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Figure 6. "Crossed Standard diamond" cowiss style Missisquoi Abenaki ash-splint basket.
Bundled sweetgrass reinforced rim.
Ca. 1890-1920. Made by Lapan Family or a close relative
The fact that the Missisquoi region had a remarkably large community of Indian basket makers was described by the June 19, 1893 St. Albans Messenger, "Twenty four Indians have encamped at Kingfisher Bay near Swanton, and are busy plying their trade of basket making to catch the stray nickel." This shoreline encampment was a significant Indigenous seasonal settlement, probably around five families, who would have erected several tents or wigwams, and built fire pits. The Kingfisher Bay occupation was independent of the Panadis family bi-national basket sellers who were headquartered at Highgate Springs. Odanak elder Cecile Wawanolet, who came to Highgate Springs with the Panadis family in the second quarter of the 20th century, said that their temporary camp and display tent was located at what was known in the late 19th century as "Shipyard Bay," where the tour ships and summer camps gave them a good livelihood. During this period, the Lapan family was widely known as the premiere Indian basket making family in the Swanton/Highgate/Sheldon area. Their late 19"' and early 20th century utility and fancy baskets (probably Figure 6 and definitely Figure 7) as well as articles of their "Indian Costume" (a Niagara-style "princess crown") and tools (a pine "basket mold") are curated at the Wôbanakik Heritage Center, having been donated by [REDACTED] descendant Jesse Lapan and other Swantonians. The latest documented Lapan basket in the Center's decadent style unlike those made in elsewhere, and dated 1943 (Figure 7). The old Abenaki basket makers have not been forgotten. Ms. Polly Parre of Swanton, VT still has ash splint materials (woven chair seats) made for her by the Lapans in the 1950's. In addition, Swanton's elderly still remember the local Indians with a measure of fondness. Ms. Lucille Bell said, in the January 7, 1996 Burlington Free Press, "I remember we had an Indian family here (Swanton, VT), and the woman made baskets and used to come around door to door to sell them. We didn't make a big thing of it and neither did they."
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Figure 7. "Standard diamond" style Basket, Missisquoi, VT, dated "1943," in ink on bottom.
The latest well-documented Lapan ash-splint basket, as an allied alternative to the almost ubiquitous ash-splint basket crafting, local Native people collected and/or marketed medicinal herbs. The earliest local evidence of this Indigenous medicinal herbal collecting and processing activity is an artifact from John Colson, the "Indian Nurse" who lived between Swanton and St. Albans. He sold "Indian medicines" in well printed glass bottles, some of which still remain (Figure 8). It is interesting that the label is bilingual, indicating sales to local francophone Vermonters. This is a 19"' century "anchor" documentation of an active, long-term herbal collecting activity by people of professed Native identity in Franklin Co. VT.
Later, the Swanton "River Rats" (for discussion of their Indigenous ethnicity see Wiseman 2001, Voice of the Dawn: 120-132) used to collect local plants as a source of income at least into the 1960's. As a child, Dr. Fred Wiseman helped his adult "River Rat" friend Monkey Drew gather skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora) in the marshes of the Missisquoi River delta. He remembers that there was a man who would show up in the parking lot across from Swanton's "Merchant's Row" and would pay for skullcap and other herbs. Wiseman remembers "making a dollar as my cut of the profits."
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Figure 8. John Colson "Indian Nurse" bottle, ca 1860 with "St. Albans, VT" label.
SEE THIS LINK:
http://www.nedoba.org/topic_wiseman.html
By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Euroamerican ethnic signifier of Swanton-area Indigenous people had evolved from the Green Mountain Democrat's "Missisques" to Abbe Hemmingway's 1883 "St. Francis Indians" in the VT Historical Gazetteer (Vol. IV:945). Documentations that this ambiguous "St. Francis Indians" ethnic signifier was geographically tied to the Missisquoi region (rather than referring to Quebec Mission villages such as Odanak) is literally "engraved in stone" on the 1909 Monument to the Catholic Missisquoi mission. This inscription, still standing today on Monument Road, Highgate, VT, names local Indians as "St. Francis Indians." In the second quarter of the 20th century, the State of Vermont's Eugenics Survey records (as recently published by the VT Attorney General) listed a mixed French/Indian sub-community called today "the Back Bay" in Swanton, VT, and census-listed residents of this geographically restricted community are the grandparents of a local population of living people who consider themselves Native American. In the first half of the 20th century, the, Back Bay (as well as a few isolated families elsewhere in Swanton/Highgate towns) was composed of a set of "core" family bands. There was apparently some kind of formal leadership of these core bands. This fact was hinted at in a mid 20th century quote by Swanton collector and historian Ben Gravel.
