Studying yet another person historically who claimed to be "Abenaki" and being curious, I began to evaluate a Stephen J. Roy of Williamsport, PA in the early 1980's, after a google search and running into his 1980's Court case. This is a post regarding such evaluation, both of the court matter in which Mr. Roy was involved in and genealogical evaluation of his claims to the Court in Pennsylvania.
In 2014 I had begun to gather information, and evaluation the Court Record from this matter, and sought out records of the Court case, from the National Archives at Philadelphia, as of July 2014.
So, without much ado, to start these details:
December 28, 1980
“Little Bird of the Snow” Roy was born in Williamsport, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania.
Shortly after the birth of Little Bird of the Snow, her mother, Karen Miller, signed an application for a social security number for Little Bird of the Snow which was then submitted to the Social Security Administration by personnel at the hospital. Karen Miller signed the application without Steven Roy's knowledge.
Following receipt of the application, the Social Security Administration established a social security number for their daughter Little Bird of the Snow and mailed a social security card for this daughter to Roy and Miller.
When Mr. Roy received the social security card for Little Bird of the Snow, he questioned his common-law-wife Karen Miller about it and she stated that she did not recall signing the application form. Stephen Roy and Karen Miller then agreed to return the social security card to the Social Security Administration. Mr. Roy requested that the Social Security Administration "revoke" the social security number established for Little Bird of the Snow. He was advised that Little Bird of the Snow's social security number would remain "dormant."
January 01, 1982
Stephen J. Roy began receiving cash and medical assistance for himself and his two young daughters, which had been provided by DPW (Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare) and HHS (Department of Health and Human Services) pursuant to the federal-to-state programs of Medical Assistance and Aid to Families w. Dependent Children. Stephen J. Roy and Karen Miller had been receiving Food Stamps from DPW and USDA pursuant to the federal-state program of Food Stamps to low-income households as well.
April 27, 1982
DPW informed Mr. Roy that he had failed to provide a SSN for his youngest daughter Little Bird of the Snow to gain assistance. Mr. Roy continually refused because it was allegedly contrary to his “sincerely held” religious beliefs as an “Abenaki”.
September 17, 1982
Stephen J. Roy’s cash assistance of $33.00 under Aid to Families with Dependent Children was reduced, and medical assistance discontinued because of his continued refusal of providing the required SSN for his youngest daughter made her ineligible for benefits. Since October 1982, Mr. Roy was denied $66.00 per month in assistance.
June 16, 1983
DPW held a hearing on Mr. Roy’s appeal. Mr. Roy sincerely believed that the government's use of the social security number established for Little Bird of the Snow would "rob the spirit" of Little Bird of the Snow and subsequently prevent him from fully "preparing her for greater power."
Mr. Roy sincerely believed that a social security number was part of a "great evil" as contained in Native American legend.
Mr. Roy's view was that the great evil "as described in the legend of Katahdin" resulting from the merging together of three different but related evils. One of these evils was the widespread use of computers. Another of these evils was people's casual acceptance of the widespread use of computers. The third evil was the proliferation of weaponry which increasingly employs *605 computer technology, thereby making the use of the weapons to kill people a "sterile" act.
Abenaki religious tradition held that control over one's life was essential to spiritual purity and indispensable to "becoming a holy person."
Steven Roy sincerely believed that the decision of whether or not to use a social security number for Little Bird of the Snow had to be made by Little Bird of the Snow herself.
July 28, 1983
DPW Hearing Examiner issued Adjudication on Mr. Roy’s appeal based upon his religious belief. DPW Hearing Examiner ordered denial of Mr. Roy’s appeal and refused to restore benefits for Little Bird of the Snow. DPW affirmed the order of the Hearing Examiner the following day.
August 17, 1983
Complaint Filed by Attorneys for Plaintiffs of both parents Stephen J. Roy and Karen A. Miller. Father was contesting the usage of a Social Security number by the government because he believed that such would “rob the spirit” of his youngest daughter, Little Bird of the Snow, and such would prevent him from fully “preparing her for greater power.” Father believed that a social security number was part of a “greater evil” as he learned from Native American legend. Both parents and other daughter, including Little Bird on the Snow, all had social security numbers. As a result of the Department of Welfare’s denial of benefits to Little Bird of the Snow, her parents have suffered extreme difficulties in feeding themselves and are compelled regularly to seek food from charitable organizations. They also claim suffering mental anguish over the matter.
May 17-22, 1984
II. Findings of "Fact".
1. Plaintiff Stephen J. Roy is an Abenaki Indian.
2. Mr. Roy's great-grandfather on his father's side was a tribal chief in an Abenaki tribe.
3. Mr. Roy's grandfather on his father's side was a full-blooded Native American Abenaki.
4. Mr. Roy is registered as a Native American Indian with the Three Rivers Council.
5. Karen Miller is the wife of Stephen J. Roy
U.S. District Judge Malcolm Muir ordered the payments reinstated, ruled that the SSN requirement was unconstitutional in the case. The government appealed to the Supreme Court.
