Posting by Charlie True on Tuesday, November 10, 2009 via "Abenaki Pride Setting the Record Straight" Blog:
When Douglas Lloyd Buchholz began his lengthy campaign to prove that there are few, if any, real Abenaki people left in New England (No, I am not "on a campaign" to prove that there are few, if any, real Abenaki People left in New England....just that "these groups and or persons claiming to represent the Abenaki , who are coming to and in front of the Vermont and New Hampshire Legislature's and Governor's ARE NOT the legitimate documented Abenaki People nor are they legitimate documented descendants of the Abenaki!) , my first thought was that we should put up what I call a “wall of silence” concerning him (I am oh...so scared...of this so-called "Wall of Silence" Quick, grab yer gun ma, the "Wall of Silence" is a'comin'). His very public, hurtful treatment of our people deserves such a reaction from us ("hurtful treatment?" Give me a break, these documents are their FACTUAL HISTORICAL RECORDS that need to be shown, provided, and reviewed by the Vermont and N.H. Governor's and Attorney General's Office's, as well as the Legislative Rep's, including the Vermont/N.H. Public), and, I believe, would reflect traditional behavior toward someone who has dishonored us (NO, these alleged reinvented Abenaki "groups" have DISHONORED THEIR OWN ANCESTORS and THEMSELVES based on their own factual historical lies, deceptions, deceitfulness, and manipulations against the real legitimately documented Abenaki People!). I was also aware of his history of craving constant attention (No, it actual was not my endeavor to do this Reinvention of the Vermont Abenaki, because retrospectively I had been trying to PROVE the merits of these groups claims, and after reading that BIA conclusions regarding Swanton's alleged contemporary Abenaki group, and listening to the Grandma Said So Stories of Nancy Millette Doucet, I came away with documents that proved their claims were unfounded and in conclusion, I have found that these groups have absolutely NO documentary evidence or foundation to their claims of being Abenakis); he has gone to great (outlandish) lengths to call attention to himself (NO, the attention I am trying to call attention to is that these people ~ such as Charles Francis True, Jr. after 63 years, cannot and will not substantiate "from his ancestors", that he's Abenaki, He has no documentary evidence "from his ancestors" that they were Abenaki). I did not want to feed that need. (NO, it is because he knew that since he had actually NOTHING documentarily-speaking, to show and provide anyone, that indeed his ancestors were of the Abenaki People, that I was becoming a threat to his little fantasy world of being an Abenaki). That’s why I have remained silent until now.
So why am I speaking up now? An attack on me personally means little or nothing to me, since I have nothing to hide from anyone. (Really?, Charles F. True Jr. has one aspect of himself to hide, its that he's unable to show and provide ANY convincing evidence from his ancestors that he's indeed from the Abenaki.) Some of our people call me “speaker”. (Fewer and fewer "followers" in fact are looking at him in this self proclaimed function he claims to have, and they have been leaving his "group" as well) That’s not a big deal; never has been. We have joined together in circles over the years, where my voice had equal value with others in the circle. Occasionally one person is required to speak for the group, and I was the person selected for the task. I need to speak up and point out that Douglas’ “history” of the Abenaki Nation of New Hampshire is rife with errors. Names, dates, places, events are all wrong. (Well, the information...names, dates, places, and events...was gained from Sherry Gould, and from sourced actual documents. Brian Blanchard, signed the Inc. papers as well, and Sherry Gould was also present at these "meetings". I doubt she was distorting or lieing about what she knew of those events, etc. but then again today I do not trust anything about what Charles F. True Jr. has to say) There are quite a few people out there who can attest to this. ("Few" is the operative word) I could list each item individually, numbering each item, so that no one has to “do the math” as Douglas likes to say (But Charles F. True doesn't provide ANY facts; he just alleges that my research is allegedly is in error). But I have more important things to share at this time. I would only point out that someone who purports to be our “modern day historian” has more research to do (Yes, indeed I am doing further research into all aspects of the documented historical records of these "groups" alleging to be Abenakis; and no, I never purported to be the absolutely definitively accurate "modern day historian" of these alleged reinvented Abenaki of Vermont/New Hampshire, but these "groups" and their representatives simply "hide in plain sight" showing nothing to prove my conclusions are wrong, and simply put up a "Wall of Silence", hoping that everyone will simply not notice their historical records are being exposed and showing to the public that they are NOT who they purport to be); more attention to the actual facts, before he shares his masterpiece with the whole world. (Indeed, these "groups" and their representative's would like nothing better than for me to slow down, or better yet, shut up and shut down, so they can bullsh** the State Governor's and Legislature's, what with their attempting to convince the Governors and Archaelogical Agencies and Legislative Representatives, WITHOUT THE REQUIREMENT OF SHOWING AND PROVIDING CONVINCING GENEALOGICAL OR HISTORICALLY SOCIAL EVIDENCE, THAT THEY ARE INDEED FROM THE ABENAKI OF VERMONT OR NEW HAMPSHIRE!) A historian has a responsibility to research and report the known facts, in as objective a manner as possible. (Oh, you mean like Frederick Matthew Wiseman and John Moody have allegedly done?!)