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I remember when I was a hid (in the late 19th century), we had a chief in (Swanton) town.
Ben Gravel, June 1968. (Wiseman, 2001, Voice of the Dawn p. 144)
There is evidence that the Abenaki language was used by Missisquoi elders during this period. Years ago, Swanton historian Ben Gravel told author Fred Wiseman that the Abenaki language was spoken in Swanton into the 1950's. The Elnu Tribe's genealogist, Vera Longtime Sheehan, confirmed this anecdote; recounting a family story from her Missisquoi grandmother (d. 2003) of the use of the Abenaki language by the Missisquoi Indian community in the late 19th or early 20th century. Sheehan's grandmother said "The older folks did the talking... in those days you were quiet, unless spoken to. The older folks would talk to me, but I couldn't understand them... Because they didn't speak English." What did they speak," Sheehan asked her gramdmother. "The old language," she answered.
Irish Gaelic language?
According to former Chief Homer St. Francis, when he was a child, "the older folks," the heads of these family bands used to meet around his father's, and other kitchen tables, to discuss issues of mutual concerns. St. Francis remembered free Canadian/American border crossing by Indians as being one of the issues discussed. Although the young St. Francis was not privy to the intricacies of the (1940's-early 1950's?) discussions, he remembered that decision-making seemed to be informal, respectful (usually) and by consensus.
Many Border Passes were issued to Missisquoi citizens to facilitate trade between the two countries. The example provided below was issued to Grand Chief Homer St. Francis. This document was handed down to Grand Chief Homer St. Francis by his father.
Illustration
OFFICE OF INDIAN AFFAIRS
Received November 5, 1914
PERMIT
A TRUE COPY
TREASURY DEPARTMENT WASHINGTON, DC
The bearer Grand Chief
Homer St. Francis
SIGNATURE
ABENAKI NATION
Number or Tribe
being also regarded as a North American Indian whose aboriginal and inherent rights and privileges are further recognized by Article III of the JAY TREATY of 1794... and further verified in the following communication excerpt. ..... in behalf of the Iroquois and other Indians in Canada, : that they be relieved from all taxes or duties in their trade and intercourse with the people of the United States. I enclose herewith for your information that all Indians arc free of duties passing or repassing the boundary lines of the United States, andCanada, and also freed of taxes, license in trading and selling beadwork, hark-work, baskets, snow shoes, moccasins, medicines, ect., ect., of their own manufacturing in premises.
A copy of Department reply thereto.
I am, very respectful
J.F. HORTHEY, Assistant
"Grand Chief" Homer Walter St. Francis, Sr. was born on January 19, 1935 in Swanton, Vermont to his (adoptive?) parents Nazaire St. Francis, Jr. and Florence (nee: Ethier dit Hakey). Nazaire Jr. and Florence married on October 22, 1913 in Swanton, Vermont. Nazaire and Florence had their first child Dorothy Delia (nee: St. Francis) Phillips on March 05 1914 in Swanton. Homer Sr. married on December 15, 1962 to Patricia "Patsy" Rae (nee: Partlow) daughter o Clifford Partlow and Marion Addie (nee: Friot). "Grand Chief" Homer St. Francis Sr. died on July 07, 2001.
So, how could the Office of Indian Affairs receive a PERMIT on November 05, 1914 signed by "Grand Chief" Homer St. Francis as representative of the "Abenaki Nation" when Homer Sr. wasn't even born yet? Even if his father Nazaire St. Francis Jr. allegedly "handed down to his son" "Grand Chief" Homer St. Francis Sr. this particular document dated November 05, 1914, it still is dubious and questionable, simply because IF Nazaire St. Francis Jr. had this, WHY isn't his signature on it, instead of his youngest son's signature, who was not even born until January 19th of 1935?
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Each core family bind bad, and in some cases maintains, its own distinguishing subsistence grounds along the Missisquoi River Valley; and protocols for admitting others into these subsistence. Dr. Wiseman's grandfather, used to visit [REDACTED] Ed Hakey a Missisquoi patriarch, who is [REDACTED] in the 1950's, whenever he wished to fish an "above the dam section of the Missisquoi River. [REDACTED] Wiseman's grandfather (and father after him) used to bring Mr. Hakey a present of a fishing lure, or some equivalent item of value as a sign of respect. Wiseman's family's traditional fishing territory was "the reef" a linear, north trending ledge and boulder ridge on the bottom of Missisquoi Bay. It was that family's responsibility to mark the north end of the reef for other fishermen with a red-painted wooden buoy (?-1979), or later (1979-1985) a plastic gallon milk-jug. jug, This "buoying the reef' tradition was maintained every May until Wiseman's father's death. This history is evidence of resource partitioning and protocols for gaining permission from community leaders to use the resource zones -- persisting into living memory.