I pondered the accuracy that this plaintiff was "in fact" an Abenaki Indian. Who was his paternal grandfather and great-grandfather? What was this "Three Rivers Council" that he claimed to belong to? Thus I began to seek out those answers ...
In late July, 2014, a gentleman (archivist) of the National Archives of Pennsylvania sent by email, "attached" portions of a document USDC MDPA Civil File 83-1179 that answered some of my questions. The document detailed each "finding of fact" and cited the proof that the court had found acceptable to be true (#1-5 above). I was surprised to find that the majority of the proof accepted by the PA Court and Judge Muir were merely Mr. Roy's own subjective testimonial words. The first portion of the document shows Findings of Fact 1-38 and was followed by a transcription deposition submitted by Mr. Roy that the court had found to be acceptable "proof".
Stephen John Roy was born on 17 Mar 1956 in Concord, Merrimack County, New Hamphsire, to Harold Roy and Marilyn Mae (nee: Gilman).
1. Stephen John Roy's father was Harold Ovid Roy. Harold was born on 27 May 1925 in Merrimac, Essex County, Massachusetts. He died on 29 Oct 2005 at the age of 80 in Riverside Walter Reed Hospital, Gloucester, Gloucester County, Virginia.
2. Stephen John Roy's grandfather was Joseph Aimé (Armand) Normand Roy. Joseph was born on 23 Dec 1901 in Fall River, Bristol County, Massachusetts. He died on 26 Sep 1958 at the age of 56 in San Diego, San Diego County, California.
3. Stephen John Roy's great-grandfather was Aimé (Amos) Roy dit King. Aimé (Amos) was born on 23 Oct 1870 in Ste. Brunos Parish, Van Buren, Aroostook Co. , Maine. He died on 19 Apr 1948 at the age of 77 in Arlington, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.
Harold, his father Joseph, nor Aimé (Amos) Roy it was discerned had not self-identified on any documents I could find, or were identified by someone else, as Abenaki, or even as Indian/Native American. They seem to have consistently identified on the records as "White"... or as "French".
Studying, evaluating and mapping Stephen Roy's ancestors and those ancestral descendants (as time allowed) over the previous three weeks, I found that NONE of those descendants of #2 Joseph and #3 Aimé (Amos) identified in Birth-Marriage or Death Records, as Indian, Native American or as Abenakis. The ONLY person I found who was mentioned as being of "Abenaki heritage" was Stephen Roy's sibling brother, James Edward Roy (1948-2014).
James Edward Roy
OBITUARY:
James Edward “Jim” Roy, age 66, of Berkeley Springs, West Virginia,died on Monday, February 10, 2014 at his home.
Born January 31, 1948 in Concord, New Hampshire, he was the son of thelate Harold Ovid Roy and Marilyn Mae (nee: Gilman) Roy.
He was a member of St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Berkeley Springs. Jim graduated from high school in Virginia Beach, VA and attended the University of Maryland at College Park. He was a retired animal behaviorist with the Smithsonian Institute at Edgewater, MD and also authored the book entitled “Real World White Tail Behavior.” Jim served with the U. S. Army during the Vietnam War and was decorated with multiple Purple Hearts. He was a member of John M. Golliday American Legion #64 in Moorefield, West Virginia and the Military Order of the Purple Heart. Jim loved working on his horse farm. He was of Abenaki Indian descent.
Surviving are his wife of 25 years, Gail Ann (nee: Palmer) Roy at home, his children, Kimberly Seidel of Linthicum, MD, Kenneth Roy of Pasadena, MD, Kelly Hopkins of Grasonville, MD, Dawn Cook of Glen Burnie, MD and Gail Nawrocki of Edgewater, MD, one sister, Joanne Howard of Gloucester, VA, three brothers, Alan Roy of San Clemente, CA, David Roy of Crestline, CA and Stephen Roy of Fairfield, PA, nine grandchildren, Jake Seidel of Linthicum, MD, Hunter Roy and Chase Roy, both of Pasadena, MD, Charlie Hopkins of Grasonville, MD, Brian Cook, Jr. and Samantha Cook, both of Glen Burnie, MD, David Nawrocki, Jr.,Taylor Nawrocki and Katelyn Nawrocki, all of Edgewater, MD and many nieces and nephews.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by one sister, Barbara Roy and one brother, Thomas Roy.
