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APPLICANT REVIEW AND DECISION
APPLICANT: KOASEK BAND OF THE KOAS ABENAKI NATION
The following review and decision is based upon the findings of the Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs and the expert review of a panel of three scholars; William Haviland, David Skinas, and Eloise Beil.
The Koasek Band of the Koas Abenaki Nation is a small tribe headquartered in Newbury, Vermont, at 162 Evergreen Drive. Koasek presented a sufficient and compelling argument that satisfies the recognition requirements for the State of Vermont and Act 107. The Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs and the three member scholar's panel all concur and recommend that this band be officially recognized.
DECISION:
The Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs and the Scholar's Review Panel concur that the Koasek Band of the Koas Abenaki Nation has met the criteria outlined in S.222 (Act 107).
Therefore, in accordance with the procedures of Act 107, we recommend to the General Assembly and the Honorable Governor of the State of Vermont that the Koasek Band of the Koas Abenaki Nation be granted State Recognition as a Native American Indian Tribe.
Attachments
Commission Review Report
Expert Panelist Bios
Expert Panelist Reviews
Applicant's Narrative & Supporting Documents
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853 (c)(1) A majority of the applicant's members currently reside in a specific geographic location with Vermont.
58.33% as listed in the application itself live within the territory claimed as the homeland of the band within the upper Connecticut River Valley. William Haviland's point is well taken, "Kinship, rather than territoriality was always the basis of native society, and individuals as well as families could always move freely from one local group to another, based on kinship ties." The next criteria provides an important example of this kinship grouping.
THE VERMONT COMMISSION ON NATIVE AMERICAN AFFAIRS AND THE EXPERT REVIEW PANEL CONCUR THAT THE APPLICANT SUCCESSFULLY MEETS THIS CRITERION.
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853 (c)(2) A substantial number of the applicant's members are related to each other by kinship and trace their ancestry to a kinship group through genealogy or other methods.
Genealogical documents shall be limited to those that show a descendency from identified Vermont or regional Native people.
According to the information within the supplemental data, Koasek clarified the kinship groups within their band. Of the approximate seventy persons on the tribal rolls, all but twenty follow the same two lineages. This qualifies as "substantial".
THE VERMONT COMMISSION ON NATIVE AMERICAN AFFAIRS AND THE EXPERT REVIEW PANEL CONCUR THAT THE APPLICANT SUCCESSFULLY MEETS THIS CRITERION.
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853 (c)(8) The applicant has not been recognized as a tribe in any other state, province, or nation.
The Koasek have not been recognized by any state or federal governments.
853 (c)(9)(A) Submission of letters, statements, and documents from: municipal, state, or federal authorities that document the applicant's history of tribe-related business and activities.
The Koasek have many supporting letters from state and federal officials: Dave Skinas, USDA; Catherine Brooks, VT Cultural Heritage Coordinator; VT Senator Hinda Miller; Suzy Chaffee, US Native American Olympic Team Foundation; and Governor-Elect Peter Shumlin.
853 (c)(9)(B) Submission of letters, statements, and documents from: tribes in and outside Vermont that attest to the Native American Indian heritage of the applicant.
The Koasek have many supporting letters from other tribes such as the Elnu Abenaki Tribe, the Nulhegan Abenaki Tribe, and the Vermont Indigenous Alliance.
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United States Department of Agriculture
NRCS
Natural Resources Conservation ServiceBerlin Field Office
617 Comstock Road, Suite 1
Berlin, Vermont 05602
802-828-4493
December 21, 2010
Subject: Review of the Koasek Traditional Band of the Koas Abenaki Nation's Application for State Recognition
To: Luke Willard, Chair of the Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs
Dear Chairman Willard and Commissioners:
I am pleased to tell you that the applicant has met all of the requirements set forth in S.222 for recognition as an Abenaki Tribe residing in the State of Vermont. Below I present you with my response to each of the criteria as follows:
§ 853 (c) (1) A majority of the applicant's members currently reside in a specific geographic location within Vermont.
This criterion has been met. The majority of the applicant's citizens (58.3%) reside within the Koasek ancestral homelands of Vermont based in Newbury and surrounding towns.
§ 853 (c) (2) A substantial number of the applicant's members are related to each other by kinship and trace their ancestry to a kinship group through genealogy or other methods. Genealogical documents shall be limited to those that show a descendency from identified Vermont or regional native people.
The genealogical data appears to be accurate and adequately documents Koasek kinship of several core families over time (Dean, Ramo, Shawney, Millette, Lemay and others) and shows descendency from authentic native ancestors in Vermont and the region. The National Geographic Genographic DNA Project adds another dimension of Native American ancestry that has been confirmed in the Koasek population. It is my opinion that the applicant has met the requirements of criterion § 853 (c) (2).
The Natural Resources Conservation Service provides leadership in a partnership effort to help people conserve, maintain, and improve our natural resources and environment.
An Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer
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853 (c)(5) The applicant has an enduring community presence within the boundaries of Vermont that is documented by archaeology, ethnography, physical anthropology, history, folklore, or any other applicable scholarly research and data.
The application began its interpretation of Koasek's long history within the Cowass village with oral history from Elie Joubert of Odanak. Joubert called these people "Ahomonoik" or "People of the Eels." They had specific totems they left amongst the landscape as they moved between camps. Koas was the main village, place of the white pines. The earliest evidence of a Catholic presence was with Jesuit Joseph Aubery who created the famous dictionary of the Western Abenaki language. (Page 24)
Archaeologically they cited the Skitchewaug site, south of the Cowass village but within the region, during the Late Woodland Period as evidence of their presence. Their village was within a region that is now divided by modern political boundaries. William Haviland and Marjory Powers well-documented Vermont indigenous presence within their book The Original Vermonters: Native Inhabitants, Past and Present, which included information from the Cowass village. Calloway also presented important information on the historic period presence within his book, The Western Abenakis of Vermont 1600-1800t: War, Migration and Survival of an Indian People. For documentation on the archaeology or historic period presence please refer to these books. Scholars and archaeologists such as Frank Speck and David Skinas were also cited as having completed important work on these areas.
