crafts as native-made.
Frederick M.
Wiseman, tribal historian for the St. Francis/Sokoki band, recommended
allowing the VCNAA Commission to grant recognition or having the Vermont Legislature grant blanket
recognition to ‘historically recognized’ Abenaki tribes in the state.
"What I feel and a lot of Kaosek feel is that they shouldn't have any say in what happens to
Abenaki people over the border," Nancy
Lee Millette said. "It's like a conflict of interest."
Nancy Lee Millette
was among those who said Abenaki would be willing to share with the State of
Vermont, the process bands use to determine who is Abenaki, but will not release their full files.
"We are never going to turn our
names over to the State of Vermont," she said. "There's one
reason for it, and the word is Eugenics."
In the 1920s and '30s, Vermont Abenaki were subjected to
a Vermont State-sponsored Eugenics Campaign
that promoted the sterilization of
Abenaki as an undesirable population.
Nancy Lee Millette
said the official recognition is needed because Abenaki are not allowed to
dance at some powwows [speaking in regards to
Takara Matthews – Cook] or sell their art [speaking
in regards to her Sub-Band of Re-Enactor friends, Roger “Longtoe” Sheehan &
Co.] at some festivals. Vera
Longtoe Sheehan, a member of the Elnu
sub-band of the Kaosek, said some organizations have become more accepting
of Abenaki since the 2006 law passed, but she's been turned down by museums
because her tribe lacks official recognition.
April St. Francis
- Merrrill said her band's members have not had problems and that the arts
and crafts issue is not a high priority for her.
February 26, 2008
Subject: [firstnation] Re: People in glass houses
should not throw stones
Dear _________________________.
At the meeting
Fred Wiseman addressed the issue of Salmon's "proof of his identity"
and Salmon [Douglas Lloyd Buchholz] admitted that other than some oral history he has not come up with
any, I have all 104 pages of his genealogy by the way. I hate to mud sling, he
is also on SSI (sic) due to Mental illness, so our tax dollars are supporting his
ability to sit home and cause problems, also be aware that he is involved in
"conducting sacred sweat lodge ceremonies" his own words in New
Hampshire.
His preference is
male, just so people know to watch him around young male children.
Brian Chenevert - if you
want to sling my mud about Salmon to Mark Mitchell go ahead---contact him at
the commission, cut and paste and you have my permission. Mark Mitchell hasn’t' met me so I hate to
introduce myself by way of nastiness but you can do it for me, be sure to
mention that Salmon cant' hold a job but he can is capable of causing trouble.
Also be aware that Salmon met the new "Co chief of Paul Pouliot's' band"
through me. Salmon is acting for her. I had to cut off my friendship with Lynn (nee: Menard) Mathieson because she is a paranoid alcoholic and could get no one else
but Paul P to accept her. A lot of what Salmon is doing is acting for Paul Pouliot and Lynn. Paul told me in person that I was not a native person and neither was
any one else in Swanton. He Paul Wilson Pouliot had Lynn Menard-Mathieson doing his
genealogy trying to find the native in his own line. He would like nothing more
than to destroy all the Vermont bands and make us one of his many Non-Profit
organizations. About five years ago I met Lynn doing online genealogy. We
invited her to Vermont to visit because she is a third cousin to my old ex-boyfriend.
While she has some way back Micmac and Algonquin lines her and my boyfriends
families moved straight to Burlington Vermont and were not part of any native
community and are not Abenaki. My ex-boyfriend’s family has some Ottawa lines
in it, but no Abenaki. The more Lynn got in with Paul the worse and stranger
her behavior got and she has involved Salmon Douglas
Lloyd Buchholz in this. I am definitely not as friendly as I used to
be. Since I watched Paul Pouliot cleaning fire arms on Lynn’s' kitchen table in
Connecticut I have not been back there. These people are real snakes in the
grass.
MUD-SLINGING THEIR HOMOPHOBIC and DISABILITY SHAMING nonsense. Yet, this is HOW Carollee Reynolds went about and they still go about their "lateral violence" against my person, trying to smear me across the Northeast.
And it is lateral violence because they were white before their race shifting and so wasn't my own person!
And it is lateral violence because they were white before their race shifting and so wasn't my own person!
THEY CAN'T FIGHT THE FACTS SO THEY ATTACK MY CHARACTER... 😈
February 26, 2008
Ms. Denise Watso, a self-identified Odanak Official, made
an impassioned plea, in which she insulted the Indigenous Vermonter’s
(including all VT Native American Commissioners except for two) and that they
are “portraying” Odanak Abenakis “in public.”