Funeral services, with military honors provided by the Tri-State Honor Guard, will be conducted at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 15, 2014 at Helsley-Johnson Funeral Home & Cremation Center, 95 Union Street, Berkeley Springs, WV. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service. The Rev. Fr. Leonard A. Smith will officiate.Private interment will be in Arlington National Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the DAV, National Headquarters, P.O. Box 14301, Cincinnati, OH 45250-0301.
So that is a quick partial genealogical "overview" of Stephen J. Roy's ancestry
Stephen Roy Genealogical Charting
But for a "deeper" exploration (that the Pennsylvania Court Judge Muir, and the Plaintiff's attorney FAILED to discern ... of course "they had no reason to question the validity of Plaintiff Roy's "Abenaki heritage" - "self-identity" claims), please see the following:
Documents of Roy etc.
In the Court case the details of this case became apparent:
In the last days of December 1984, the continuing judicial case of a young girl named “Little-Bird-of-the-Snow” and her parents vs. the Department of Welfare of Pennsylvania went on regarding the question being her obtaining a social security number card, contrary to her “self-identifying Abenaki” father, Stephen John Roy and his religious beliefs. At the time, the family was resident of Williamsport, PA. Roy having been born in Concord, New Hampshire (in 1956), had claimed that it would be a religious violation of his young second daughter’s spirit to have a Social Security Card in attempting to gain public welfare benefits. He had (in 1982) refused to provide his second daughter’s Social Security Card number to the welfare agency, and instead, tried to use his own Social Security number, on her behalf, to gain benefits and had subsequently filed a complaint in August 1983 retrospectively, through two attorneys.
In his deposition, he believed he himself was a Native Abenaki; and that “as fact” his paternal grandfather (Joseph Aimé “Armand” Normand 1901-1958) “was a tribal chief”, and that his paternal great-grandfather (Aimé “Amos” Roy 1870-1948) “was a full-blooded Abenaki” as before mentioned.
He also claimed, according to his mother (Marilyn Mae nee: Gilman 1927-1987), that she also Indian and “was a quarter by descent” and he thought she belonged to an alleged state tribe being … (again inaudible) according to the Court transcript. None of these claims by Mr. Roy seemed to have been objectively substantiated, and definitely not genealogically, by anyone, least of all the Judicial Court in the matter.
In hindsight, Mr. Roy had turned his back on his own roots after a drug and alcohol-abusing troubled youth and as a result was placed in a Norfolk, VA area-based foster home, which he didn’t like and soon after, left for Williamsport, working at small jobs between episodes of unemployment. Thus he was basing his learning Native religious beliefs as himself as having been “born-again” much like taking on the faith of Christian's religious beliefs. In about 1972, when he had arrived in Pennsylvania, these beliefs were based partly on his observations, some on his intuition, some of the things that he had been taught growing up, or what he’d read about and some things that he’d heard from other people’s thinking. He stated that his parents did not follow the Abenaki religious or cultural beliefs and practices, because they were Catholic and that they were not native.
When questioned by one of his attorney’s as to if Roy’s parents had taught him any native beliefs and or practices, Roy had answered, that he’d “learned fishing from his father”, i.e. the manner of fishing, and how to go about it, and the possibility of being able to “talk to the fish”. Roy claimed his parents taught him only little things, which to him as-a-youngster had made no sense at the time seemingly having no purpose. He again stated that his parents were Catholics.
Stephen Roy: "I heard one of the chiefs of the Abenaki speak here locally. He had spoken of how had set matters in order for his own child.
Attorney Gilben: What did you take to mean by "setting matters in order" for his own child?
Stephen Roy: "Preparing him for greater power, the power of healing and perceiving."
Attorney Gilben: What did you do as a result of your readings and your becoming aware of your hearing Sinaqua (phonetic)?
The plaintiff Mr. Roy had also made mention that (in the early 1980’s) he had heard a “Chief of the Abenaki” by the name of Gerald (or Jerry) “Tsonakwa” Rancourt, who had done a speaking presentation in the geographical area of Williamsport, PA.
Tsonakwa himself had spoken of how he himself had “set matters in order for his own child, and prepared his son for ‘greater power’ of healing and perceiving.”
Now, I must admit that "Sinaqua" in this transcript of the audio interview, had eluded me (for a time) as to the identify of Tsonakwa, yet the other evening, I decided to re-evaluate this transcript, because I knew intuitively that somehow this "chief of the Abenakis from Quebec, in Pennsylvania" that Stephen Roy had spoken of, very likely was, "Tsonakwa" a.k.a. Gerald "Jerry" Rancourt, who has been documented in this blog here:
The REAL Story of Gérard Anthony "Tsonakwa" Rancourt Jr. - Part 4
Stephen J. Roy, as well as a THOUSAND other naive, gullible people had no reason throughout the 1970's, 1980's or even the 1990's to question the "Abenaki heritage" of anyone. Back then, it was easier to RACE SHIFT from a French White person to a Native Indian Abenaki person (or Cherokee for that matter). Think Rachel Dolezal times a Thousand and instead of appropriating an Black Identity replace Black with Abenaki Identity and you get the picture. No one had genetic DNA studies with FTDNA, 23andMe, AncestryDNA, MyHeritage etc. Most people didn't have a computer in their homes either. So it was easier to pull off a scheming manipulative scam of claiming was born in Quebec, on some Abenaki reservation in 1943 and placed in a Quebec Boarding School etc while the FACTS of the matter actually were documented down in Meriden, Connecticut.