Katherine Blaisdell's work Over the River and Through the Years was cited as estimating about 100 native people in 1780. One of the Revolutionary War heroes, "Indian Joe," lived within the historical Cowasuck area into the nineteenth century and the DAR House in Newbury retains his story, his NW trade gun, and his canoe. (Page 29) Katherine Blaisdell's work was also mined for its information on indigenous use of wigwams for their hunting/fishing camps during the nineteenth century and into the turn of the next century, which the Lamarre paper's corroborated. (Page 30)
The applicant incorporated an important page of family history documenting their continued presence within their traditional homeland. Peggy Fullerton and Nancy Millette provided their family stories of ties to specific places in the region, the creation of "Indian-style" snowshoes for hunting, and handmade wooden snares. (Page 31) Another citizen explained the historical use of ash splint basket weaving and use of the crooked knife. The Echo Center retains an ash-splint fish trap from the Koasek region. (Page 32) They caught "trash fish" or white suckers for use within their gardens and the application included important Abenaki linguistic traditions for this practice. (Pages 31-32)
People from the Koasek group within the twentieth century retained "Indian-style" clothing. They included a picture of Al Merritt in his clothes in Mashpee, MA powwow in 1928. (Page 34) He is holding a paddle and wearing a beaded collar with a Plains-style headdress. The Wobanakik Heritage Center retains a cut cloth fringe dress with applique and ribbon work from
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the White River Junction area in 1890-1920 time frame. (Page 34-35) They included another photo of a "Indian doll" made in 1903 by one of the ancestors of the Koasek for their grandchildren. (Pages 35-36) They included oral history from the 1950s era stating that the kids might be able to attend Dartmouth as they had enough Indian blood. (Page 36)
During the 1950s and 1960s Phillip Veilleaux of Wells River used to make poplar flutes for the children. "These were not the common willow whistles (of clean as a whistle fame) made by adult and young Vermonters, but foot long +, multi-holed flutes, a possible survival of the ancient and little known wood flute of the Northeast." (Page 38)
Oral history also documented the medicinal traditions from the end of the 1800s and early 1900s with Nancy Millete's ancestral grandmothers (midwife) and her great grandparents that used skunk oil, sweet flag roots, and many other remedies. (Page 39) Into the more recent Abenaki renaissance period Chief Nancy Millette worked with other groups such as Missisquoi Chief Homer St. Francis (and present-day with his daughter) to raise awareness of Abenaki culture and revitalize their respective regions. This relationship can be documented to 1993 and in subsequent years Nancy worked with Mohawk peoples to revitalize old relationships. (Page 40) The Koasek's dedication to the continuation of culture led to the creation of the White Pine Association in the 2000s and they experimented with raising traditional corn varieties. (Page 40)
During the hearing of the Koasek application Nancy illuminated on their extensive efforts to revitalize the language through the use of an online system with Abenaki lessons and replication of a pre-existing dictionary. On page 41, the application explained the split between the Cowasuck-Horicon Traditional Band that broke into the current petitioner's band of the Koasek Abenaki of the Koas Nation. If the traditional basis for the indigenous community was known as collectives of family bands, this split occurred largely between family bands as evidenced by the information in the preceding part of the application that documented the two main lines held by a majority of the members. This split should not detract from the legitimacy of either band.
This band has shown their historical presence and satisfied this requirement. They have maintained a distinctive indigenous identity.
THE VERMONT COMMISSION ON NATIVE AMERICAN AFFAIRS AND THE EXPERT REVIEW PANEL CONCUR THAT THE APPLICANT SUCCESSFULLY MEETS THIS CRITERION.
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853 (c)(6)(A) The applicant is organized in part: to preserve, document, and promote its Native American Indian culture and history, and this purpose is reflected in its bylaws.
The Koasek application included the preamble to their constitution in order to begin to satisfy this requirement. The creation of the White Pine Association and the work they have done through the organization shows a deep level of commitment to the preservation and usage of Abenaki culture. The language work done with Father Aubery's French-Abenaki dictionary pronounced on a 50 CD set by Steve Laurent was very important and it also showed that they reached out to the other bands and gifted them with CD sets (Missisquoi, Elnu, and Nulhegan). (Page 44) They also host a powwow called Nawihla on the New Hampshire side of their homeland. (Page 44)
THE VERMONT COMMISSION ON NATIVE AMERICAN AFFAIRS AND THE EXPERT REVIEW PANEL CONCUR THAT THE APPLICANT SUCCESSFULLY MEETS THIS CRITERION.
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853 (c)(6)(B) The applicant is organized in part: to address the social, economic, political or cultural needs of the members with ongoing educational programs and activities.
The Nawihla powwow, White Pine Association, and show the quest to address the social and cultural needs with educational programs and activities. The constitution in an earlier section explained how they addressed the political needs of the group although the economic needs are not mentioned. The criteria within S. 222 asks them to explain how they are organized to address the social, economic, political, OR cultural needs, it does not specify that all need to be addressed.
THE VERMONT COMMISSION ON NATIVE AMERICAN AFFAIRS AND THE EXPERT REVIEW PANEL CONCUR THAT THE APPLICANT SUCCESSFULLY MEETS THIS CRITERION.
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853 (c)(7) The applicant can document traditions, customs, oral stories, and histories that signify the applicant's Native American heritage and connection to their historical homeland.
This has been partly answered within previous criteria but some of the traditions kept communally are horticultural practices using ancestral corn varieties, indigenous fishing styles, garden fish fertilizers, linguistic pursuits, and some level of family-band autonomy and governance. (Pages 47-48) This section could have used elaboration but clarity was found in other sections. The application itself was an exercise in documentation of their history and they provided a good amount of oral history throughout.
THE VERMONT COMMISSION ON NATIVE AMERICAN AFFAIRS AND THE EXPERT REVIEW PANEL CONCUR THAT THE APPLICANT SUCCESSFULLY MEETS THIS CRITERION.
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853 (c)(8) The applicant has not been recognized as a tribe in any other state, province, or nation.
The applicant has never been officially recognized as a tribe in any other state, province, or nation.
THE VERMONT COMMISSION ON NATIVE AMERICAN AFFAIRS AND THE EXPERT REVIEW PANEL CONCUR THAT THE APPLICANT SUCCESSFULLY MEETS THIS CRITERION.
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853 (c)(9)(A) Submission of letters, statements, and documents from: municipal, state, or federal authorities that document the applicant's history of tribe-related business and activities.
The application includes letters from people such as David Skinas, employee ofthe USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, who was ecstatic over the dedication to their concern for the protection of tribal heritage and burials throughout their historical homeland in both Vermont and New Hampshire. Catherine Brooks also wrote a letter of support, Cultural Heritage Tourism Coordinator for the Department of Tourism and Marketing, for their efforts during the Lake Champlain Quadricentennial Celebration. They also included letters from Senator Hinda Miller, the Native American Olympic Team Foundation (which explained further their preservation of culture - snow snake games), Representative Kate Webb, former Lt. Governor Brian Dubie, Representative Sarah Copeland Hanzas, and Governor Peter Shumlin.
853 (c)(9)(B) Submission of letters, statements, and documents from: tribes in and outside Vermont that attest to the Native American Indian heritage of the applicant.
Also included are letters from the Vermont Indigenous Alliance (Elnu, Missisquoi, Nulhegan, and themselves) and individual letters from Nulhegan and Elnu. They did not include letters from tribes outside of Vermont but their application explained relationships between NH groups they were once a part of, the New Hampshire authorities, and the Mohawk group they collaborated with.
THE VERMONT COMMISSION ON NATIVE AMERICAN AFFAIRS AND THE EXPERT REVIEW PANEL CONCUR THAT THE APPLICANT SUCCESSFULLY MEETS THIS CRITERION.