In addition, family bands hunted and collected in partitioned floodplain and upland zones of the Missisquoi Valley. These subsistence zones were long-term, spatially consistent and bounded within themselves, yet cut across existing property and town lines, and even the more fluid hunting and fishing areas of Missisquoi's Franco VT and Anglo VT neighbors. These use areas had seasonally occupied "cottages" or deer camps signing the core of the area -- from the "Grandma Lampman" territory (marked with an historical ca. 1995 plaque SEE Pages 11 and 12 of the Final Determination Decision + Footnotes regarding this Grandma Lampman plaque) at Maquam on the shores of Lake Champlain, through the uplands between Swanton and Highgate [REDACTED] (Wiseman's grandmother's family [the Ouimet's] area was 'Woods Hill/Marble Quarry Hill on the south shore of the River), and at least as far upriver as the St. Francis' well-known and attended Berkshire camp. In addition, there remain enduring nuances of hunting and fishing practice that signal Native heritage. On Missisquoi Bay (Highgate, VT), Abenaki ice fishermen warm their fish-eye bait under their tongues, a practice considered "gross" by their Anglo and Franco-VT neighbors. In Wiseman's classes at Johnson State College, "I tell of this practice, and ask if my students or their families warm the fish-eyes in this way. Many do not, but some, even from the Northeast Kingdom, share this practice." Every ice fisherman has strong personal feelings, positive or negative of this practice—and these feelings are repeatedly correlated with other familial traces of Native ancestry/tradition.
A unique subsistence tool also remains as evidence of local Native identity. Almost every museum in the Northeast has at least one of the distinctive Wabanaki-style three pronged fish spears used by the Micmacs, Maliseets, Penobscot and Passamaquoddy Native People of Maine and the Canadian Maritimes. Apparently, this device was unknown at the Odanak, QC Abenaki settlement so Wiseman donated one from Western Maine to the Musee des Abenakis so Odanak would have an example. This spear has a central bone or metal spike and two wood "guides" to direct the fish onto the central barb. Mr. Hakey of Swanton had a wooden example that he "used before the war (WWII) below the dam in Swanton" to spear eels (Figure 9). This example is almost identical in construction to other traditional fish spears and completely different than any other type of Euroamerican eel or fish spear, which has all-metal heads with several barbed prongs, and lack the distinctive "guides".
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Figure 9. Wabanaki-style fish spear. Maple wood with iron wire skewer, wrapping is new.
Ed Hakey Swanton, VT, early 20"' century.
This old geographic subsistence pattern may extend farther afield and calls for future research. For example, Peter Miller's Vermont People (Silver Print Press) has a "biopic" of a Mr. Larry Benoit, a modem-era, regionally renowned deer hunter originally from the Montgomery, VT area. Mr. Benoit freely credits his hunting prowess, in part, to an admitted Indian ancestry. The Montgomery Benoits may be the "tip of the iceberg" of yet another, still unstudied regional partitioning family band. This distinctive, family band-based subsistence pattern is similar to that described by anthropologist Frank Speck in pp. 203 — 212 of Penobscot Man; a persistent Indigenous land use and tenure pattern that is repeated in other VT cultural regions.
It was in Swanton's Back Bay where the family band leaders met around the kitchen tables that began Missisquoi's well documented cultural revival in the 1960's (Figure 10). Research done for the St. Francis/Sokoki Band recognition petition to the federal government, showed a statistically significant rate of endogamy (in-marriage) in the Back Bay community at this time —evidence of mid-century ethnic/cultural distinctness and a communal separation from the larger Franklin County, VT community. For ease of communication, this indigenous community abandoned the "St. Francis Indian" appellation (except for political purposes), and adopted the Euroamerican term "Abenaki" with the English (A-ben-aki) rather than Quebequois (A-ben'-aki) pronunciation. The "A-ben-aki" accenting became a cultural code for VT polity, and so has been a functional political/geographic separator of local Indigenous people, lineages and polities from their Quebec brethren and their supporters. As the early focus of the VT Abenaki renaissance, Missisquoi became a cultural magnet for other Vermont families and communities that retained a Native identity or memory of antecedent familial Native identity. Before the 1990's, it was the sole externally recognized Abenaki political entity in Vermont, and so attracted [solicited] citizenship throughout the state and beyond its borders. It was a huge influence on other VT Indigenous regional leadership such as Nulhegan's, Nancy Cote, or Koasek's Nancy Doucet, as they have
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repeatedly told scholars over the years. Since (the 1970's there have been political splinter groups and schisms at Missisquoi caused by inter-personal rivalries and philosophical differences. These sub-groups either disintegrated (such as the Traditional Bands of Mazipskoik) or are family-based, and were therefore not a in the political/legalistic sense we use in this petition. As the only 21st century polity at Missisquois; the St. Francis/Sokoki Band, with a proud history, a well established tribal census roll, headquarters and museum as well as cultural and economic programs, and well represents its legacy.