It was profitable then to appropriate an "Abenaki" Identity (and still is!) mentally and financially. Such mental gymnastics of the race shifter avoids the Colonized Guilt Setting Shame from within, and transforms the race shifter into something else. Race Shifting is about shifting-the-blame, a cognitive calculation based on familial oral history and beliefs/perceptions about themselves and perhaps even an insecurity within the person themselves, about who their ancestors and themselves were and are. Yet race shifting is still harmful to Native Community and to Native Identity. Claiming the Abenaki Identity without having the ancestral pain and suffering. It is appropriation and theft of deception. The "Rachel Dolezal" syndrome times a THOUSAND re-invented "Abenakis" throughout the Northeast today ... but how I digress.
Another tradition Roy claimed he followed in his day-to-day life was “to grow and wearing his dark brown hair long, and braided”, which Roy pointed out, took a lot of harassment about. Growing one’s hair out long as a man, (according to Roy) showed his children that he was their father. Another “tradition” was him taking his older daughter (Renee) to dances at non-Abenaki oriented ceremonial powwows, and/or to sing to them at a good spot in the woods, at sunset. He also said he didn’t spank his children, to discipline them (contrary to other local people who did). His wife Karen (nee: Miller) was raised as a Baptist in faith by her parents.
Stephen Roy claimed that he was a registered member as a Native American Indian in the Council of Three Rivers American Indian Center, Inc.’d. He testified in audio deposition that his two daughters were “enrolled on a Native American Reservation” (again conveniently inaudible) and that he was also registered there. He had written to the unidentified chief to make sure his two children’s enrollments were current, to protect their rights.
This Three Rivers Council that Roy spoke of was a non-profit organization that he and his family associated with having been created in February 1972, under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, (much like the Swanton, VT-based “Abenaki” group in 1975). Much like the northwest Vermont group, the Council of Three Rivers American Indian Center had created an employment and training program starting in 1976 and obtaining CETA funding. The funding was through the United States Department of Labor, just like up in Swanton, Vermont!
Roy had asked that the issuance of the Social Security number for his daughter subsequently be revoked, and as a result all welfare benefits had been terminated upon revocation of the number, as a result that the parents of their 3-year-old girl stating that the number would violate their religious beliefs and constitute a impermissible burden on their First Amendment right to freely exercise their religion. Her father felt that numbers and computers would rob their daughter of her spirit. Karen (nee: Miller) Roy had previously applied for her youngest daughter’s social security number shortly after her daughter’s birth (without her husband’ knowledge. Stephen Roy, his wife, and oldest daughter Renee all had Social Security numbers, yet Stephen Roy believed that they had already been robbed of their spirits. Shifting from the protest of obtaining a Social Security number/card, to using such a social security number itself the judicial matter moved forward. He filed the lawsuit so his youngest daughter could obtain “a greater power”. The parents also did not allow photographs to be taken of them, individually or as a family.
The Federal District Court Judge, Malcolm Muir had ruled earlier in May 1984 that Mr. Roy's religious views were ''sincerely held'' and that the Social Security requirement to qualify for monetary state-issued welfare benefits, such as medical assistance and food stamp programs, had allegedly been unconstitutional.
In studying Mr. Stephen J. Roy's Genealogical Ancestors (as time allowed, amongst other endeavors) I found that indeed it was NOT Mr. Roy's paternal grandfather (Joseph Aimé Roy) or great-grandfather (Aimé / Amos Roy) that were of Native Descent or even Abenakis. Clearly these two ancestors were FRENCH DESCENDANTS overall.
What I found was that it was Joseph Aimé Roy's spouse Lillian Eva (nee: Pratt) Roy's paternal father Joseph Ovide (Arthur) Pratt that had the Native Ancestral 1600's-based persons. Of course, descendant Stephen J. Roy didn't speak of these particular ancestors as being of Native descent, nor the distance genealogically, between himself and those far flung ancestors.