Douglas has obviously selected out his “truths” to support a very subjective (obsessive I would say) thesis (Really? I simply take the documentation as I find it or recieve it; IF there is "something out there" that would paint this picture of these "groups" in a prettier color or such, then provide that evidence to me and I will grab the paint brushes and put it on the blog.): “Just about everyone here in New England and beyond who says they’re Abenaki is an outright liar.” (I have never stated or even implied "that just about everyone here in New England and beyond who SAYS their Abenaki is an outright liar"; what I have stated and implied is that just having MOUTH ~hearsay b.s. Grandma-Said-So-Stories and with nothing to substantiate those oral "stories" ~meaning that one has NOTHING IN HAND FROM THEIR ANCESTORS, documentarily-speaking from those ancestors~ makes for sloppiness, weakness, and allows imposters, and "wannabe's" to infringe on the sovereignty and intergrity of those that have legitimate genealogical records, evidence, and documents that substantiate that they are legitimately FROM THE ABENAKI PEOPLE/ ANCESTORS.) Incidentally, I have myself known many Abenaki people who have worked hard to accomplish, or attempt to accomplish, positive things for our people. Shouldn’t a comprehensive “history” of our times report such selfless acts occasionally? It’s obvious to me that Douglas has chosen to dwell only on negatives. (I am not into "airbrushing" around the edges of these documents with the prettiness of what these "groups" may or may not have done in the past or comtemporarily do, to try and bury the b.s. deceit, lies, manipulations, and illusions they have used to cause people in the Government and the Public to NOT look at the foundation or merits genealogically of these "groups" alleged leaders, speakers, representatives, Chiefs and their "followers"/Members/Citizens. Like I said before on this blog, planting flowers in a bucket of sh** may look nice, it may even smell pretty, but underneath all of it, its still a pile of crap. Secondly, Charles Francis True Jr. may say I am putting out or airing out all these alleged and reinvented Abenaki group's "political dirty laundry". Yet, when I take dirty laundry and put it in the washing machine, with some Tide Laundry Detergent, usually the laundry comes out at least a little bit cleaner and whiter. But, when one takes a bucket of shit and shovels it into the washing machine, with a bit of Tide Detergent....what comes out of that Washer is still shit, even if it smells a little nicer!)
One of the underlying implications of Douglas’ blog, in my opinion, is that it’s time for our people to just “lay down and die”. (NO, that is not the underlying implication of my blog. The underlying implication is that these "groups" of created and reinvented "groups" of people or persons who are claiming to be Abenakis from Vermont and or New Hampshire, based on their own actions and words, may very well NOT be Abenaki at all. The process of gaining ANY STATE RECOGNITION by any method, whether it be a Governor's Proclamation or a created New Hampshire or Vermont State Commission on Native American Affairs, ought to be based first and foremost starting on GENEALOGICAL EVIDENCE both ancestorally and on the historical social evidence from one's ancsetors. Nothing more, nothing less. But apparently this "genelaogical requirement" threatens these "groups" proclaiming to being Abenakis within N.H. and Vermont) . It’s time for us to say to the dominant culture: “You’ve been right all along. The Abenaki people never existed in your state (Tell that to the Nollette's, the Watso's, the Laurent's, and to a thousand other legitimately documented Abenaki families that have lived in Vermont and New Hamsphire!), were all killed, or ran away from our homeland to Canada (Some families did leave, some came back, and some never left Vermont or New Hampshire) . We’ve just been playing at being Indians (Yes, some peoples and these "groups" I strongly suspect "have been playing at being Abenaki Indians", without the genealogical documentation or social historical records to show and provide that indeed they are legitmately Abenaki descendants), but we’ve been caught up with.” (indeed that seems to be the reality of it, doesn't it? Time and facts will show if this is true). When I was still on speaking terms with Douglas, and began to realize the direction in which he was going, I repeatedly tried to convince him that he was about to do major harm to the Abenaki people. (No, when Charles Francis True, Jr. was on speaking terms with me, and he began to realize the direction I was going and the awareness that I was gaining, he realized that his lack of documentation of being Abenaki "from his ancestors" was going to catch up with him too; and as for allegedly doing major harm to the Alleged - Reinvented Vermont or N.H. Abenaki People, that is true; but the legitimate documented Abenaki descendants in Vermont, New Hampshire, etc have actually NOTHING to fear from what my position is, or what this blog's content has been or will be). We didn’t need more public airing of our political dirty laundry. (Thats not exactly what I would call the factual documentation on this blog, it is the historical records as they are, pertaining to these alleged Abenaki "groups", and I and others conclude that the showing and providing of these documents are EXACTLY what needs to happen, to show the Vermont/New Hampshire Government EXACTLY whats been going on in relation to these alleged and reinvented Abenaki "groups"). We especially didn’t need more rubbing of salt in that Abenaki wound of having little or no documentation of our ancestral heritage. (Instead of throwing a temper-tantrum about this blog, ask yourselves WHY IS IT that these person's, such as Charles Francis True Jr., have little nor NO DOCUMENTATION as to their alleged Abenaki Ancestral connections/heritage?! Is it because they have indeed been "Playing Abenaki Indian" and they are NOT ABENAKI at all?!)