Illustration
Figure 10. 1950's-60's Hand loomed beaded leather brow-band.
The earliest known artifact of the Missisquoi Abenaki renaissance.
In this section we have provided rich and layered forensic evidence of a community that was seen as Native by European observers over the years. It has left internally consistent archaeological and physical anthropological evidence of a corporate community entity that had enough collective control over land resources to maintain a multi-generation 19th century burial ground. Missisquoi exhibits an extended riverine land use and tenure system that mirrors that of other regional native peoples. Missisquois were specifically described as Indian craftspeople throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, confirmed by remaining ethnically-distinctive baskets and tools from the area. There remains abundant anecdotal memory in the community of distinctive "Indian" artifacts and language. The modern "St. Francis/Sokoki Band" polity is composed of tribal rolls of community members whose ancestry descends from these 19th and 20th century "Indians," exercises internal political power, and represents its citizens in local and state Euroamerican politics. It is our judgment that the St. Francis/Sokoki Band meets the cultural geographic and historical criteria for political designation as an Abenaki tribe.
YET DR. FREDERICK MATTHEW WISEMAN PH.D., HIS "CHIEF" APRIL (ST. FRANCIS) RUSHLOW - MERRILL, THEIR RESEARCHER CHRISTOPHER ROY NOR JOHN SCOTT MOODY
COULD NOT SUBSTANTIATE THAT
A SINGLE PERSON WAS
ABENAKI
OR DESCENDANTS THEREOF THE HISTORICAL ABENAKI
MISSISQUOI COMMUNITY
FROM WITHIN
THIS 1974-1976 CREATED
"ABENAKI" CORPORATE ENTITY
I DARE SAY THAT DR. WISEMAN PH.D.
IS SIMPLY DISTORTING REALITY
IN HIS REVISIONISTIC ATTEMPTS
TO MANIPULATE THE SCHOLARLY WORK
THAT HE HIMSELF
CREATES AND PROMOTES/CULTIVATES!
JUST BECAUSE HISTORICAL NATIVE PEOPLE'S BURIAL SITES HAVE BEEN FOUND, AND THESE PEOPLE POINT TO IT AND CLAIM THEIR ANCESTORS WERE BURIED THERE, DOES NOT MEAN THESE CONTEMPORARY PEOPLE WHO CLAIM TO BE ABENAKIS, ARE ACTUALLY AND TRUTHFULLY CONNECTED (IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM) TO THOSE BURIED IN THOSE HISTORICAL NATIVE PEOPLE'S BURIAL AREA'S.
Missisquoi archeological sites and burial grounds:
There are 213 Abenaki archeological sites located in Franklin County that are listed in the Vermont Archeological Inventory (VAI), six of which are classified as burial sites. There are twenty-two recorded precontact Abenaki archeological sites recorded on the VAI in Grand Isle County, three of them are classified as burial sites. Many of these archeological sites are threatened by development and some sites have been severally disturbed or completely
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destroyed. There are many more Missisquoi burial sites located in Franklin and Grand Isle counties but they are kept secret according to tradition to protect these sites from looting and grave desecration. When such sites are threatened by house development or other destructive forces Missisquoi elders and community members who hold this knowledge will then share it with others in hopes of protecting these sacred burial grounds. The State of Vermont purchased four Missisquoi Abenaki burial sites in fee simple in Franklin County that are located on [REDACTED] Towns of Highgate and Swanton [REDACTED]. Thanks to the resolve of and financial assistance from the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board, the state also purchased the development rights pit in the Town of Alburg in Grand Isle County to protect the remainder of a large Missisquoi cemetery site before it was completely destroyed by gravel extraction. These properties were purchased by the State for the sole purpose of protecting the Missisquoi ancestors' graves. Wobanaki Inc. purchased part of a cemetery site in Highgate to protect it from house development and they also procured the 100+ acre Brunswick Springs site in Essex County to protect it from development.