1. Madockawando
– (Adopted son of Assaminasqua)
2. Marie Mechilde Matilde Pidiwammiskwa
Mi’kmaq (married French)
3. Marie Anastasie Vincent d’Abbadie dit Ste. Castin
(married French)
4. Anne Françoise Bélisle dit Leborgne (married French)
5. Marguerite Robichaud (married French)
6. Modeste Pépin dit Lachance (married French)
7. Marie Modest Chabot (married French)
8. Clarisse Nadeau (married French)
9. Joseph Pratt (married French)
10. Joseph Ovide Pratt (married French)
11. Lillian Eva Pratt (married French)
12. Harold Ovid Roy + Marilyn Mae (née: Gilman)
13. Stephen John
Roy + Karen Miller
14. Little Bird of
the Snow
And a 2nd lineage:
1. Amérindienne woman + Michel Desgres (a
Frenchman)
2. Catherine Marguerite (née: Desgres/Desgre) Girard
(married French)
3. Marie Françoise (née: Girard) Durette (married French)
4. Joseph Durette (married French)
5. Josephte (née: Durette) Thérrien (married French)
6. Pierre Thérrien (married French)
7. Félicité (née: Thérrien) Émery dit Codèrre (married
French)
8. Félicité (née: Émery dit Codèrre) Pratt (married
French)
9. Joseph Ovide (Arthur) Pratt (married French)
10. Lillian Eva (née: Pratt) Roy (married French)
11. Harold Ovid Roy + Marilyn Mae (née: Gilman)
12. Stephen John
Roy + Karen Miller
13. Little Bird of
the Snow Roy
And a Captive Lineage:
1. Jonathan Haynes (Captive – twice – Killed by
Indians)
2. Thomas Haynes (Captive) (returned and married English)
3. Lydia (née: Haynes) Merrill (married English)
4. Thomas (Lieut.) Merrill (married English)
5. Amos Merrill (Sr.) (married English)
6. Amos Merrill (Jr.) (married Scots/English)
7. Samuel William Merrill (married English)
8. Phebe A. (née: Merrill) Hodge (married English)
9. James Henry Hodge (married English)
10. John William Hodge (married English)
11. Florence Mae (née: Hodge) Gilman (married English)
12. Marilyn Mae (née: Gilman) (married French)
13. Stephen John
Roy + Karen Miller
14. Little Bird of
the Snow Roy
More INFO on Jonathan Haynes Life Narrative
So, YES, Mr. Stephen J. Roy, the Plaintiff did and does in fact genealogically have "root ancestors" that were of the Wabanaki People's, but the question begs to be asked and answered: Does this make him or his descendants Abenakis if his ancestors down to him, were NOT identifying as Abenakis until it became apparently convenient for the contemporary descendants (Stephen and his sibling brother James) to claim such self-identity? Or were they merely 'race shifting' based on a belief/perception, a familial oral history narrative about the Roy ancestry (not the Pratt ancestral lineage) ...
So what happened in that Social Security number/card Court case?
January 12, 1986
The Reading Eagle Newspaper
Little Bird’s spirit issue in Social Security number
dispute
BELLEFONTE, Pa. (AP) – As
government officials see it, all they want from 5-year-old Little Bird of the
Snow is her Social Security number. But to the child’s father, Uncle Sam is
after her very soul.
In a struggle that is
expected to reach the U.S. Supreme Court this week, Stephen John Roy has refused
to give the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare his youngest daughter’s
Social Security number. The number is required if help from the
federal-to-state program of Aid to Families with Dependent Children is to
continue.
But Roy, the 29-year-old
great-grandson of Chief of the Abnaki Indian tribe, fears that allowing Little
Bird’s number to be plugged into a computer would harm the girl.
“We figure in giving them
this number we’d be cooperating with what we would call a great evil, in that
they use this number in their computers,” said Mr. Roy, “In using these
numbers, they dehumanize people. They rob them of their uniqueness. It (the Social Security number) would take part of her spirit away, what people normally
refer to as a soul. That’s what we call their spirit. To stay in good health,
to be a strong person, you’ve got to have a lot of spirit.”
FOR THE SAME REASON, the
family does not allow photographs to be taken.
The government insists that
Social Security numbers are necessary to determine whether welfare applicants
are eligible for aid and to prevent fraud and waste.
Government officials say the
Roy’s are a good illustration of how difficult it could be to check on
recipients; in 1983, the Social Security computer system listed more than
55,000 people in the United States with the last name Roy and 32 with the name
Stephen Roy.
In September 1982, Stephen
Roy’s cash assistance for his youngest daughter Little Bird of the Snow, up to
$66.00 dollars in welfare assistance a month and her medical benefits, were
stopped, because her father refused to use her Social Security number.
In a lawsuit, Stephen J. Roy
and Karen Miller, 26 years of age, his common-law wife of 10 years and the
girl’s mother, said the government, in cutting off welfare assistance for their
youngest daughter Little Bird, violated their right to freely exercise their
religion under the First Amendment.