I have observed over the years the pain experienced by Abenaki people who could not produce a piece of paper that would cause a white person to say: “Yup, by God, you really are one of them there Injun people aintcha?” (Indeed, Charles Francis True Jr. would gladly accept the notion "that just saying one is Abenaki, is good enough" and that is all that is needed, to strengthen the Abenaki People. It's merely a mirroring his own reality. Because IF it is not required to show and provide some convincing physical evidence of one's ancestral genealogical and social documentation that one is indeed of Abenaki ancestry, then he himself will not have to be required to show and provide anything documentarily either, and he can keep on "Playing Abenaki Indian" and proclaiming that he is a "Speaker" of the "Abenaki Nation of New Hampshire, Incorporated".) In those days I often joked (but I was half serious) with Douglas that he should apply for a job in the Vermont Attorney General’s office because they would have to love him; he was working hard to support their claim that there were no valid Abenakis living in Vermont today. (Oh yet again, Charles Francis True, Jr. assumes that I ought to work for William Sorrell, the Vt. State's Attorney General; and that I have been working hard to support the State's claim that there were no valid Abenakis living in Vermont today; No, that is NOT what I have been trying to prove.) I don’t think he ever got my point. (I got Charlie True's point perfectly clear....I was gaining an awareness that was becoming a threat to his little fantasy world that existed in his own mind, that he was an Abenaki descendant, but he has had nothing in-hand from any of his ancestry to prove his claims.
ASK YOURSELVES THIS: If there are legitimately documented Abenakis who can show their Abenaki Ancestral Connections, without hesitation or protest, and also can provide and show the genealogical and historical social evidence of their ancestors, WHY IS IT that Charles F. True Jr., Howard F. Knight Jr., Paul Wilson Pouliot, etc., etc. CANNOT do the same, WILL NOT do the same? Why is it that these "groups" and their "representative's" are the one's approaching and interacting with the Vermont and New Hampshire Legislature's and Governor's Office Agencies, proclaiming that they are Abenakis from and of Vermont and or New Hamsphire, when in fact, these groups and their "Speakers", their "Chiefs", and 95% perccent of their Card holding "Members" or "Citizens" CANNOT and WILL NOT show and provide ANY evidence of their genealogical connections to any known Abenaki documented family or community?! Why is it that the Governments of Vermont and New Hampshire even consider entertaining having these people sit at the table, trying to create a Native American Commission on Native American Affairs in both Vermont through Abenaki Recogntion Bill S.117 signed May 2006....and New Hampshire...currently being discussed by N.H. Legislative Representives, John and Donna Moody, Nancy Millette- Doucet, Sherry Gould, Paul Wilson Pouliot and his wife Denise, Rick Pouliot, and numerous others. 95% percent of these parties are very likely NOT documented of Abenaki descent.