NO, the "St. Francis/Sokoki" "Abenaki" Corporate's Wobanaki, Inc. DID NOT purchase or procure the 100+ Brunswick Springs site in Essex County, Vermont. Penelope Newcomb, and the Pequot DONATION'S along with a MATCHING GRANT procured the Brunswick Springs site! Secondly, April (St. Francis) Merrill kept ONLY 5 (five) acres (where the actual 7 Springs flow down into the Connecticut River). The remainder of the property Wobanaki, Inc. then sold the rights to develop the land, through an easement, to the Vermont Land Trust on Oct. 22.
Abenaki oral history places the approximate location of the contact period Missisquoi village somewhere on the United States Fish &Wildlife's Missisquoi Wildlife Refuge in Swanton. In 2010, while investigating what appeared to be archeological features eroding out of the banks of the Missisquoi River and Dead Creek on the Wildlife Refuge, David Skinas, archeologist with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Scott Dillon, archeologist with the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation, recovered artifacts of French origin that were found in context with traditional Abenaki artifacts and cultural features that represent fire hearths, storage-refuse pits and what appears to be the occupational floor of the village itself. This recent archeological find verifies the existence of the Missisquoi village during early French settlement of the region and validates Missisquoi oral history.
NO, the "St. Francis/Sokoki" "Abenaki" Corporate's Wobanaki, Inc. DID NOT purchase or procure the 100+ Brunswick Springs site in Essex County, Vermont. Penelope Newcomb, and the Pequot DONATION'S along with a MATCHING GRANT procured the Brunswick Springs site! Secondly, April (St. Francis) Merrill kept ONLY 5 (five) acres (where the actual 7 Springs flow down into the Connecticut River). The remainder of the property Wobanaki, Inc. then sold the rights to develop the land, through an easement, to the Vermont Land Trust on Oct. 22.
Abenaki oral history places the approximate location of the contact period Missisquoi village somewhere on the United States Fish &Wildlife's Missisquoi Wildlife Refuge in Swanton. In 2010, while investigating what appeared to be archeological features eroding out of the banks of the Missisquoi River and Dead Creek on the Wildlife Refuge, David Skinas, archeologist with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Scott Dillon, archeologist with the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation, recovered artifacts of French origin that were found in context with traditional Abenaki artifacts and cultural features that represent fire hearths, storage-refuse pits and what appears to be the occupational floor of the village itself. This recent archeological find verifies the existence of the Missisquoi village during early French settlement of the region and validates Missisquoi oral history.
Repatriation efforts:
The disturbance of several burial sites in Franklin and Grand Isle Counties in the late 20th and early 21rst centuries serves to prove that Missisquoi occupied this area of what is now Vermont throughout the historic period into modern times. That is one GIANT LEAP for Dr. Wiseman Ph.D. to make ..."into modern times"! During the excavation of a [REDACTED] in 1973 on [REDACTED] Highgate a large Missisquoi burial ground dating to 2,500-2,000 years ago was destroyed. The University of Vermont carefully exhumed the graves and their contents. The Boucher Cemetery contained at least 80 documented burials, some of which were adomed with exotic grave offerings that suggest long-distance trade or expeditions to the upper Midwest and Southeast. Some of the graves contained copper beads that came from sources in the Great Lakes area, included with other bodies were ritually broken blocked-end tube pipes made of special clay found only in the Ohio River Valley. Some of the stone blades included with the burials were of a unique material that only comes from the Ohio River Valley. Other burials had shell beads that originated from warm ocean waters along the Carolinas or perhaps the Gulf of Mexico. In 1996 the State of Vermont finally purchased the Boucher cemetery site, removed the house, septic system and swimming pool and helped Missisquoi leadership reinter the exhumed bodies as close as possible to their original locations where they now rest in peace once again.
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In May of 1988 Chief Homer St. Francis contacted the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation (VDHP) to alert them about Abenaki burials eroding out of the bank of the Missisquoi River in Highgate at the Monument Site located at the end of Monument Road. The Monument Site is where the diocese erected a granite monument in August of 1938 to commemorate the Jesuit Mission that was established there circa 1740 to convert Missisquoi citizens to Catholicism, The VDHP survey archeologist arrived on-site and recovered dozens of human bones on the eroding bank that represented at least four individuals, When the developer learned of these finds he quickly tried to subdivide the land into building lots and excavated soil test pits to obtain a town building permit. To counter the imminent destruction of yet another burial ground on Monument Road the VDHP worked with the Attorney General's Office to get a restraining order on the landowner to prevent him from causing further ground disturbance until the matter could be resolved. During the subsequent legislative session the Vermont Legislature approved funding for VDHP to purchase the property and protect that Missisquoi burial ground. The human remains that were recovered from the bank in the spring of 1988 were reentered on-site later in the summer. In 1991 the VDHP was able to secure funding to install rock rip rap to stabilize the eroding bank to better protect the burial ground.