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EXPERT REVIEW PANEL BIOS
ELOISE BEIL
Curator, Lake Champlain Maritime Museum
Bio:
Eloise Beil received her M.A. in American Folk Culture and Museum Studies from the Cooperstown Graduate Program, Cooperstown, New York in 1984, and her B.A. in English and Cultural Anthropology (English Honors Program, Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude) from Hunter College, New York, in 1973. As Director of Collections and Exhibits, and Community Relations Manager at Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, Beil helped to develop LCMM's Quadricentennial exhibit on the history of bark canoes (Lake Champlain's First Navigators), and was primary author of Discover 1609 (the Champlain expedition and Champlain's relationship with indigenous people); she has worked with the El-nu Abenaki and Dr. Frederick M. Wiseman to produce LCMM's annual Native American Encampments; and she edited Wiseman's three Quadricentennial publications providing a Native American perspective on Champlain's expedition. She also developed a timeline of lake history for LCMM's Burlington Schooner Project in 2000.
As Director of Collections at Shelburne Museum (1988-1998), Beil oversaw the reinterpretation and reinstallation of Native American collections and the review of the collections for NAGPRA compliance. At the Staten Island Institute of Arts and Sciences, as Curator of Collections (1986 -1988) she oversaw the recataloging of archaeological collections, and developed a major
interpretive exhibition and catalog based on the Native American collections. During this time, she also edited numerous articles and drafts of major publication for anthropologist Robert S. Grumet, Ph. D., including Historic Contact: Indian People and Colonists in today's Northeastern United States, Sixteenth through Eighteenth Centuries, and Northeastern Indian Lives. Beil served as Assistant to the Director at the Academy of Genealogy, New York City from 1973 -1977, and as a member of the Vermont Historical Records Advisory Board from 1993-97. Beil was also a member of the Conference House Park Management Planning Committee, N.Y. 1988, developing plans for public access to the park and protection for Native American grave sites.
William Haviland
Archaeologist
Bio:
Dr. William A. Haviland is Professor Emeritus at the University of Vermont, where he founded the Department of Anthropology and taught for thirty-five years. He holds a PhD in anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania. He has carried out original research in archaeology in Guatemala and Vermont; ethnography in Maine and Vermont; and physical anthropology in Guatemala. This work has been the basis of numerous publications in various national and international books and journals, as well as in media intended for the general public. His books include The Original Vermonters, co-authored with Marjorie Power, and a technical monograph on ancient Maya settlement. He also served as consultant for the award-winning telecourse, Faces of Culture, and is co-editor of the series Tikal Reports, published by the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.
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Besides his teaching and writing, Dr. Haviland has lectured to numerous professional as well as non-professional audiences in Canada, Mexico, Lesotho, South Africa, and Spain, as well as in the United States. A staunch supporter of indigenous rights, he served as expert witness for the Missisquoi Abenakis of Vermont in an important court case over aboriginal fishing rights.
Awards received by Dr. Haviland include being named University Scholar by the Graduate School ofthe University of Vermont in 1990; a Certificate of Appreciation from the Sovereign Republic of the Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi, St. Francis/Sokoki Band in 1996; and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Center for Research on Vermont in 2006. Now retired from teaching, he continues his research, writing, and lecturing from the coast of Maine. His most recent book is At the Place of the Lobsters and Crabs (2009).
DAVID SKINAS
Bio:
1980: received a B.A. in Anthropology from the University of New Hampshire 1987: received a M.S. in Archeology from the University of Maine at Orono
Experience
1979-1986: worked for various archeological consultants on compliance related projects in the northeast, and also worked for the American Museum of Natural History on several research projects in Georgia and Nevada.
1986-1994: employed by the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation (VDHP) as their Survey Archeologist mostly regulating Act250 and federal projects.
1994-present: employed by the U.S.D.A. Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) as an archeologist to review all ground disturbing farm, wildlife and wetland restoration projects and mitigate potential adverse effects to archeological sites to comply with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. In that capacity I also consult with federally recognized tribes in Vermont (Mohican), Massachusetts (Aquinnah and Mashpee) and New York (St. Regis Mohawk).
Native American Assistance
Missisquoi Abenaki: in 1988 I began working with the St. Francis/Sokoki band of the Abenaki Nation at Missisquoi to recover human remains eroding out of the Missisquoi River on Monument Road in Highgate and Swanton. I worked with the Vermont Attorney General's office to stop the developer from destroying Abenaki graves at the Monument Site that was later purchased the VDHP for protection. I also worked with the Attorney General's office to stop development of the LaRoche property that was also purchased and protected by VDHP. Under the direction of Chief Homer St. Francis I removed the Boucher Cemetery collection containing 80+ burials from the University of Vermont and housed them at state-owned space in Montpelier until their eventual reinterrment in 1996. In 2000 I assisted with the recovery of 27+ Abenaki burials from the so-called Bushy house development project that was later purchased by VDHP for protection. From 2001-2006 I was a member of the Governor's Advisory Commission on Native American Affairs. I was a Missisquoi appointee during my last two terms on the commission. I assisted tribal leaders in the development and implementation of the Monument Road Unmarked Burial Policy that provides for archeological investigation prior to house development in Highgate and Swanton to protect Abenaki graves. I conducted non-intrusive ground penetrating radar studies on Monument Road in 2002 and 2004 to help identify other
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burial sites. Chief April St. Francis-Merrill and I lead the effort to convince the state to protect the Alburg Gravel Pit cemetery site. The development rights on the gravel pit were purchased by the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board. I continue to assist the tribe on repatriation issues and recognition efforts and am a member of the board of directors of the Abenaki Self Help Association Inc.
Stockbridge- Munsee Band of the Mohican Nation: consult with the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer (THPO) on NRCS ground disturbing conservation projects planned on their ancestral homelands in Addison, Rutland and Bennington counties in Vermont.
Aquinnah (Gayhead Wampanoag): consult with the THPO on NRCS ground disturbing conservation projects planned on tribal land and their ancestral homelands. Assist the tribe with burial site protection using ground penetrating radar at two cemetery sites.
Mashpee Wampanoag: consult with the tribe on NRCS ground disturbing conservation projects planned on tribal land and their ancestral homelands.
St. Regis Mohawk: recently established consultation with the tribe's THPO on a proposed NRCS irrigation line project that crosses through several Mohawk sites within their ancestral homelands.
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Koasek Traditional Band of the Koas Abenaki Nation
Application for Vermont State Recognition
as a Native American Indian Tribe:
Evaluation
Review Panelist: Eloise Beil
M. A. American Folk Culture,
Cooperstown Graduate Program
Community Relations Manager,
Lake Champlain Maritime Museum
Office: (802) 475-2022 ext. 107
Home (802) 877-6648
After a review of the application materials, I am happy to support the application of the Koasek Traditional Band of the Koas Abenaki Nation for Vermont State Recognition. It is my opinion that the Koasek Traditional Band has provided information that addresses each of the criteria listed in the S.222 bill. At times, information that supported one of the criteria was found elsewhere in the application, so I have included quotations and/or indicated page references to the passages that best support the criteria. In addition, this application is strengthened by the Appendix submitted on January 8, 2011; by the Koasek commitment to preservation of the Abenaki language; and the documentation and information regarding Koasek participation in the National Geographic Family Tree World Wide Study, which indicates that the tested members of the Koasek Traditional Band show a genetic marker typical of Algonquin people. Brief comments for each criterion are included below.