According to recently recieved documentation, Sherry Gould's created Wijokadoak, Inc. President Peter Newell, Chief of New Hampshire Native American Intertribal Council, of Laconia, N.H., who is the son of Bob Newell, a legitimate member of the Old Town, Maine Penobscot Indian Community, is also involved in this endeavor to have created a NHCNA (New Hampshire Commission on Native American Affairs. Peter Newell also attended Nancy Millette - Doucet's "Unity Meetings in early 2006. (See http://www.elnuabenakitribe.org/Inter-TribalPhotos.html) Peter Newell is the man in the Carhartt brown jacket. Nancy Millette (now Doucet) stands behind Peter Newell's left shoulder. The second photograph in the top right corner, the man in the headband, and white beard, and stroke glasses is Howard Franklin Knight, Jr. In the "minutes" of the NH Intertribal Native American Council Inc. "Chief"/President of that Incorporation is Peter Newell, Vice-Chief/Vice President was John Kelleher, Recording Secretary was Marguerite Kelleher, Treasurer was Sandy Chase, and there were 3 other Board of Director members. On page 3 of this online newsletter of August 02 2006 See: http://nhitnac.tripod.com/october2006newsltr.html Sherry Gould stated that she came to the NH Intertribal meeting to seek an Administrative Agent to recieve Grants and other non-taxable income. Her created Inc. was called Wijokadoak. Peter Newell is on the Wijokadoak, Inc. Board of Directors See: http://www.wijokadoak.com/board.html Executive Director Sherry L Gould; Board of Directors Peter Newell, President Chief of New Hampshire Native American Intertribal Council, Penobscot; Lynn Clowes, Vice President Director of the Cultural Competency Group, NH Minority Health Coalition, Micmac; Anita Blanchard, Treasurer (Sherry Gould's mother) Accounting Manager, Whaleback Systems Corporation, Abenaki; Marlene French, Secretary Smart Care Program Manager, Lutheran Community Services, Metis; David Stewart-Smith Ethno-historian, Pennacook / Abenaki. Tatjana Donovon was Sherry Gould's Treasurer/Accountant but she left that endeavor; and I myself left that Sherry Gould/ Wijokadoak, Inc. Language endeavor. Sherry Gould recieved through this Incorporation an Abenaki Language Grant from ANA (Administration for Native Americans) in the amount of $83, 605.00 dollars. How much does it cost to speak Abenaki? The answer: N-O-T-H-I-N-G. How much does it cost to learn or revive our Abenaki Language. The answer is nothing. One just speaks the language to another person! So, who is profiting monetarily or otherwise from the lack of the Abenaki Language being spoken today by Abenakis? Do we need Incorporations to be created, Monetary Grants, and so forth in order to simply speak Abenaki?! Ask most Penobscot Indian People whether or not they are related to the Western Abenaki, and they will say no, they are not. The Penobscot are not affiliated with the Abenakis today, and distance themselves from the Abenaki of New England. I've got more documentary evidence: On page 02of 24 pages of Wijokadoak Abenaki Language Project it states that the 5th strategic goal is to achieve a commission on Native American Affairs in the State of New Hampshire in coopreation with the New Hampshire Native American Intertribal Council. On Page 03 of 24, it states "The next project is to support to the New Hampshire Intertribal Council for the formation of a Governor's Commission on Native Affairs. A small grant has been submitted to teh New Hampshire Charitable Foundation to fund inicidental expenses associated with this project such as office supply costs and travel reimbursement for volunteers assisting the Governor's Staff in the formation of the Commission." What it sounds like to me, is that because Nancy Millette - Doucet and these other parties/ alleged and reinvented Abenaki "groups" are now approaching the political system of New Hampshire whether through the Governor's Office via the Executive Council Members, or through the N.H. Legislative Representive's to get what they couldn't get from Vermont's Governor and or Legislature. These alleged Abenaki "Incorporation's" sh** all over Vermont, and made a mess of things....and now they "jumped the river" into New Hampshire and are trying to make another mess in this State of New Hampshire, without any requirement of their ancestor's genealogical evidence connecting these alleged Abenaki descendants claiming to being Abenakis, to the historically known and documented Abenaki families! Don't think for one second that Howard Franklin Knight, Jr. won't jump on this N.H. Commission on Native American Affairs endeavor/petition, just like he and his Co-Chief's Nancy Millette-Doucet and Brian Chenevert did over in Vermont! His relatives live and continue to live in New Hampshire, jusy like they do in Vermont.
Yet the people who can and do have supporting genealogical and historically social evidence that they are indeed from the Western Abenaki People, are left unaware of what these "groups" and their "representatives" are doing! Why are not the Watso's, the Laurent's, the Nollett's, the O'bomsawin's, and various others, to name just a very few legitimate Abenaki documented families within Vermont and New Hampshire not part of these "groups" addressing the State of New Hampshire and or Vermont for State Recognition? Most importantly, why isn't the Governor's and Legistlature's of these two Commonwealth's demanding to speak with and address ONLY those Abenakis who have the legitimate genealogical and historically social evidence that indeed they are descendants of the Abenaki People?! WHY is it that the Governor's and Legislatures have not REQUIRED that these "groups" and their so-called "Chiefs" or "Speakers" PROVE DOCUMENTARILY that they are GENEALOGICALLY of Abenaki ancestry?