In 1990 the VDHP survey archeologist collaborated with the Smithsonian Institute archeologist, Bruno Frohlich, to conduct a non-intrusive Electro Magnetic Induction (EMI) study of another Monument Road house lot in Highgate were more burials were expected to exist. Soil anomalies suspected as being human graves were detected during the EMI survey on the LaRoche property but before the State could take action to stop any ground disturbance the landowner had excavated a large foundation hole. The VDHP and Missisquoi Abenaki went to district court and obtained a restraining order against the landowner to prevent further excavation and house building until the matter could be resolved. Within a year the VDHP had approval from the Vermont Legislature to purchase this property to prevent further site destruction.
In 2000 another house foundation was being excavated on [REDACTED] the so called Bushy site, and more human remains were discovered, fal ling out o the back dirt Again, the VDHP was able to obtain a restraining order to prevent further burial ground disturbance. The ALLEGED and REINVENTED Missisquoi Abenaki, in partnership with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, University of Vermont Consulting Archeological Program, Archeology Consulting Team, University of Maine at Farmington and other archeologists volunteered to help Missisquoi citizens sift through the 300-400 cubic yards of foundation back dirt to recover the displaced ancestral graves. At least 27 sets of human remains were identified and grave goods included with these burials confirmed that this cemetery was used and managed from the late 17th century into the 19th century. More importantly, the non-destructive analysis of the Bushy Site burials and grave contents proved to the State of Vermont that the Missisquoi community maintained control over its tribe during historic times and had not fled into Canada after the American Revolution as the Attorney General's Office claimed in an effort to thwart Missisquoi's petition for federal recognition.
I will beg to differ with that assessment/ conclusion. Again, Dr. Wiseman Ph.D. appears to be "scholarly vindictive and vengeful" towards not only the findings of FACTS and CONCLUSION but also in regards to the Federal Recognition Process and the VT Attorney General William H. Sorrell which includes Eve Jacobs-Carnahan, regarding the "State of Vermont's Response to the Petition for Federal Acknowlegment of the St. Francis/Sokoki Band of the Abenaki Nation of Vermont."
After the disturbance of this Missisquoi burial ground on Monument Road in 2000 the Towns of Swanton and Highgate, residents on Monument Road and the Missisquoi leadership met over the course of a year to come up with a special zoning policy for this section of the respective towns to more appropriately deal with unmarked Abenaki graves in advance of house development. It
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also called for non-intrusive archeological investigations to help locate unmarked Missisquoi cemeteries.
The 2002 Monument Road Unmarked Burial Protocol:
This section describes the efforts of the Missisquoi leadership and the USDA NRCS to comply with the Monument Road Protocol. A Special Sites Burial Fund was also established by the Vermont Legislature to help fund these investigations. See Appendix 2 for the reports of archeological investigations that were conducted in the spirit of this innovative zoning law and other repatriation efforts.
TOWN OF HIGHGATE
INTERIM ZONING BY-LAW FOR NATIVE AMERICAN SITES DISTRICT
1. Purpose: The Monument Road Working Committee, made up of landowners, Native Americans and Town officials, produced a proposal whose purpose was: to develop a workable policy that would create trust, confidence and harmony between property owners and Native Americans; to insure property owners' rights, privacy and property values; to preserve and protect Native American ancestral burial grounds. This by-law, based on the Committee's proposed policy, is intended to establish, on an interim basis, standards and procedures to identify sites that contain such remains and provide for their protection without undue burden on property owners.
During the period this by-law remains in effect, the Town, working together with the State of Vermont, Native American representatives and private property owners, will initiate efforts to develop long-term methods to ensure that the remains of Native Americans are dealt with in a respectful manner without placing unreasonable restrictions on lands which contain such remains.
2. Definitions:
Division for Historic Preservation - That division within the Vermont Department of Housing and Community Affairs created pursuant to 22 V.S.A. §721 to coordinate historic preservation activities on behalf of the state of Vermont.
State Historic Preservation Officer - That individual appointed pursuant to 22 V.S.A. §722 to supervise and direct the division for historic preservation.