February 26, 2008
Portion of E-mail
by Denise Watso condemning Vermont Abenaki groups:
Why
is the Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs seeking the power to
recognize groups as Indian, when only two of its members can provide
evidence (sic) of their Abenaki ancestry? How can we trust this Commission
to evaluate historical evidence, when they have not been able to document their
own claims? ...Who is this "Koasek" group? And why should the
"St. Francis/ Sokoki group take precedence in his proposal after the
Vermont Attorney General and the Bureau of Indian Affairs found that they
couldn't provide evidence (sic) of Indian, let alone Abenaki? ...How do you
think many of us feel seeing strangers, not knowing most if not any of them are
native, portraying us in public? And the press and the public want to
see the play-acting... We demand better... Should self-identified groups
and individuals wish to secure recognition, they should come to us to present
their case, asking for our support. They should do so in humility rather than
arrogance.
Denise Watso, NY Liason, Odanak (Quebec) Reserve, Albany,
New York
March 8, 2008
Statement
by Fred Wiseman, Ph.D:
In the fall
of 2003, there were letters sent by Odanak officials to historic preservation
officers in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, specifically to disrupt the
cordial relations between these states and Missisquoi Abenakis. I believe that
Chief April Merrill retains copies of these letters. Richard "Skip" Bernier' group
was asserted in these letters to be the only true representatives of Vermont
(or American) Abenakis. It took me and April (Chief April Merrill) a lot of
phone calling to straighten this problem out. I am not sure that a slight
misgiving still remains (in the spring of 2008) in some State government
circles caused by this attempted
takeover.
Fred Wiseman
Missisquoi Tribal Historian
March 13, 2008
The people that spoke
today were Jeff Benay for 35 min. Fred Wiseman, April St. Francis, Nancy
Millette, Dawn Macie, Luke Willard. The meeting was 60 minutes long so that
didn't leave much time for anyone else to speak. I was able to speak just a
little and then Vince Illuzzi would not let me speak again even though the
names listed above were able to speak several times. There were a few others
that got a word in … but that was it. The whole meeting was a set up from the
minute we walked in. The meeting tomorrow probably will be for a vote.
Judy [Dow]
March 13, 2008
“During testimony to the Vermont Senate, “papers”
attacking the ethnicity of an attending tribal leader [Nancy Lee Millette “Chief” of the
Koasek group”] were explicitly given to Legislators by a representative [Timothy De la
Breuere – VCNA member of Newport, Orleans County, Vermont] of this
Odanak interest” according to William
Whitney of Northfield, Vermont in a personal communication to Jeffrey Benay and Frederick Wiseman on March 13, 2008.
March 13, 2008
The written attack on Koasek leader Nancy (nee: Millette) Lyons (now married to
Mark Doucet) ethnic identity at the Senate hearing and in the press, by
partisan Odanak supporter William Whitney of Northfield, VT (personal
communication to Jeff Benay and Frederick M. Wiseman March 13, 2008).
(As well as the Watso quote at the beginning of this article February 26, 2008),
has brought identity politics to the fore in this conflict between
Odanak/Commissioners and the Four Organized Tribes.
March 21, 2008
The Burlington Free Press Newspaper, Pages 1B-7B
By Lisa Rathke – The Associated Press (AP)
Abenaki bands protest proposed change in
recognition process
Abenaki
tribal historian Fred Wiseman (left) speaks at an Abenaki protest in East
Montpelier on Thursday. Members of Vermont Abenaki bands staged a protest over
an amendment being considered by the state Legislature.
"Some bands
are sitting together and are united against
darkness, a common darkness of betrayal," said Fred Wiseman, an Abenaki
tribal historian.
March 24, 2008
10:14 PM
From: Frederick Matthew Wiseman
To: Vincent Illuzzi
Hi Vince [Senator Illuzzi]
Mr. Dan Brush told me to send you a few very brief facts,
since you have received too many long-winded letters and demands. I hope these five are short and clear. I will be at the State House tomorrow at the
VT Champlain Quadricentennial display at the Card Room.
1. You
asked me to get everyone on board for the compromise. I did so. Missisquoi, Nulhegan, Koasek
(including El-nu as a sub-group) are self governing tribal political entities
with historical presence in Vermont.