853(c) (1) A majority of the applicant's members currently reside in a specific geographic location within Vermont: The tribal rolls indicate that the majority of the enrolled members of the Koasek Traditional Band currently reside in communities of the Upper Connecticut River Valley. This information from the Tribal rolls was presented alphabetically by town of residence on pages 3-4 of the application.
853 (c) (2) A substantial number of the applicant's members are related to each other by kinship and trace their ancestry to a kinship group through genealogy or other methods. Genealogical documents shall be limited to those that show descent from identified Vermont or regional native people: The applicant's narrative response to this criterion at this point in the application addresses only relationships to regional native people, and provides one specific example. However, genealogical information found in several other areas of the application addresses this criterion. In addition, the Addendum submitted on January 8, 2011 addresses this criterion directly and fully.
Kinship groups and the reference numbers (column headed "Genealogy Number") of Root families from which members of the Koasek Traditional Band trace their descent are found in the chart of Tribal Rolls on pages 3-4. On page 14 there is a list of the Genealogy Numbers assigned to "Core Families" of Newbury Vermont and other regions. The identification numbers that denote individuals ("Band #" on pp. 3-4) show that different family lines share common ancestry. The genealogical study appended to
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the application provides documentation of genetic material associated with the Algonquin people in the descendents of this lineage.
853 (c) (3) The applicant has a connection with Native American Indian tribes and bands that have historically inhabited Vermont:
Historical documents and maps of Native/Indian settlements in the Upper Connecticut River area bearing variations on the name including Cowass, Kohass, Kowhas, Kohasser, and Koos indicate the presence of a significant Native settlement in eighteenth century in the area where previous generations and the majority of present members of the Koasek Traditional Band reside. This is followed by evidence from published and unpublished local histories, as well as oral traditions and photographs preserved among Koasek families, relating family traditions of language, clothing, wigwam construction and use, agriculture, basket making, hunting and fishing practices (see pages 32, 33, 35, 37, and 39 for examples of Native cultural practices that were retained by the members of this kinship group).
853 (c) (4) The applicant has historically maintained an organizational structure that exerts influence and authority over its members that is supported by the documentation of the structure, membership criteria, the names and residential addresses of its members, and the methods by which the applicant conducts its affairs: Historical documents and maps of Native/Indian settlements in the Upper Connecticut River area bearing variations on the name including Cowass, Kohass, Kowhas, Kohasser, and Koos indicate the presence of a significant Native settlement as well as a Catholic mission. This merges into evidence from oral tradition among Koasek families for the period during which the organizational structure of the Indigenous community was primarily expressed through familial relationships: "In the middle third of the 20th century, the Native community in the Koasek area were only known as the People of the Meadows, a reference to the old Koas Meadows area. There were few needs for a formal political leadership, since, at the time, it did not politically interact with states" (pg. 40).
This was followed in the final decades of the twentieth century by participation in the Abenaki renaissance, when the White Pine Association was founded and tribal structure mandated by the Indian Reorganization Act was adopted. "There has been a longstanding tradition of consensus style "downtown" (Newbury) Indigenous leadership. To meet the expectations of Euroamerican bureaucrats with which it must deal, Koasek has necessarily morphed into more formal tribal structures– complete with chiefs and councils. However, it still retains a unique, more open and compromise-style of governance of relatively autonomous families. Due the strength of community tradition, Indigenous identity was always known" (page 47).
Sections of the Constitution of the Koasek Traditional Band of the Koas Abenaki are provided to document the current structure, membership criteria, membership roster, and methods of conducting tribal business (pages 9-23).
853 (c)(5) The applicant has an enduring community presence within the boundaries of Vermont that is documented by archaeology, ethnography, physical anthropology, history, folklore, or any other applicable scholarly research and data: The Koasek application provides ample evidence from historical documents and maps of Native/Indian settlements in the Upper Connecticut River area
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bearing variations on the name including Cowass, Kohass, Kowhas, Kohasser, and Koos. Historical documents, published and unpublished local histories contain references to Indian families and individuals, including soldiers with Indian names in listed in records from the Revolutionary War, nineteenth century references to the pension paid to "Indian Joe," and a cemetery monument to "Old Joe the Friendly Indian Guide." The surname Battist is given as an example of an Indian name that survives in the Coos valley from the Revolutionary war to the twentieth century. From the late nineteenth century forward, the written record is supplemented with examples of family oral traditions, photographs, agricultural practices, hunting and fishing techniques and material culture that indicate the continuing presence of Native families in the Coos Meadows, the traditional lands of the Koasek.
853 (c) (6) The applicant is organized in part: (A) to preserve, document, and promote its Native American Indian culture and history, and this purpose is reflected in its bylaws. (B) To address the social, economic, political or cultural needs of the members with ongoing educational programs and activities:
The preamble to the constitution of the Koasek Traditional Band of the Koas Abenaki Nation clearly states that the constitution was established "recognizing the need to preserve the heritage of our ancestors, our culture, our history, our language." The White Pine Association, the Tribal nonprofit of the Koasek, "is dedicated to preservation of the history, culture, and languages of the Abenaki people
Most notably, the White Pine Association, "located in the heart of Koasek historic territory," has successfully established a program to preserve and restore the endangered Abenaki language "to give freely back to the citizens this important material that holds the core of our cultural identity and spirituality." The long-term goal is to host language immersion programs "to insure passage to the next generations" (see pp. 43-44). The White Pine Association has also created educational resources for parents and teachers including the book A Brief History: From the Koas Meadows to You Today.
853 (c) (7) The applicant can document traditions, customs, oral stories, and histories that signify the applicant's Native American heritage and connection to their historical homeland:
These points were addressed in great detail in section 853 (c) (5), especially in pages 27-39; the application cited testimony from nineteenth century oral information contained in published and unpublished local histories, as well as information transmitted orally within families of still living descendents. The Koasek homeland includes territory on both sides of the Connecticut River, however, there is ample documentation for the portion now within the State of Vermont; family stories connect directly to this landscape (pg. 36, pg. 39). Information includes the presence of wigwams (p. 30); hunting and fishing techniques (pp. 31-32); clothing (pp. 33-35); herbal/agricultural/medicinal plant lore (pp. 3739).
In this section (c)(7) the applicant provides information indicative of Native American heritage and connection to the homeland area (pp. 47-48); and fishing customs (pg. 47). Taken together with the material presented above, the criterion is met.
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853 (c) (8) The applicant has not been recognized as a tribe in any other state, province, or nation: The Koasek Traditional Band of the Koas Abenaki Tribe has never been officially recognized as a tribe by any other state, province or nation.
853 (c) (9) Submission of letters, statements, and documents from Municipal, State, or Federal authorities that document the applicant's history of tribe-related business and activities and attest to the Native American Indian heritage of the applicant:
This section included letters, statements, and documents from a wide range of sources that document Koasek Traditional Band's extensive participation in Native American cultural and educational activities and tribal business, and attesting to their Native American Indian Heritage.