U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE Malcolm
Muir ordered the payments reinstated in June 1984, ruling the Social Security
requirement was unconstitutional in the case of Little Bird of the Snow.
He said the Roy’s had made a
rare but authentic request for an exemption in the sincere belief their
youngest child’s spirit could be endangered if the number were used.
The Abnaki, one of several
tribes in northern New England linked by Algonquian languages, believe that all
efforts must be made to develop the spirit, which sometimes can lead to powers
of healing.
“There are only a few people
that are born to that,” said Roy. “We don’t know if Little Bird is born to that
or not. We won’t know until she discovers on her own. Until then, we feel
that’s something we have to protect.”
MUIR’S EXPEMPTION extends
until Little Bird’s 16th birthday, when Mr. Roy said, she can decide for
herself whether or not she wants to provide the number.
The government appealed Judge
Muir’s ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, and oral arguments are scheduled for
Tuesday.
Stephen John Roy, his wife
Karen Miller, and their older daughter, Renee Roy, age 7 years, all use their
Social Security numbers. Stephen Roy said he gave his to the government before
he realized how numbers can be used. He said his spirit has already been stolen
and it would be pointless for him to object now.
Mr. Roy said his decision not
to provide Little Bird’s Social Security number to the state and federal
agencies was influenced by a traditional Abnaki chief (Gerald “Tsonakwa” Rancourt) he had heard speak in 1980 on how technology was stealing
the spirit of man.
Stephen John Roy, who was
born in Concord, Merrimack County, New Hampshire on March 17, 1956, had turned
back to his roots after a troubled youth.
AS A TEENAGER in Norfolk,
Va., he was part of a gang called “The Family,” and was using drugs and
drinking alcohol. He was placed in a foster home, didn’t like it, and took off
for Williamsport, Pa., a city he admired for its rustic beauty.
He worked at temporary jobs
including shoveling snow, carpentry, plumbing, and as a laborer but often has
been unemployed since 1980. His benefits for Little Bird went up and down
depending on how much money he made.
Mr. Roy, searching for a
purpose in life, has now entered college and is a junior at Pennsylvania State
University, majoring in public service with a minor in sociology.
“I see it as a means of getting
out of the welfare system,” he said. “I definitely want to go on and do
something better than sitting back all my life. I’d like to be able to help our
people.”
STEPHEN ROY, A MUSCULAR but soft-spoken and folksy man, wears
his dark brown hair in braids, as is the Abnaki custom.
Karen Miller, who was raised as a Baptist, said she did not
agree with all of her husband Roy’s beliefs.
“There are times,” she said,
“where I feel some of these beliefs are a little far-fetched. But I respect
them and he is their father. As they grow, they’ll decide whether or not they
want to follow in his footsteps.”
Little Bird of the Snow was
given her name when her father Mr. Roy had spotted a goshawk in the snow during
a traditional ceremony to lay the root for the baby’s spirit. (He had gone out into nearby woods and buried her
placenta, in the company of his oldest daughter, Renee, during the winter)
“The government’s confirmed
her uniqueness,” Stephen Roy said. “They’ve run her name through their
computers, and they haven’t found anybody else with that name.”
June 12, 1986
The Pittsburgh Press
Newspaper
By Matthew Brelis – The
Pittsburgh Press
Dispirited: Court Rejects Indian’s Identity Appeal
In a case that pitted
religious beliefs against administrative efficiency, Stephen Roy and his
5-year-old daughter, Little Bird of the Snow, lost.
“I’m not particularly
surprised,” Stephen Roy, of Bellefonte, Centre County, Pennsylvania, said of
the U.S. Supreme Court’s 8-to-1 ruling yesterday that allows the government to
force citizens to have Social Security numbers.
“It confirmed something I’ve
always known – we live in a society that numbers people whether they want it or
not.”
In an effort to protect
Little Bird of the Snow’s spirit, her father, Mr. Stephen Roy, a great-grandson
of an Abenaki Indian chief, tried to prevent the U.S. Govt. from using her
issued Social Security number.
Little Bird’s name is her
spiritual protector, her father said, and tribal belief dictates that she not
be deprived of her spiritual essence.
“We can’t take some of our
values and live in Western society,” Roy said. “We have to give up everything
to live in this society.”
The judicial ruling reversed
another previous ruling by U.S. District Court in Williamsport, Lycoming Co.,
PA, that stated that Roy’s Constitutional Rights had been violated and that he
“sincerely believed” his youngest daughter’s spirit could be diminished if the
number of her SSN were to be used.
The Justice Department, which
appealed the case, argued that SSN’s are necessary because of massive
administrative claim oversight.