WHY is it, that the legitimately documented genealogically connected Abenaki and their descendants who come from a known historical Abenaki COMMUNITY ~Odanak~ NOT been appointed to the Chairman position of the Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs by the Governor of Vermont Jim Douglas? We have seen Mark Mitchell, Donald Stevens come into this posiiton, and they both have gone bye-bye, because they couldn't manipulate the VCNAA, etc. Now we have Charles Delaney as Chairman of the VCNAA, who historically has been or is still a part of the late deceased Homer St. Francis "group" now led by April Merrill of Swanton, Vermont. This "group" of self-proclaiming yet alleged "Missisquoi St. Francis/Sokoki Abenakis" could not show and provide, after 38+ years, that there was even one (1) single person, aside from the O'bomsawin descendants such as Jeanne Brink, were of Abenaki/Sokoki descent!
In my estimation, at least 95% of Abenaki descendants today have no paper documentation of their heritage. (That is B.S., 95% percent of Abenaki People's and their descendants DO have paper documentation of their ancestry and their heritage; it is the 5% percent such as Charles Francis True Jr. who cannot and very likely do not have any connection genealogically to Abenaki ancestors! IF such an estimation were true, then how come the Abenakis, such as the Watso's, the M'sadeques', the Nollette's, the O'bomsawin's and their married-in surname descendants, ALL OF THEM can show their paper documentation of their Abenaki ancestry and heritage...and they have lived in Vermont and New Hampshire since ca. 1850 all the way up to present time...and their vital records etc were not burned, destroyed...nor were they in the Eugenic's Program...and they ARE DOCUMENTED ABENAKIS) When I first learned that our immediate forebears were “hiding in plain sight”, that is avoiding any public record of their heritage, I was angry. (This is only "a good excuse" for one's LACK OF THEIR genealogical record, kinda like "the dog ate my homework"...Abenakis and other Native People's ancestors did not live in glass houses nor did they live in isolation.) In time though, understanding that native people are, above all, about the survival of the people, I came to understand that they were protecting their children; that assimilation into the white world was the only way they could survive. And the documents of the time reflect that sense of survival. At that time everyone must be white. (Tell that to those that were from the Watso family! Tell that to other documented genealogical Abenaki families who have lived in Vermont and or New Hamsphire who were and are documented as Indian, Abenaki! Tell that to the Native People's in Maine, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York; they have had the same socially historical dynamic's going on, YET they still maintained and retained their Abenaki Ancestral connections documentarily and genealogically! What is Charles F. True Jr. trying to imply here, that Abenakis are seperate from every other Native People's surrounding them. That Abenakis are a special species of Native American's who lived in a petri dish?!)
But we do exist, and we will continue to exist. (Yes, one may exist and will continue to exist but without the Abenaki ancestral connections, documentarily and genealogically being found and secured, sorry the one's who are left unable to show and provide nothing, have to be questioned and looked upon with suspicion as to whether they are legititmately from the Abenaki People) Sorry, Douglas, we’re not convinced that it’s time to bring an end to our people. (Reminds me of bed-bugs or cock roaches that refuse to go away; but either way the purpose of this blog nor my words have never been "to bring an end to anyone") And if a group of Abenaki grandmothers got together, I think you would be marched out of town real fast. (IF the ancestral grandmothers of the Abenaki People were to know what is happening today in "that anyone can say they are Abenaki, without a connection to those Abenaki ancestors or having come from a historical Abenaki Commnunity, I am sure they would just as likely march Charles F. True Jr. out of town for impersonating an Abenaki! Right along with his alleged 2nd wife who claims to be from the Western and Eastern Abenaki!) Hopefully, we will come to ignore you (what? with your "Wall of Silence" Charles True? Please, do me the favor!), except of course those people who may seek to benefit somehow from your negative campaign.
There are and will be children among us, some with blond hair and blue eyes, who are destined to carry forward the embers of our ancestral fires. (One cannot carry forward the embers of the Abenaki ancestral fires IF they are not from Abenaki ancestry; anyone can say they are Abenaki these days since genealogical evidence /proof is not required). They need a lot of help from us in preparing for that, because they face a very difficult walk going forward. (Obviously, it will be a very difficult walk going forward, because the present generation, such as Charlie True, have not proven documentarily-speaking, that they are even Abenaki in the first place! It's difficult to perpetuate a distortion one has created, a lie, when the truth is sitting there waiting to be discovered that one's ancestors are NOT Abenaki at all, but English!)