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Dr. William A. Haviland
Emeritus The University of Vermont
45 Woods Road
Deer Isle
Maine 04627
Subject: Review of the Koasek application for Vermont State Recognition
To: Luke Willard, Chairman – Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs
Date: 1/16/2011
Mr. Chairman & Commissioners,
This review contains my findings and opinions after reviewing the Koasek of the Koas application for Vermont State Recognition as Native American Indian Tribe. My conclusion is...
853 (c)(1) A majority of the applicant's members currently reside in a specific geographical location within Vermont.
True. Though some live in New Hampshire, this is still part of the traditional Koasek homeland, which had the river at its center. Today, more live on the Vermont side. That some live outside the traditional homeland does not bother me. Kinship, rather than territoriality was always the basis of native society, and individuals as well as families could always move freely from one local group to another, based on kinship ties. We see a lot of this among the recognized Wabanaki tribes of Maine.
853 (c)(2) A substantial number of the applicant's members are related to each other by kinship and trace their ancestry to a kinship group through genealogy or other methods. Genealogical documents shall be limited to those that show descendency from identified Vermont or regional Native people.
As I understand the genealogies, the majority of Koaseks today have ties to 2 interrelated lines. That the Millette (Mallet) line can be traced back to an individual in Quebec (part of the larger Abenaki homeland) is irrelevant. Historically, Koaseks from the Connecticut Valley made strategic withdrawals to the north when they felt threatened by Anglo-Americans, but they did not relinquish their ties to their traditional homeland. Moreover, after the end of the French and Indian wars, there has been frequent movement back and forth between Abenaki communities in Quebec and Vermont.
853 (c)(3) The applicant has a connection with Native American Indian tribes and bands that have historically inhabited Vermont.
Perhaps the most conspicuous example of a connection involves Sarah Somers, more commonly known as "Aunt Sarah". She was the subject of a book by Trudy Ann Parker, a descendant of Sarah's father (Trudy's great great grandfather), The book is Aunt Sarah, Woman of the Dawnland (Lancaster, NH: Dawnland Publications, 1994). As a basketmaker and Indian doctoress, she lived her life in and around Lunenberg, part of the old Koasek homeland. Though born at St. Francis, Sarah's family returned
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within a year of her birth to their old homeland, where Sarah died in 1930. Members of this family line today are included in the Koasek band, including Trudy Parker.
853 (c)(4) The applicant has historically maintained an organizational structure that exerts influence and authority over its members that is supported by documentation of the structure, membership criteria, the names and residential addresses of its members, and the methods by which the applicant conducts its affairs.
The present organizational structure, like those of other federally recognized tribes like the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy, reflects the requirements of the federal Indian Reorganization Act, an Anglo-American structure that supplanted the traditional set-up. Traditionally, among all the Wabanaki (Abenaki, Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, Maliseet and Mi'kmaq), sovereignty was vested in the family band. What we today would call a tribe was a consensual alliance of those families in a particular region, who in fact were related through ties of blood and marriage. Leadership was exercised by individuals whose reputations commanded respect, but decisions were made on the basis of consensus. Still, there was a tendency for positions of community leadership to run in particular family lines.
Looking at the current Koasek organization, I see clear carryovers from the older tradition, in the emphasis on consensus, but also in the importance of social occasions apart from council meetings for taking care of business.
853 (c)(5) The applicant has an enduring community presence within the boundaries of Vermont that is documented by archaeology, ethnography, physical anthropology, history, folklore, or any other applicable scholarly research and data.
No serious scholar would now dispute the existence of a Koasek village at Newbury, and its link to earlier inhabitants of the upper Connecticut valley (see Haviland and Power: The Original Vermonters, 1994 ed, pp. 157, 158). Similarly, the persistence ofthe native population in the area through the 17' and 18' centuries is clear (see Haviland and Power 1994, pp 228, 229, 230, 233, 235-6, 238, 239, 2412, 245). As the petition states, the issue is the continued presence of native people in the Koas region in the 19' and 20' centuries. In my opinion, evidence is sufficient to show a continuous Indian presence in the region in these two centuries. It is consistent with situations of which I have first hand knowledge in the Missisquoi region of Vermont as well as coastal Maine (Mount Desert Island/Penobscot Bay); in both places descendants of the original native families continued to frequent their old homelands (see for example Haviland 2009: At the Place of the Lobsters and Crabs: Deer Isle, Maine and Indian People 1605-2005). Thus the Koasek situation is not at all out of the ordinary; I'd be surprised if it were otherwise. All these groups followed similar strategies.
853 (c)(6)(A) The applicant is organized in part: to preserve, document, and promote its Native American Indian culture and history, and this purpose is reflected in its bylaws.
True. This is demonstrated by the Preamble to their Constitution, and their activities in the White Pine Organization.
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853 (c)(6)(B) The applicant is organized in part: to address the social, economic, political or cultural needs of the members with ongoing educational programs and activities.
This, too, is demonstrated by the activities of the White Pine Association in their annual "Powwow."
853 (c)(7) The applicant can document traditions, customs, oral stories, and histories that signify the applicant's Native American heritage and connection to their historical homeland.
Perhaps the most outstanding example of traditional practices persisting into recent times is the case of "Aunt Sarah," referred to above (853©(37)). She lived as an Indian, pursuing the traditional roles of basketmaker and practitioner of herbal remedies. But the petition notes other examples, such as the use of white suckers as fish fertilizer, the "curation" of the traditional variety of corn, and basketmaking, to name a few. With respect to hunting, to many Anglo-Americans this seems no different from their own practices, but one needs to know that the earliest Anglo settlers learned how to hunt from Indians. It is a practice in their culture borrowed from native cultures.
Worth noting is that Koaseks still hunt in their traditional family territories.
I also would refer here back to my comments in section 853©(4) on vestiges of traditional organizational structure still present.
853 (c)(8) The applicant has not been recognized as a tribe in any other state, province, or nation. No.
853 (c)(9)(A) Submission of letters, statements, and documents from: municipal, state, or federal authorities that document the applicant's history of tribe-related business and activities.
The letters of support for the application are important. While I would not downplay the importance of any of them, those that carry the most weight with me are the ones from David Skinas and Ellen Lutz, both of whom I know (or knew, in the case of Ellen, who is now deceased) and respect as solid scholars.
853 (c)(9)(B) Submission of letters, statements, and documents from: tribes in and outside Vermont that attest to the Native American Indian heritage of the applicant.
The critical letter here is the one from the Vermont Indigenous Alliance. I'm satisfied.
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United States Department of Agriculture
NRCS
Natural Resources Conservation Service Berlin Field Office
617 Comstock Road, Suite 1
Berlin, Vermont 05602
802-828-4493
December 21, 2010
Subject: Review of the Koasek Traditional Band of the Koas Abenaki Nation's Application for State Recognition
To: Luke Willard, Chair of the Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs
Dear Chairman Willard and Commissioners:
I am pleased to tell you that the applicant has met all of the requirements set forth in S.222 for recognition as an Abenaki Tribe residing in the State of Vermont. Below I present you with my response to each of the criteria as follows:
§ 853 (c) (1) A majority of the applicant's members currently reside in a specific geographic location within Vermont.