Before the case went to the
Supreme Court, Franklin Miles Jr., one of Stephen Roy’s lawyers, said that if
Roy lost the case, “it will not only be a blow to our client, but to the public
at large. It will mean administrative efficiency is deemed more important than religious beliefs.”
Writing for the majority, Chief
Justice Warren Burger said, “The free exercise clause simply cannot be
understood to require the government to conduct its own internal affairs in
ways that comport with the religious beliefs of particular citizens. As a
result, Mr. Roy may no more prevail on his religious objection to the Govt.
usage of a SSN for his daughter than he could on a sincere religious objection
to the size or color of the Govt.’s filing cabinets.
Stephen Roy, his wife, Karen
Miller, and another daughter, Renee, have Social Security numbers. He said he
did not object to using those numbers because they were obtained before he
heard an Abenaki chief speak in 1980 and became aware of the importance of an individual’s
spirit and how it can be diminished.
Roy likened the process to
that of a Christian being born-again.
More than four years ago, Roy
had refused to provide State Department of Public Welfare with his youngest
daughter’s Social Security number. Little Bird received the number after her
mother, while still in the hospital after delivering the infant, signed the
papers without reading them thoroughly.
Roy said the Abenakis
originally were part of a “nation of tribes” in New England, and many still
live in Vermont and New Hampshire.
September 14, 1986
The Beaver County Times
Newspaper
Compiled from Times Wire
Services
A Strange Story
Williamsport, PA. – A Native
American couple have returned to federal court to have their daughter’s Social
Security number expunged in the belief that numbers and computers will rob the
5-year-old of her soul. Stephen J. Roy and his wife, Karen Miller, of
Bellefonte, PA, made the request Friday on behalf of their daughter, Little
Bird of the Snow, in a continuation of a case decided in June by the U.S.
Supreme Court.
The high court, citing the
need to guard against fraud in government benefit programs, said the government
may force citizens to have a Social Security number even if it conflicts with
their religious beliefs. Roy, who is descended from the Abenaki tribe, believes
that numbers and computers used to identify people are part of a “great evil”
that keeps people from some greater power.
Roy said earlier this year
that his daughter’s Social Security would “take a part of her spirit away, what
people normally refer to as a soul.” Roy’s wife, Karen Miller, had applied for
the Social Security number without his knowledge shortly after the child’s
birth in late December of 1980.
The Supreme Court’s 8-to-1
decision overturned a 1984 ruling by U.S. District Judge Malcolm Muir, who said
that the government could not require the use of a Social Security number. Muir
had ordered Pennsylvania welfare officials not to cut off welfare benefits to
Roy’s family.
Roy, his wife and older
daughter (Renee) have Social Security numbers, but Mr. Roy said he believes
they have already been robbed of their spirits. He said he filed suit so Little
Bird of the Snow can obtain a greater power.
February 25, 1987
The Times Newspaper, Page C3
Social Security dispute is settled
WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (AP) – The
battle over a Social Security number for the daughter of an American Indian who
objected on religious grounds has been settled out of court, an official said
yesterday.
Robert DeSous, law clerk to
the U.S. District Court Judge Malcolm Muir, said that court officials were
notified Monday that Stephen John Roy and his wife Karen Miller, mother of
Little Bird of the Snow, their child, had settled their suit against federal
and state officials responsible for various welfare programs.
Stephen Roy’s settlement
calls on officials to remove the Social Security number issued to his younger daughter
from the records, and to pay $18,000.00 to his attorneys, for their fees.
About
$1,500.00 of that money would go to the Roy family, for back welfare benefits
that had been withheld.
Roy also said that although
he won’t have to use a social security number for his daughter, Little Bird of
the Snow, now 6 years of age, that she would receive welfare benefits.
One of Roy’s attorney’s, Gary
Gildin, would not comment on the details of the settlement, saying he didn’t
want to risk the settlement.
The attorney handling the
case for the U.S. Justice Department was out of the office and could not be
reached, his secretary said.
Stephen John Roy and his
wife, Karen Miller, of Williamsport but now living in Bellefonte, PA, had been
seeking an injunction to prevent authorities from using the Social Security
number of their youngest daughter until their motion to have it cancelled was
resolved.
March 15, 1990
Native American
Indian Student Association at Pennsylvania State University – a support
group of about 15 people that strives to create a balance between native
culture and life at the University. The association draws many of its members
from two graduate programs specifically designed for American Indian students:
the American Indian Leadership Program and the American Indian Special
Education Teacher Training Program.
Because of his traditional practices, Stephen John Roy has met with everything from strange
looks to harassment.
Penn State has been no exception.
"I've learned to be shy about my customs, and
practice them when other people aren't around," said Stephen John
Roy, a member of the Abenaki Nation
of Concord, New Hampshire.