I’d like to share with you some of the adult behaviors that I have seen, and assume these children are also seeing. Over the years I’ve noticed an increasing, almost frantic, search for a genealogical record that says “Indian” or “Abenaki”. There’s nothing wrong with searching for our historic ancestors; it’s good to understand as much as possible about who we came from. But when we feel an absolute need for “Indian” documents to prove our Abenaki ancestry to someone, we are playing a “white man’s” game, and missing a central point for ourselves. (Really? "A White Man's Game" eh? So, according to Charles F. True Jr. ALL the Native Communities across North America, more closely Kahnewake, Old Town, Odanak, Wolinak, Akwesasne etc WHO REQUIRE GENEALOCIAL PROOF OF being Mohawk, Penobscot, or Abenaki and having an ancestral connection ON PAPER, are "playing the white man game"?). Perhaps Douglas would prefer that our people cower in a corner, or stay in a closet, because they have not located that elusive document. (The genealgocial and historical social documentation is out there to be found, directly or indirectly; I've proven such is the reality with researching numerous families, including my own ancestors!) Do our children really need that piece of paper to know, and to express, who they are? (In simple answer to this question, YES. Because without it, it is GENOCIDE being perpetuated against those Abenaki Ancestors and their descendants!)
Band or tribal I.D. cards seem to be much sought after. Years ago, when a sizeable number of members in our group insisted that we should have cards, a member of our council, who was motivated by a personal need at the time, was selected to make up a draft card for us. Her sample was modeled on cards in use by another group at the time. When I saw the proposed format, turned the card over and started to read the top line, I did an uncharacteristic “head through the ceiling” maneuver. The heading on the back said something like: “This is to convey Indian status on….” When I retained my composure, I said: “We do not convey Indian status on anyone; only the Creator does that!” We have never issued “Indian cards”. Do our children really need them to know who they are? (Well, whats the difference between a tribal I.D. Card or signing one's name to an Incorporation paper as a Vice President of that Incorporation? NOTHING, THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE).
During the time that legislation was passed in Vermont supposedly “recognizing” the Abenaki people and others, my dear wife Rhonda, the computer-literate one in the family, shared with me such e-mail comments as: “We are recognized at last. Now I can proudly say that I’m Abenaki.” Huh? Were there really Abenaki people out there depending on a government to say that it was O.K. to be who you always knew you were? (Charles F. True, Rhonda Lou nee: Besaw, Alice Stevens, Allan Martell, Brian Blanchard, etc all "signed on the dotted line" of their Incorporation Papers in the New Hampshire Government; they have property that they pay taxes on, they own cars that they pay taxes on, etc so they are all dependant on a government in many ways) Do we want our children to look to governments to validate who they are? (Apparently, ALOT of these "groups" proclaiming they are Abenakis, "incorporated" repeatedly, to try and validate who they allegedly claim to be!)
There are many more examples of people seeking their indianess outside of themselves, who don’t seem to understand that they’re missing the central point, and may be misleading the children who will carry our embers forward. (Without the genealogical evidence etc in hand, to show and provide, without hesitation and or protest, that one is of the Abenaki People/ Ancestors, perhaps it is Charles True and many many others who are misleading not only the Vermont and New Hampshire Governors and Legislative Representative's but also their own children who are just as naive and ignorant, that these people may not be connected to the Abenaki ancestors in the first place?!) Folks, we may be missing the central lesson that our children need to learn. Instead of looking outward, we need to look downward, as we stand on our homeland, between our own two feet. (More likely, one needs to look inward, not downward except maybe in shame, because they have nothing to show or provide that they are even speaking the truth about their ancestors being Abenaki! Maybe shame at not taking the time, accountabilty, and responsibility to honestly substantiate their Grandma Said So "stories") The children need to learn that the strength, wisdom and spirit of our ancestors have their source in something that’s still available to us, and that they need. Mother Earth literally vibrates with the creative energy that flows through all living things. (Charles True forgot to mention that Indians talk to the trees, Indians can shapeshift, that Animals can talk to Indians, and Indians never climbed to the top of the White Mountains). We need to teach our children, before anything else, that this energy can flow through them, if they seek it, and that it is a source, through their Abenaki ancestry, of great power. Let’s stop playing our ridiculous adult games and start teaching them where they really come from, so that they can go forward with the real ancestral strength that they will need. (First, one ought to have the ability to substantiate genealogically that one comes from the Abenaki People in the first place, before one claims that one can even begin to use allegedly "that source of great power", through an Abenaki ancestry. Matter of fact, it sounds to me like Charles Francis True, Jr. has been watching too many times that Harry Potter series of movies! Watso and Elie, etc. were and are "just another two Abenaki Indians" up in Odanak, Quebec in their community, BUT when they left Odanak and came down to the States, BAMM they dawned some sort of magical cloaks, and they became Super Abenakis, capes and all. No disrespect intended, but Abenakis are just Abenakis or Aln8bak, and I hate to burst anyone's bubble or grand thinking but sorry, there is NO SPECIAL POWERS in anyone's Abenaki Cereal Box, no Abenaki Power Rings are granted just because one is Abenaki. Again Abenakis are not a special seperate species compared to other Native People's or even "The White Man")