This criterion has been met. The majority of the applicant's citizens (58.3%) reside within the Koasek ancestral homelands of Vermont based in Newbury and surrounding towns.
§ 853 (c) (2) A substantial number of the applicant's members are related to each other by kinship and trace their ancestry to a kinship group through genealogy or other methods. Genealogical documents shall be limited to those that show a descendency from identified Vermont or regional native people.
The genealogical data appears to be accurate and adequately documents Koasek kinship of several core families over time (Dean, Ramo, Shawney, Millette, Lemay and others) and shows descendency from authentic native ancestors in Vermont and the region. The National Geographic Genographic DNA Project adds another dimension of Native American ancestry that has been confirmed in the Koasek population. It is my opinion that the applicant has met the requirements of criterion § 853 (c) (2).
The Natural Resources Conservation Service provides leadership in a partnership effort to help people conserve, maintain, and improve our natural resources and environment.
An Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer
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§ 853 (c) (3) The applicant has a connection with Native American Indian tribes and bands that have historically inhabited Vermont
The ancient village of Cowass and its inhabitants have been referred to during historic times by early settlers, their descendants and are best documented by Colin Calloway of Dartmouth College in his book The Western Abenakis of Vermont. There are several references in this section of the application that discusses ties with Abenaki bands to the south (El Nu) and north (Nulhegan) of the Cowass homeland and especially to the Missisquoi tribe to the west. The material presented by the applicant is relative and meets the requirement of this criterion.
§ 853 (c) (4) The applicant has historically maintained an organizational structure that exerts influence and authority over its members that is supported by documentation of the structure, membership criteria, the names and residential addresses of its members, and the methods by which the applicant conducts its affairs.
As with many other tribes in the United States, the Koasek tribal structure was modified to comply with the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 and is now composed of a Chief, Tribal Council and Band of Elders. During historic times the core families at Koasek dealt with concerns of individuals and individual families through consensus. While less formal than the Chief/ Tribal Council/Band of Elders structure it addressed and resolved problems that affected Koasek families through close communication, discussion and if needed meetings to determine appropriate actions to resolve the concern at hand.
The Koasek constitution formalizes the organizational structure that governs its people. The membership criterion that must be met by prospective Koasek citizens is rigorous and carefully reviewed by the Tribal Council. The Tribal Rolls presented with this application is sufficient. This criterion has been met.
§ 853 (c) (5) The applicant has an enduring community presence within the boundaries of Vermont that is documented by archaeology, ethnography, physical of anthropology, history, folklore, or any other applicable scholarly research and data.
There are many Koasek archeological sites recorded in the Vermont Archeological Inventory, most of which are located along the Connecticut River at the Oxbow of Newbury (Koasek village and Jesuit mission), in Bradford, Fairlee, Ryegate and Barnet. The Jesuit Missionary Joseph Aubery's map of 1713 depicts the Indian Village at Koas. Haviland and Power discusses some of these sites in The Original Vermonters and Calloway's The Western Abenakis of Vermont describes the fluidity of the remnant Koasek population who persevered in place after colonial settlement. There is ample evidence of material culture that is attributed to the Koasek homeland (i.e. ash splint fish trap, Indian doll, deer skin painting). The information provided by the applicant meets the requirements of criterion § 853 (c) (5.)
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§ 853 (c) (6) The applicant is organized in part: (A) To preserve, document, and promote its Native American Indian culture and history, and this purpose is reflected in its bylaws.
The Koasek constitution provides adequate detail on how its citizens are governed. The application to obtain Koasek tribal membership is detailed and requires sufficient proof of descendency from a legitimate Abenaki or other Native American lineage. The applicant has fully met the requirements of this most important criterion.
§ 853 (c) (6) (B) To address the social, economic, political or cultural needs of the members with ongoing educational programs and activities.
The White Pines Association is the main Koasek entity that addresses the social and cultural needs of its members with ongoing educational programs and events. The Koasek language revival project is a commendable effort that will save their language for future generations before it is lost forever. Also commendable is that the Koasek are sharing the benefits of this project with their Missisquoi, Nulhegan and El Nu Abenaki allies by providing them with a full copy of the 50 CD set of their language. The White Pines Association curriculum development plan will serve to improve the education of native and non-native children on Koasek history and presence in to modern times. The NAWIHLA annual event is also noteworthy in that it celebrates Koasek culture for all to observe and appreciate. I especially like the Snow Snake contest. I believe the applicant has fully met the requirements of criterion § 853 (c) (6) (B).
§ 853 (c) (7) The applicant can document traditions, customs, oral stories, and histories that signify the applicant's Native American heritage and connection to their historical homeland.
The Koasek have a rich oral history that tells about catching fish to use as fertilizer in their gardens, using a milk crate like the ash splint fish trap to catch fish, generation after generation returning to favored hunting places, snowshoe making and the revival of growing the Green Family corn and practicing traditional Koasek agricultural techniques. They have also saved their language from extinction. The requirements of this criterion have been fully met.
§ 853 (c) (8) The applicant has not been recognized as a tribe in any other state, province, or nation.
The Koasek have not been recognized in any other state, province or country which satisfies this criterion.
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§ 853 (c) (9) Submission of letters, statements, and documents from:(A) Municipal, state, or federal authorities that document the applicant's history of tribe-related business and activities.
There are letters of support from Vermont legislators, the out-going lieutenant governor, the governor-elect and the Nulhegan, El Nu and Missisquoi (en route) bands. The New Hampshire Division of Historic Resources and the U.S.D.A. Natural Resources Conservation Service continues to collaborate with the Koasek to locate the elusive remains of the Koas village and Jesuit Mission at the Oxbow in Newbury. The applicant has met this criterion.
§ 853 (c) (9) (B) Tribes in and outside Vermont that attest to the Native American Indian heritage of the applicant.
The Koasek have a long standing relationship with the Missisquoi and Nulhegan tribes and developed more recent ties with the El Nu band of Vermont. The Koasek also received an offering from the Mohawk at their NAWIHLA celebration a few years ago. I believe the applicant has fulfilled the requirements of this criterion.
In conclusion, it is my opinion that the Koasek Traditional Band of the Koas Abenaki Nation has met the requirements for all of the criteria established in 5.222, and that the Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs should recommend the Koasek Traditional Band for recognition by the legislature.
I am humbled to have been asked by the Koasek Traditional Band to review their application for state recognition. The plethora of information provided in the application documents the enduring relationship that the Koasek citizens have maintained and continue to nurture within their ancestral homeland, among themselves and with their native and non-native neighbors.
I am privileged to have access to all of this enlightening information and will eagerly comply with the request by the Koasek leadership to keep confidential all of the tribal names, addresses and especially their genealogies. It is my sincere hope that this personal identity information, that had to be shared with the panelists according to 5.222, will remain protected and not get into the hands of those that seek to do harm to Vermont's authentic and historically verifiable Abenaki tribes.