State Archeologist - That individual employed by the state historic preservation officer pursuant to 22 V.S.A. §761(a) to conduct and maintain a survey of sites of archeological and anthropological specimens located within the state.
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Qualified Anthropologist - An individual who, by education and professional experience, has the expertise to identify human remains and determine their cultural origin.
Qualified Professional - An individual who, by education and professional experience, has the expertise to identify human skeletal remains.
Significant concentration of human remains - An area having four (4) or more sets of human remains per one thousand (1,000) square foot area.
Minimal concentration of human remains - An area having three (3) or fewer sets of human remains per one thousand (1,000) square foot area.
Site Examination - The study of human remains at any site by means of surveying, digging, sampling, excavating, or removing surface or subsurface materials.
Native American Representative — A member of the Abenaki Tribal Council.
Governor's Advisory Commission on Native American Affairs - That commission established pursuant to Executive Order No. 97-90 on November 22, 1990, which executive order is codified in the chapter 18 of the appendix to Title 3 of the Vermont Statutes Annotated.
3. Designation of District: There is hereby established a Native American Sites District which is shown and depicted on a map entitled, "Town of Highgate, Native American Sites District," dated May 29, 2002.
4. Permit Requirement: No land development shall commence within the Native American Sites District prior to issuance of a permit under this by-law by the Administrative Officer as provided below:
A. Upon determination that the proposed land development does not involve excavation to a depth more than eighteen inches (18") below existing grade, the Administrative Officer shall issue a permit.
B. Upon determination that the proposed land development does involve excavation to a depth more than eighteen inches (18") below existing grade, the Administrative Officer shall attempt to determine based on information obtained pursuant to Section 5 below, whether any portion of the area to be excavated is within ten feet (10') of an area on the site containing a significant concentration of human remains. An applicant may provide such information but is not required to do so.
(1) Upon determination that the area to be excavated is not within ten feet (10') of an area on the site containing a significant
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concentration of human remains, the Administrative Officer shall issue a permit allowing excavation to proceed with due caution.
(2) Upon determination that the area to be excavated is within 10 feet (10') of an area on the site containing a significant concentration of human remains, no permit may be issued. The Town will work with the property owner, Native American representatives and other interested federal, state, local and private interests to preserve and protect the affected parcel or area.
(3) If the information described in Section 5 is not provided or is unavailable, the Administrative Officer shall issue a permit subject to express requirements that:
(a) The applicant provide the Town six (6) business days advance notice before initiating any excavation.
(b) The Town shall, at its expense, have a qualified professional on the property to monitor activity during the period that excavation occurs. This monitor must be on site when excavation first begins and shall have authority to order an immediate cessation of excavation work upon discovery of any human remains.
(c) Applicant shall immediately cease excavation work when so ordered by the Town's monitor. Once ordered to cease excavation work, Applicant shall not resume excavation work until authorized to do so by the Administrative Officer.
(d) Upon discovery of human remains, the Town may, at its expense, conduct further examination of the area to be excavated in the manner set forth in Section 5.B below. The Administrative Officer shall not authorize resumption of excavation work until completion of the actions and/or expiration of the time periods set forth in Section 6 below.
C. Any permit issued pursuant to this by-law shall require compliance with the requirements of Section 6, below.
5. Examination of Property:
A. Determination that a proposed excavation site contains or does not contain human remains subject to the provisions of this by-law shall be- based on information prepared by a qualified professional following examination of the proposed site using the best non-intrusive technology available. At the property owner's request, the services of a qualified professional may be obtained by:
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(1) any property owner, at no expense to the Town; or
(2) the Town, at its expense; or
(3) the State Historic Preservation Officer, at the State's expense; or
(4) a Native American Representative, at no expense to the property owner.
B. Any site examination conducted by the Town, State Historic Preservation Officer or Native American representative shall comply with the following requirements:
(1) be subject to a property owner's consent, except as provided in Section 6.D below;
(2) be performed in a professional manner that minimizes disturbance of the owner's property and minimizes inconvenience to the owner;
(3) provides for restoration of any disturbed property to a condition adequate to return the property to its pre-disturbance state within a reasonable time following completion of the examination;
(4) be performed at no expense to the property owner.
6. Procedure Upon Discovery of Human Remains:
A. The Administrative Officer and/or property owner shall contact the Vermont State Police for determination of whether the human remains are part of a criminal incident. During this period, the property owner shall take such actions as the State Police direct and are necessary to protect the remains from the elements,
B. Upon notification from the State Police that the human remains are unrelated to a criminal incident, the Administrative Officer shall promptly contact a qualified anthropologist selected by the Town selectboard for determination of the cultural origin of the remains. The anthropologist will be asked to report such determination to the Administrative Officer within six (6) business days.