And as for you, Douglas Lloyd Buchholz, our people in time will put up a “wall of silence” (Again, Charles Francis True Jr. this so-called "Wall of Silence" that has been recently all over the Yahoo Group Olidahozi, does not threaten or concern me; you reside a mere 8 miles south of me, and when we were on speaking terms, neither you nor your wife Rhonda ever bothered to knock on my door "as friends" when you came into Lancaster to say hello or to see how I was doing,in all the time I have known the both of you though you stated you both were my friends . That reality told me something. So did the Chickadee's! What you were doing in our alleged friendship was "keeping your friends close and your enemies closer", you both didn't honestly trust me and perhaps never did; and I began to distrust your alleged friendships with me. If anyone has allegedly done a great harm to the Abenaki People, it is you Charles Francis True, Jr., who cannot show or provide any legitimate evidence that your claims of being an Abenaki descendant is truthful after 63 years of life; and yet you state you are a "Speaker of the Abenaki" implying that you represent the whole Abenaki Nation of New Hampshire! I am one person, 8 miles north of you, who knows you are not a Speaker of the Abenaki People at all, but merely a President of an Incorporation. Alot of people have left your "Circle" in years past, and most recently Paul Frechette and Jennifer Cattin; do you honestly think you can be a "Speaker of the Abenaki" when you have no substantiated Abenaki People "following you" Charlie True?) and look for someone else to tell the full story of the Abenaki people in recent times. (Yes, go looking for someone else to tell the full story of the Abenaki people in recent times....someone who will pull the rabbit out of the hat, who will airbush around the edges of this disgusting historical picture of these Wannabe Groups of Abenaki People's who have perpetuated geneocide against the real legitimately documented Abenaki People's and Ancestors! Perhaps Frederick M. Wiseman and or John Moody (your buddy there) can write a wonderful story that covers up the factual historical records of all this "negativity" that has happened within these very alleged Reinvented Abenakis of Vermont ~and~ New Hampshire! Yes, keep looking for someone to rewrite the legitimate Abenaki ancestors history, implanting yourselves over the top of those Abenaki ancestral bones, who are not your ancestors, with your own b.s., right along with your allegedly looking for someone to replace you as "Speaker", when in fact there was and is never any intention of truth to that endeavor, just like Howard Franklin Knight, Jr. stating repeatedly that he was allegedly retiring!
And as we, and our children, become more and more rooted in the spiritual energy of our homeland (sounds to me like more New Age b.s. and fantasy world thinking that "if one lives in a place long enough, a person becomes part of that place" if you ask me. On some level I agree, BUT if I move to Rosebud, South Dakota and live there for X amount of years that still does not make me a Lakota, or if I live a long time in or near Old Town, Maine that still doesn't make me a Penobscot either!), we will become stronger against the negative energy that you and others have chosen to bring to us. (Charles Francis True Jr, and others, gave me no choice but to bring into reality this blog of their actions and words against me and to the known legitimately documented genealogically connected Abenakis. Genocide and Stealing of Abenaki Identity does not sit well with my ancestors nor should it settle well with anyone in the Vermont or New Hampshire Governor's Office's or the Legislature's of these two Commonwealth's!; The only reason this blog may seemingly be "negative in energy is because this alleged Reinvented Abenaki crap going in Vermont and New Hampshire by these groups and their representatives have operated and conducted themselves historically and comtemporarily in negative energy. I have yet to be documentarily proven wrong in my conclusions. They are NOT from legitimate historical Abenaki Communities; nor are 95% percent of them ~let alone 25 percent of them ~documented genealogically as descendants of the historical Abenaki People!) Then we will be truly healed from the painful sicknesses that have been part of our recent history. (The ONLY way these people can truly heal from the painful sickness that afflicts them as a part of their historical record, is to acknowlege and prove their genealogical connection to the Abenaki ancestors and communities! Not look downward between their feet at the ground they stand on as Mr. True said, but look inward and STOP addressing the Governments of Vermont and or New Hampshire thinking they will get something from such. But they won't stop this crap. They will continue to do as they have always done, claiming that I am negative, that I am sick, that I am this or that, that I am attempting to destroy the Abenaki People. That I work for Paul Pouliot, the Government, William Sorrell, the State of Vermont, the F.B.I., the C.I.A., or the S.T.D. Police. Total absurdities. These "alleged Abenaki "groups" and their representatives will continue to protest and hesitate when confronted and questioned as to the merits of their proclaimations of being genuinely from the Abenaki Ancestors and People. They will put up their so-called "Wall of Silence".)