They represent ALL of the entities that, in my opinion as a scholar of
the Abenaki experience, would meet the "tribal" qualifications set
forth by the Federal Government's requirements under the "state-recognized
tribes" section of the Arts and Crafts Act. They represent over 3,000 Vermont Abenakis--
a large constituency. Missisquoi is
focused in Northwestern Vermont, Nulhegan is in your district, Koasek is in
Eastern Vermont, and El-nu is Southern Vermont -- complete state coverage. They now work together in unity.
2. There
is no anthropologically or historically detectable Moccasin village/Winooski
Band.
Clan of the Hawk is (by their
own admission on their website) an educational/cultural, not a political organization,
and so cannot be recognized as presently constituted. Skip Bernier's group is recognized in Canada,
derives its political authority from there, and has no independent Vermont
political/corporate basis. Paul
Pouliot' group is not from Vermont.
3. There
are only a few scattered unorganized families not included in #1 or #2. They have no formal corporate political
structure under VT State Law. Charles Lawrence Delaney Jr.
represents one. As you saw, he was at
the press conference on Thursday to support us.
Louise and Lester Lampman represent another family, perhaps 10-15 people
maximum. "Professional Abenakis," such as Judy (nee: Dow) have no known
genealogical, cultural or political ties to any known Vermont corporate Abenaki
groups.
4. Members
of the Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs threatened individual
Abenakis as well as tribal officials to stifle competing proposals to your
committee. Nancy Millette sent you the
compiled evidence. These data, combined with other information not particularly
germane to your legislative process, have caused all of the corporate Native
groups listed above (#1) to reject any possibility of applying for recognition
through the Commission as it is presently constituted.
5. Heretofore
undocumented groups may arise in the future, but they will not be large, nor
will they have the corporate
structure required by the Federal Government-- they must be handled on a case by case basis by a
reconstituted Native Commission.
March 25, 2008
6:29 AM
From: Vincent Illuzzi
To: Young, Susanne
Subject: Fwd: Information
“See below. What
do you think? Can we back off on some of the items GENEALOGY which the applicants must
submit to obtain state recognition for arts and crafts purposes?”
Vince
March 26, 2008
To: Vincent
Illuzzi
From: Douglas
Lloyd Buchholz
Dear Mr. Senator Vincent Illuzzi,
Please, as Frederick Wiseman is now trying to imply, with
nothing to show that this is the reality, that these groups are quote,
political entities with HISTORICAL presence in Vermont, there is an issue I
have with this recognition "protest"
I think "they" meaning the political
representatives of Vermont and these newly and recently four organized
"tribes" as they want to imply that they are, are all forgetting that
the genealogical connectedness to the historically political entities ought to
be made before they go around throwing the alleged governing tribal political
entities with historical presence within Vermont.
I kindly urge you to please think upon this illusion and
distortion being brought into this reality as truth. ALL groups petitioning the
State of Vermont ought to go through the same process and review as everyone
else would have to go through. It is not that we disagree that these newly four
organized groups ought not to have recognition but rather they ought to have to
go through the same process as everyone else to substantiate their claims with
factual genealogical records to connect to the historical records that they
keep pointing to in which to try and validate themselves.
The issue is that there is not historical cohesive
outside observed "community" in which the Abenaki descendants were
known to have been operating in, such as Old Town, Maine etc. or
Kahnewake that was within the State of Vermont.
To take Frederick Wiseman's assertions and conclusions
without any foundation to his claims within the BIA report's Final Decision,
would be a mistake to my thinking.
I will tell you that indeed I am against anyone gaining
outright recognition because it was I that has been victimized by the St.
Francis/Sokoki leaders such as Homer Walter St. Francis Sr. and his daughter April's alleged Abenaki Mickey
Mouse "social club" tactics of handing "membership
cards" etc to anyone they liked, and taking them away as a reward/punishment
system that they have perpetuated for years.
This whole whining and complaining about Judy Dow, Jeanne
Brink, and Tim De la Buere etc is absolutely absurd.
March 26, 2008
7:47 AM
Mark Mitchell, VCNAA Chairman (vcnaa@earthlink.net)
To: Judy Dow; Jeanne Brink;
Hilary Casillas; Donald Stevens Jr.;Timothy De La Breuer; Charlene McManis
Fw: Fwd:
Information
March 26, 2008
From: Jdowbasket [Judy Dow]
To: Douglas Lloyd
Buchholz
Mark Mitchell
forwarded me the following letter, and on reading it, I am concerned at the
casual manner in which the presumed legitimacy of specific Abenaki families,
bands, and tribes is discussed.