C. If the anthropologist reports that the remains are not Native American, or if the anthropologist fails to make a determination within the required time, the Administrative Officer shall authorize resumption of excavation work, Thereafter, the property owner shall make disposition of the remains in
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accordance with 18 V.S.A. §5212 and any other applicable law. The notification and examination process set forth in Section 6 shall be followed if further human remains are discovered upon resumption of excavation work.
D. If the remains are determined to be Native American, the Administrative Officer will notify the property owner, the Governor's Advisory Commission on Native American Affairs, the State Historic Preservation Officer and a Native American representative. Determination that the remains are Native American will provide authorization for the Town to conduct a site examination pursuant to Section 5.B above.
E. If it is determined following the site examination that the area to be excavated contains a minimal concentration of human remains, the Administrative Officer shall, within five (5) business days of such determination, hold a meeting to discuss disposition of the remains. The Administrative Officer shall invite the property owner, the State Historic Preservation Officer and a Native American representative to this meeting.
(1) At this meeting, the participants will discuss options for disposition of the remains which shall include, without limitation:
(a) Leave the remains in place and move the project to avoid the remains or continue the project in a manner that will not further disturb the remains; or
(b) Leave the remains in place and discontinue the project; or
(c) Leave the remains in place and arrange for permanent protection of the area in which they are located; or
(d) Allow the remains to be removed from the property by the Native American representative within seven (7) days of this meeting.
(2) If the property owner and the Native American representative agree on disposition of the remains, the Administrative Officer shall modify the existing permit or void any existing permit and issue a new permit which shall incorporate as conditions the agreed-upon disposition.
(3) If the property owner and the Native American
representative do not agree on disposition of the remains, the Native American representative shall have seven (7) days from the date the meeting concludes to remove the remains. If the remains have not been removed, the property owner shall make disposition of the remains in
accordance with 18 V.S.A. §5212 and any other applicable law. The Administrative Officer shall promptly authorize resumption of excavation work upon expiration of such time periods
F. If it is determined following the site examination and any excavation that the area to be excavated is within ten feet (10') of an area on the site containing a significant concentration of Native American remains, the Administrative Officer shall void any existing permit. Within five (5) business days of such determination, the Administrative Officer will hold a meeting to discuss preservation and protection of the remains. The Administrative Officer shall invite the property owner, the State Historic Preservation Officer and a Native American representative to this meeting. The participants will discuss options for leaving the remains in place and arranging for permanent protection of the area in which they are located by acquisition of the land or rights in the land.
7. Effect on Existing Regulations: This interim zoning by-law shall not repeal or alter any existing ordinances, regulations or by-laws of the Town of Highgate. This bylaw establishes restrictions that are in addition to those contained in any other town ordinance, by-law or regulation.
8. Enactment Provisions: This interim zoning by-law is enacted pursuant
to the provisions of 24 V.S.A. §4410 and the Highgate Zoning By-Laws and shall be effective upon passage.
ENACTED by the Town of Highgate Selectboard this___day of____2002,
TOWN OF HIGHGATE SELECTBOARD
By: __________________________
Chair
__________________________
__________________________
Witness: ______________________
Date: ________________________
Here, one can begin to "see" the evidence documentarily wherein the VT Department of Historical Preservation Agency/Department has had, and continues to nurture a "working relationship" with the "Abenaki Corporation" Entity claiming to be thee "Missisquoi" "St. Francis" / "Sokoki" "Abenaki" "Tribe" based in Swanton, Franklin County, Vermont. Each uses the other, to validate each other. Upon locating the Bushey Burial Grounds, the contemporary Corporate Entity claiming to be the St. Francis/Sokoki Abenaki Missisquoi Nation or Tribe simply pointed to the ground, where the bones were discovered, and stated "those are our Abenaki ancestors." Genealogically, this has not been proven, even remotely-speaking. So, the VDHP, along with David Skinas and David Lacey, began to create and clutivate/promote the "scholarly" MYTH that the Burial Site's throughout Franklin County, Vermont pertain to the contemporary "St. Francis/Sokoki" group's ancestors, without ever bothering to do the genealogical work, in which to verify such relationship between those buried vs. those that were claiming those human remains as their own ancestors.
Just like this "St. Francis/Sokoki" group (along with John Moody and others) began to create and cultivate/promote the "scholarly" Eugenics/Sterilization of the Abenakis in Vermont MYTH throughout the years since Kevin Dann found the Eugenic's Survey Documents in 1986).