The Natural Resources Conservation Service provides leadership in a partnership effort to help people conserve, maintain, and improve our natural resources and environment.
An Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer
With Enduring Respect
David Skinas
David Skinas Archeologist
Here is another "REVIEW" from Brad Allen Barratt:
LINK: http://vermontnativejustice.wordpress.com/2011/02/14/koasek-application-exposed-with-my-commentary
MY OWN RESPONSE:
As with the other "Vermont Indigenous Alliance" Incorporate Entities in Vermont, this Applicant is simply an ALLEGED and RE-INVENTED "Abenaki" group proclaiming itself to be "Koasek" "Abenakis". Obviously, the Applicant DOES NOT meet the criteria of S.222 on some major area's.
In the S.222 criteria it states that the 3-Member-Expert-Panel of scholars ARE NOT TO BE AFFILIATED with the Applicant(s). Mrs. Nancy Lee (nee: Millette) Cruger-Lyons-Doucet simply appropriates historical records and maps from wherever she can obtain them. Whether it is from Dartmouth College or from someone else's family!
The incorporate address is 162 Evergreen Drive, and is actually John Prescott's residence of 162 RT5 Evergreen Drive in Newbury, Vermont as of December 13, 2008. Mrs. Nancy Millette - Doucet resides in New Hampshire, not Vermont. Her incorporated organization White Pine Association was created on July 27, 2006 by Peggy Fullerton, Colleen Chase, Michael Finn and Nancy Millette - Doucet.
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Page [2.]
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As one can review in the above "historical" document Mrs. Doucet's created "White Pine Association" incorporated, was of recent reality, not historical really at all. She solicited membership into such organization from her own relatives! This "organization" she created was simply to promote herself and those that are her "followers". Notice that this incorporation was created aboutthe time that S.117 "Abenaki Recogntion" was signed by Vermont Governor Jim Doulgas, on the Montpelier, VT State House steps.
Remember these images:
Left to Right
Mark William Mitchell
Nancy Lee (nee: Millette) Cruger-Lyons-Doucet
Jesse James Larocque
Nancy (nee: Milette) Cruger - Lyons - Doucet hugging
April A. (nee: St. Francis) Rushlow - Merrill.
The real Eagle feather was gifted by Nancy Millette
who has no spiritual or Federal standing or foundation to
gift such a sacred item to another Non-Federally Recognized person.
How did Nancy Millette obtain this real Eagle feather?
REMEMBER
Howard I. Lyons
Nancy's ex-husband
and his Kahsto:'wah?
Howard Lyons on the left
Nancy (nee: Millette) Cruger - Lyons on the right
July 12, 2002
Howard I. Lyons
July 12, 2002
Coos County Democrat Newspaper
Left to Right
Nancy (nee: Millette) Cruger-Lyons-Doucet
Patsy (nee: Partlow) St. Francis
April A. (nee: St. Francis) Rushlow - Merrill
At the signing of S.117 in Montpelier, VT
Obviously, Nancy (nee: Millette) Cruger - Lyons - now married to Mark E. Doucet obtained at least one real Eagle feather, according to Howard I. Lyons, from his Kahsto:'wah. She allegedly "plucked it like a chicken" in a fit of vengefulness and rage against him (Howard), her tearing the Kahsto:'wah apart, only after the relationship between them became so negative, that he and she parted ways. Subsequently, she began to "gift" the parts of the Kahsto:'wah, to others, assuming that such Eagle feather "belonged to her," to do with as she pleased? Retrospectively-speaking, he (Howard) had accidentally left his Kahsto:'wah at the residence he and she had shared until October 2006.
Nancy Millette - Doucet, then incorporated in the state of New Hampshire, her organization "White Pine Association" for the Abenaki Nation at P.O. Box 42 in Newbury, VT 05051 on July 27, 2006 with Peggy Fullerton.
William A. Haviland associated with and has had a "Working Relationship" with the "Abenakis" and their incorporate organizations, including interaction(s) with John Scott Moody, who advocates for the "St. Francis/Sokoki Band of the Abenaki Nation" (or any other group in either Vermont or New Hampshire). Mr. Haviland wrote The Original Vermonter's: Native Inhabitants, Past and Present. It is clear that Dr. Haviland, while writing his book The Original Vermonter's 1st and 2nd Editions, having received a Certificate of Appreciation from the Sovereign Republic of the Abenaki Nation led by then Homer St. Francis Sr. was in a "Working Relationship" with the Swanton-based "Abenaki" group, as well as probably John S. Moody. REMEMBER: the S.222 VT Legislative enacted law states, that "no member of the 3-Member-Review Panel of Scholars are to be affiliated with the applicant(s)". REMEMBER: that the "Vermont Indigenous Alliance" comprised of all 4 of these incorporate entities claiming to be "Abenaki Tribes" have associated with and interacted with each other predominantly since 2005-2006.
It would seem to me, that a violation of this portion of S.222 is going on, since ALL of these Scholars "reviewing" and "supporting" these incorporate "Abenaki" entities are simply supporting each other's scholarly standing, their "working relationships" over the years with these alleged and re-invented "Abenaki" people throughout Vermont and New Hampshire.
Affliated....look the word up. While one is at it, look up the words DECEIT, DECEPTION, and DISHONESTY too. These 3-Member-Panel "Expert" scholars have a vested financial and scholarly interest in substantiating these groups ELNU, NULHEGAN, MISSISQUOI, and KOASEK.
NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act) through the VDHP (Vermont Department of Historical Preservation) and Title VII (the Title VII Indian Education Program). Indian Education Programs – Title VII – exists NOT because of race or ethnicity. The Programs are based on the trust relationship of Tribal nations with the U. S. federal government. So how is it that the Swanton-based group led by April Merrill (and previously by her late father Homer St. Francis Sr) or any of the incorporate entities able to obtain Title VII Indian Education Funding since these entities have NO TRUST RELATIONSHIP withthe U.S. federal government? Am I missing something here?
S.222 states that the majority of the membership of these "Abenaki" groups MUST reside within Vermont. Nancy Millette - Doucet "skirts around this portion," by stating that 58.33% percent live within the "territory claimed as the homeland of the band within the upper Connecticut River Valley".
Well, of course the Koasek clarified the kinship groups within their band. It is all of Nancy's relative's and their (her) friends!
["Koasek of the Koas" Card-Holding Member #642 of P.O. Box 106 in Lunenburg, VT]
Let's take a little trip down this "Nancy Millette-Cruger-Lyons-Doucet and her working relationship with Trudy Parker" memory lane, shall we?
On June 29, 1994 in the lower right corner of the Coos County, N.H.'s newspaper, Trudy Parker's photograph was published along with an article about "Aunt Sarah" a.k.a. Sarah (nee: Jackson) Somers/Summers of Lunenburg, Vermont. The article is continued on Page 2 of the same newspaper. I will post these articles in the very near future, regarding Trudy Parker. In this article, Trudy Parker states, "the book's text is FICTIONALIZED while remaining historically correct". Another article was published in 1989. Apparently, it was Trudy (nee: Call) Parker's father's sister Ivy (nee: Call) Copeland who spoke of "Native Americans" in the family.