Now that I’ve shared some of my heartfelt opinions with you, it appears to me that maybe I have put myself out there as some kind of knowledgeable elder-I clearly am not. In fact, I’m thinking that maybe in a hundred years or so I might have learned enough to share some acquired “wisdom”. For you computer folks, I’ll throw in an “LOL”. (Yeah, Charlie True Jr. says he doesn't go to Pow-wow's, so his wife repeatedly invited me to go with her to these events YET he orchastrates the Miti-Jo Campground Pow-wow every early October!; He asks if "Abenaki children" need the Cards and Government, yet Charles True himself signed Inc. paperwork to interact with the Government of New Hampshire, etc!; Charles True Jr. claims he doesn't like computer's "that its not the Indian Way" he says, and yet he has an email address!)
Wlinanawalmezi and thanks for listening.
Charlie True Kcicasco@aol.com November 7, 2009 Posted by walillak at 6:10 PM
The ONLY reason ANYONE is afraid of showing and providing their genealogical connectedness to the Abenaki Ancestors clearly and convincingly, is simply because they don't have ANY genealogical connections to the Abenaki Ancestors! Anyone afraid of providing their genealogy (afraid of their own ancestors truthful documented histories) are simply "hiding in plain sight" their very likely self-created illusions, delusions, and distortions of being Abenaki, appropriating "an Abenaki identity" that does not rightfully belong to them at all!
IF in Charles True's absurd estimation that 95% percent of the Abenaki descendants have no paper documention to prove their connection to Abenaki Ancestry/ their alleged Abenaki "heritage"....then it simply points out there is a 95% percent chance that these persons and groups proclaiming to being Abenaki, without paper documentation to prove their alleged "heritage"....are very likely not Abenaki at all.
The remaining 5% percent who are Abenaki descendants, who do have paper documentation to prove their heritage, are simply NOT attempting to bullsh** or pull the wool over the the State Governor's or the State's Legislature's eyes. They seemingly are not a part of these "Alleged Abenaki Reinvented groups".
If there are legitimate Abenaki persons who have documented historical record(s) to the Abenaki ancestors, and are a part of these Reinvented Abenaki of VT/NH groups, it still does not "legitimize" these groups as being bonefide legitimate Abenaki Bands or Tribes. Of course, these "groups" will petition the New Hampshire Legislature and Governor who may naively allow a New Hampshire Commission on Native American Affairs to wave their magic wands, without the "genealogical requirement", and poof, MAKE Abenaki Bands and or Tribes within the State of Vermont and or New Hampshire. Already, Paul Wilson Pouliot was allowed to change Sherry Gould's Birth Certificate from saying "White" to saying she was born identified as "Native" by her parentage, which was not the truth when she was born.
Making Indians, Making Abenakis. Next thing you know these "groups" will be Making Casino's, and Making even more of their delusions and illusions. The legitimate historically documented Abenaki Ancestors be damned. All of this contemporary Reinventing of the alleged Abenaki is mirroring colonialistic attitudes towards legitmately documented Native People's (and in particular the Abenaki) by perpetuating FALSE IMAGES AND FALSE HISTORICAL HISTORY of the Native People/Abenaki, and hiding the truth!
Here nor there and so be it that Charles F. True Jr. can encourage everyone to put up their so-called "Wall of Silence"against my person, in an attempt to shut me up and shut me down, BUT my research and that of others will be continuing....and most revealing, I am certain of that.
It should be important to all Native descendants and to all Vermont Citizens (right along with every Citizen of New Hampshire) because, what these alleged reinvented Abenaki groups and their so-called Chief's, Speaker's, and Representatives are doing is re-writing and reinventing the legitimately documented Abenaki history...the history that ties every Vermonter and New Hampshire person together, Abenaki or not. We are better than that, or so I thought. It's a crying shame what is happening.