Judy Dow
March 27, 2008
From: Paul Wilson Pouliot
To: Email Testimony Bill S369
cc: William H. Sorrell, Attorney General
Kwai, Greetings to the Vermont Legislature
On the behalf of the long-standing Cowasuck Band of the Pennacook-Abenaki People and the Abenaki Nation of Vermont, we
oppose ANY and ALL legislative bill proposals and revisions that would grant
state recognition to any Abenaki group solely by their request for recognition
through undocumented legislative process.
The groups that are requesting to be exempt from the public overview and approval process: the Missisquoi (St. Francis-Sokoki) Band
led by April Merrill, Frederick Wiseman, et.al.; the Traditional
Koasek Band, led by Nancy Millette,
Brian Chenevert, Howard Knight, et.al., the ElNu Band of historical re-enactors,
led by Roger Longtoe Sheehan; and
the Nulhegan Band, led by Luke
Willard, Dawn Macie, et. al., have
made numerous and bold assertions as to their long term, 20 year, existence as
Abenaki groups. Except for the Missisquoi, none of these claims can be
substantiated with documentation and / or in sworn testimony.
However, the
Missisquoi has been afforded the same opportunity and due process to seek
federal acknowledgment and appeal but they have
failed to substantiate their Indian tribal status on several counts.
Likewise, the State of Vermont as
also rebutted the Missisquoi claims. It is in-comprehensive that the State of Vermont would disregard the facts of truth at hand
and would now entertain recognition
without additional and new supportive documentation.
Frederick M. Wiseman, has a
material interest in this legislation and his testimony is biased and prejudicial
to the Missisquoi case. Furthermore, he
as a "pseudo expert," is neither
a historian nor a genealogist; his statements about such issues need to be
challenged by more specialized academia. He has made statements that we are
not a Vermont group, when in fact, due to lack of contact, he does not know how
many members we have in Vermont (Newport, Burlington, and Brattleboro). One
would expect that if US census data was used to make claims about the
Missisquoi membership, the tribal membership records should be compared to
substantiate those claims.
March 27, 2008
1:02 PM
IACA Board under
Attack for Supporting P.L. 101-644
By: threeoaks@
It didn’t take long for organizers to gather up complete
strangers and form Indian “bands” that “existed from time immemorial”. One such
group, formed in Vermont during the mid-1970’s, called itself the St. Francis
/Sokoki Band of Abenakis. It didn’t take long for the organization to add its
name to the clogging arteries of the BIA Federal Recognition folks. After
extensive studies of the organization, its claims, and its individuals, the BIA
declined to recognize the group as a “tribe” in 2007.Besides failing four out
of the seven mandatory criteria for acknowledgment; it was found that only
eight individuals out of the 1,171 members could demonstrate descent from a
Missisquoi Abenaki Indian Ancestor. None of the other members could document
ancestors from the Abenaki, or any other Indian tribe. All eight descended from
the same person, Simon Obomsawin (originally from Canada) . In addition, these
eight did not become involved with the group until the 1990’s.
As in other states and their “Cherokees”, other Vermont “tribes” and “bands” also
soon began forming, most claiming to be some type of Abenaki. None of these groups can be identified as existing before 1975.
Jumping forward to 2006, Vermont passed a law to
recognize individuals as Indian in attempt to surpass the Indian Arts and
Crafts Act. Since the IACA requires membership in a recognized tribe, the 2006
law fell far short of what was attempted. A more recent attempt, S.369, is
trying to recognize three Vermont “Abenaki bands” (the St. Francis/Sokoki,
Koasek and Nulhegan), again for the expressed purpose of selling arts and
crafts.
The newly proposed Vermont Senate bill is receiving
opposition from some of the “bands” who feel that they will be left out of the
process. Even those group included in the bill don’t like it. April Merrill,
chief of the St. Francis/Sokoki Band, opposes the bill because it would require
the revealing of member’s genealogy. She says that “the information could be
used to discriminate against Abenaki who have fought discrimination for
generations“. Perhaps the real reason might be that the BIA couldn’t find any
members with Indian ancestry other than the eight mentioned above?
I’m sure that Vermont will eventually have some state
recognition process so their folks can participate in selling their wares. I’m
not so sure that their process will have much actual validity. As a reminder,
Vermont is also one of the states that is pushing for DNA as an Indian
identifier.