Even if people do not verbally express their prejudice,
Roy notices the effect his appearance has on the way people treat him. He wears
his hair braided in one long plait down his back.
"When I came to Penn State University, people asked
me if I lived in a tipi. They simplified their language as if I was some sort
of primitive being who couldn't comprehend things." said Roy
(senior-public service).
He remembers one night at an outdoor concert when he and
his wife were smoking sweet fern to ward off the hungry mosquitoes. A man
sitting next to them threatened to call the police if they did not stop.
"The man suspected we were smoking something
else," said Roy.
His family has recently been harassed by a neighbor in Milesburg, PA, said Roy. The neighbor
allegedly insulted his children's ethnicity, spit on Roy's car and threw trash
on his lawn, said Roy.
Roy quickly realized most people in Central Pennsylvania
are more affluent than his kin in the Abenaki nation.
"I owned a car. But people here don't think owning a
car is a big deal. When I went to powwows, people called it a 'rez car,'
meaning it wouldn't be quite legal off the reservation."
By participating in traditional medicine worship, Roy
strives to maintain ties to his culture. Plant medicine was passed down from
his father and brothers. Certain plants cure various ailments. The Ghost Plant
heals eye irritations and wild mint cures stomach and headaches.
The need to preserve his culture and native identity has
often put Roy at odds with dominant American culture.
He fought an $800,000 court battle over his daughter's
Social Security number, which was automatically issued at birth [BS]. Roy and his wife protested the infringement
on their daughter's freedom to choose.
They wrote Social Security a letter asking the number be
erased. Social Security would not erase the number and the case was taken to
the U.S. Supreme Court, Roy said.
"It ended up that the number was erased, the first
time in history a Social Security number has been erased," said Roy.
Roy objects to Social Security numbers for the same
reason he does not have his photograph on his student identification card.
"It's not right that a symbol be used to identify
me. It questions my individual uniqueness. What's religious and sacred cannot
be separated from the whole," said Roy.
Roy plans a career
in public service after he completes law
school. He wishes to "serve human needs rather than gain prestige or
income."
The University must do more than just recruit American
Indians, he said. It must create an environment in which the students can take
advantage of the opportunities offered by the University without relinquishing
their culture.
"I wish we could raise the consciousness about the
plight of families and communities here. Penn State recruits Native Americans
to study here but they don't get enough money and resources to survive. Most
don't make it and experience suffering, anger and frustration. Another
generation is being raised in anger," he said.
Conclusion:
Believe one is an Abenaki, hear another race shifting storytelling pseudo Quebec "Chief" of the "Abenakis" spew some pseudo spiritual nonsense at some Powwow in PA per 1980, make-believe you too are an "Abenaki" and make complaint of religious freedom right infringement by the Big Bad Govt. Welfare Agency because they want your child's Social Security Number/Card to get those welfare benefits, and go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court on some bogus "I'm an Abenaki" Appropriated Identity Theft, and get back-benefits of welfare of $1,500.00 and have the Welfare Agency pay the Attorney fee's of $18,000.00 in a seemingly $800,000.00 Court Case that was build on dubious claims of belonging to an Abenaki Nation in Concord, New Hampshire. Based on 1600's ancestors as member to that "organization".
The whole Sinaqua = Tsonakwa (Gerald Rancourt born in Meriden, CT in 1945) being a supposed "Abenaki chief" in Quebec, Canada" was quite the subjective nonsense in this research of Stephen J. Roy. Both 'race shifters' of Pennsylvania.
And just when I thought this particular blog post couldn't get even more interesting, a day after posting about Stephen Roy ... before one begins to ponder whether or not he was 'paranoid' about "numbers" and "computers" etc, this came across the wire:
It seems the math problems being solved in DNA Sequencing, Viterbi paths in Hidden Markov Models, are similar to those of digital signal processing (DSP). This makes sense as once the genome info is digitized, it is a coded sequence of 1's and 0's like digitized communications and media. The real world processing of these problems, such as the RF baseband signal processing in your cell phone, is done with specialized hardware because of the parallelism of the processing. An algorithm can be written to solve the same problems on a general purpose processor, such as the processor in a desktop PC (or a watch), but its not as efficient, so it takes longer and uses more resources. Here is an IEEE paper from last year showing how an FPGA based solution is faster and thus greener (uses less energy) --
Genesis: A Hardware Acceleration Framework for Genomic Data Analysis
Many modern CPU's also have extra hardware for video processing and ways to exploit that hardware to solve other problems can be done with OpenCL(). It's why Bit Coin mining is done with high-end graphics cards. Here Intel has a paper about genome research acceleration --
Accelerating Genomics Research with OpenCL™ and FPGAs
Maybe Stephen J. Roy and Gerard 'Tsonakwa' Rancourt were onto something?