On July 16th and 17th of 1994 Nancy (nee: Millette) as Littleton Town Promoter, orchestrated the arrival of the 'late' Homer St. Francis and Walter Watso into the township of Littleton, Grafton County, New Hampshire. This is when the "ELNU" a Mi'Maq word for "People" came to this event as well.
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Article story and Photos by Charles J. Jordon
regarding July 16th-17th, 1994
Remich Park
Littleton, Grafton County, New Hampshire
Native American Cultural Weekend Pow-wow Even
"Writer Trudy Ann Parker of Lunenburg, Vermont, was on hand, doing brisk business signing and selling copies of her recently published book, Aunt Sarah, Woman of the Dawnland, documenting the life of her Abenaki ancestor."
That's Marvin Burnette (on the right), an enrolled tribal member of the Rosebud/Sicangu Tribe, Lakota/Sioux Nation of Rosebud, South Dakota. He resides in Nashua, N.H.
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Notice: In the lower left - the photographic image of
Trudy Ann (nee: Call) Parker and her husband Donald Howard Parker
at this Nancy (nee: Millette) Cruger event...
WHO WAS PROMOTING WHO?
Regarding Page 4 of the 2nd Version of the Koasek Application... Trudy (nee: Call) Parker may indeed have chosen to become a "member/follower" of the Nancy Millette - Doucet led group (incorporate) which has appropriated the "Koasek" "Coos" "Cowasuck" historical records from Dartmouth College contemporarily-speaking....
but again, this DOES NOT make this confabulating "Koasek" group any more legitimately an "Abenaki Tribe" ... the same as the B.I.A. and the State Attorney General's Office "Response to the Petition for Federal Acknowledgment" (to the St. Francis/Sokoki Band of the Abenaki Nation led by April Merrill) concluded about Jeanne (nee: Deforge) Brink's 8 family members "membership" in that particular group up in Swnaton, Vermont.
Article: Sarah (nee: Jackson) Somers
1930
"Old Sarah," Survivor Of St Francis Indians
Mrs. Sarah Jackson Somers, Over 100 Years Old, Lives Alone Near Connecticut River at Lunenburg, Vt.
Lunenburg, Vt, Oct. 25 - Living alone today near the Connecticut river, many years ago the route of the St Francis Indians in their their too frequent raids from Canada to the frontier settlements of New England, is Mrs. Sarah Jackson Somers, one of the last survivors of that warlike tribe. "Old Sarah," as she is known by her friends, is over 100 years old, but just how many years beyond the century mark now one knows. Her picture, taken in the days of her feminine beauty, indicates that she was then just what she is now, a woman of peaceful disposition and contented with her lot. So it is hard to believe that her forbears terrorized the north country two centuries ago, even extending their raids as far south as Deerfield, Mass. where the awful massacre of the sleeping inhabitants captured in the winter of 1703.
In some of these warlike excursions the St. Francis Indians must have passed by the site of her present home, bringing their captives - men, women and children - to their settlements on the St. Francis river that now meanders through peaceful valleys and fertile farms in that part of Canada north of Vermont known as the Eastern provinces. And what tales she could tell if those ancestors of hers had told their children and they their children, the actual occurrences of those fearsome days. Her parents Mr. and Mrs. Peter Jackson were born [cut off?] on the St. Francis river, through "Old Sarah" claims New Jersey as her native state. She is not only among the last of her tribe in Vermont, but the last of a family of eight children. One of her brothers, Dennis Jackson was a Civil war veteran and died February 18, 1901, aged 59 years.
Sarah Jackson came to Lunenburg when only 18 years old and about 1860 she married John C. Somers of Dalton, N.H. The ceremony was performed by Rev. William Sewall, pastor of the Lunenburg Congregational church from 1855 to 1865. Since the death of her husband she has lived for many years in a dilapidated shack on the main road from the village of South Lunenburg to the village of Gilman where is now located the largest papermill in Vermont.
She has eked out an existence by cultivating a small garden and weaving pretty and useful baskets, an art in which all Indian women excel. She has been thrifty in her handiwork and recently when a local physician was summoned to her home, upon hearing that she had suffered a partial shock, he found $200 concealed under her bed. Now she has been moved by the two authorities to a more comfortable home and is calmly and rather stoically facing the future - perhaps with musings of those earlier days in her tribe's existence when the redskins possessed the land now occupied by the descendants of the hardy, pale-faced pioneers.
Death Certificate of Sarah (Jackson) Somers
February 11, 1931
Full Name: Sarah Summers
Gender: Female
Color or Race: W [White crossed out] Am. Indian
Single, Married or Widowed: W. [Widowed]
Date of birth: November 22, 1828
Age: 102 years, 02 months, 20 days
Occupation: Basket Maker
Birthplace: Canada
Name of husband: Unknown
Name of Father: Peter Jackson
Birthplace of Father: Canada
Maiden name of Mother: Unknown
Birthplace of Mother: Canada
Informant: Ross F. Stannard
Address: Lancaster, N.H.
Place of burial: So. Lunenburg, Vermont
Date of burial: From Tomb: April 18, 1931
Undertaker: Ross F. Stannard
Address: Lancaster, N.H.
Date of Death
Month: Feb.
Day: 11th
Year: 1931
Another Obituary of Sarah (Jackson) Somers
Dated Wednesday, February 18, 1931
OVER A CENTURY
LAST OF THE ST. FRANCIS TRIBE
DEAD IN LUNENBURG
HOME
MRS. SOMERS JOINS HER OWN
Last Wednesday one of Lunenburg's oldest, and in some sense, most interesting resident passed quietly away while sitting in her wheel chair to which she has been confined for several months.
Mrs. Sarah Somers was born in Pennsylvania in a wigwam, a pure-blooded Indian of a tribe nearly extinct. With the few remaining members of the St. Francis division she migrated to Maine and from there to Lunenburg.
Some of the older residents can still recall the Jackson family in their wigwams on what is now known as the Maillet farm. "Sarah" is remembered as a young woman of unusual grace and beauty. She married John Somers and to them three children, John, Carrie (Mrs. Leighton) and Harvey, were born. Harvey is the only survivor. He and a niece from Guildhall were the only relatives present at the funeral.
In the death of Mrs. Somers the tribe of St. Francis is gone. We are glad to remember her as one who lived for approximately 100 years without once being untrue to the traditions of her fathers. Her kindness, honesty, both of word and deed, are well known to all her neighbors. She was deeply and intensely religious with the simple yet unswerving faith of her people.
Up to a few months ago Mrs. Somers lived in a little house on the Gilman road with her son Harvey. On account of a serious illness she was then taken to the home of Adelord Ford where she has been cared for ever since. Her funeral was held from the Forest home, Rev. R. H. Mercer officiating. Tributes of flowers were sent in by friends and neighbors. Her body was placed in the tomb awaiting burial beside her husband in the spring.