Another Federal inconsistency in spending funds also
enters into to the picture. I’ve commented on mismanagement and the misspending
of Indian funds numerous times before, but this gives you another idea how
extensive the whole problem is.Jesse James Larocque, a member of the St. Francis
Sokoki Band of Missisquoi Abenaki (the group that miserably failed it’s federal
recognition attempt), is using the receipt of a grant from the National
Endowment for the Arts as a “master Abenaki basket maker” for ammo against the
IACA Board in that he claims this makes him recognized as an Indian artisan by
the federal government. When contacted by the Board to cease selling his items
as “Indian”, he replied: ‘’Perhaps you may want to level your guns in a
different direction.'’ In addition, the fact that the St. Francis Sokoki Website is funded by the Department of Agriculture is also used to claim that the
government recognizes the group. For those readers who are unaware, the DOA is
one of the top four governmental agencies that squander funds designated for
American Indians.
Jesse James Larocque’s claims remind me of similar past claims
made by William Scott Anderson (alias Blue Otter, AKA Runningbull, AKA
Strongeagle, AKA Prophecy Keeper), one of the founders of the “Amonsoquath
Tribe of Cherokee“.
Indian artisans and crafts persons of Federally
Recognized Tribes can start tightening up their belts some more. Vermont will
eventually get its state recognition under way. You face more competition in the Indian arts market by individuals that belong
to state “tribes” without historical existence.
April 22, 2008
Kate Messner,
Children's Book Author - http://www.katemessner.com
“Teaching the Quad”
The Lake Champlain Maritime
Museum has a fantastic reputation when it comes to staff development for
teachers. Dr. Frederick Matthew Wiseman from Johnson State College, who shared parts
of his new documentary about 1609 as well as information about some recent
archaeological discoveries that may change the way we view the lives and
culture of Native peoples in the Champlain Valley. And Roger Longtoe of the El-nu Abenaki Tribe shared his
expertise on Abenaki culture of the 17th century and today. Kate Messner was especially intrigued
by the wooden shield he's holding here, since it was modeled after the ones
that Champlain describes in his 17th century journals. No matter how many times
I read the descriptions, Kate Messner couldn't quite picture what they looked
like until now.
"Kate Messner's sense of
American history and human nature is as strong as her clear, evocative prose.
Her multicultural cast of characters truly comes alive in this wonderful little
novel that gives one of the best pictures I've yet seen of that period of early
contact."
--Joseph Edward Bruchac III, Storyteller and Writer
April 23, 2008
The Burlington Free Press Newspaper
By Joel Banner Baird – Free Press Staff Writer
Teachers learn
lake’s history
FERRISBURGH – First, the 25 teachers assembled at the
Lake Champlain Maritime Museum received a short history lesson:
On a July afternoon in 1609, on the shores of a large
lake, a French explorer killed three Iroquois Indians with a single blast from
his cannon-like musket.
Frederick Matthew Wiseman, a professor at Johnson
State College, encouraged the teachers to appreciate emerging
non-European versions of American history – particularly those that
animate new achaeaological discoveries.
The lake’s first navigators, Fred M. Wiseman said, belonged
to highly sophisticated societies with trading networks extending thousands of
miles, from Cape Breton to the Mississippi.
“For native people, this is a deca-millennial observance,
at least,” Fred M. Wiseman said.
After lunch, the teachers created frozen scenes –
tableaux – out of emotional moments from Champlain’s 1609 display of firepower.
July 14, 2008
The Burlington Free Press
Newspaper
By Sara Buscher –Free Press
Staff Writer
Abenaki Relive History
Frederick Matthew Wiseman, tribal historian of the Abenaki nation,
is also helping the Elnu learn more about the history of the period following
Champlain's arrival. A member of the
Missisquoi-Swanton band, Fred M. Wiseman
has earned a doctorate in archaeological
ecology, and serves as professor of
humanities at Johnson State College.
His academic background allows
him to provide some of the history that may not have been passed through the
generations -- including Samuel de Champlain's relationship with the Native
People’s, he said. Frederick Matthew
Wiseman's son Frederick William Wiseman portrayed Samuel de Champlain from an Abenaki perspective over the weekend:
as a consultant in the tribe's military maneuvers against the Iroquois.
Mr. Walker Brook and Dan Swift,
among those eager to learn more about their history, say they spend much of
their time participating in encampments and other historical re-enactments.
They say living without modern
trappings from time to time can be a spiritual experience and consider the
process of getting in touch with the past a responsibility to future generations.
For Swift, that means teaching the old ways -- such as starting a fire using
flint, a skill he's still working to master -- to his own children.
