The TRUTH about Frederick Matthew Wiseman PhD.- PART 7

Alright, NOW that you kind people have walked this far along the blog road of the "Abenaki" La-La-Land of the Vermont 're-invented' (race-shifting) reality ... I will get to the point of all the previous Parts 1 through 6 of the TRUTH about Frederick Matthew Wiseman below in this post; and in the following post.

Dr. Frederick Matthew Wiseman PhD.

Fred M. Wiseman with Nancy (nee: Millette) and Senator Vincent Illuzzi


DECEIVERS and LIARS
pretty much a "criminal enterprise"
"of their circus and monkeys"
right along with VT Senator Vince Illuzzi, Hinda Miller et al.

Now Frederick Matthew Wiseman stated that he was of Abenaki descent through his grandmother, Josephine (nee: Erno) Wiseman (October 01, 2019 on The Seven Days Newspaper, By Melissa Pasanen "Sweetwaters Chef and Abenaki Community Honor Traditional Foodways"

Fred M. Wiseman is an impostor, a race-shifting Professor whose apparently been PLAYING "ABENAKI" for a very very long time (since ca. 1986), likely "created" by the late Homer Walter St. Francis Sr. (and maybe even Walter Guy Watso) to my thinking to BS the State of Vermont Politicians. (Vince Illuzzi, if you are reading this, I hope you have an explanation)

As you have read from the published Vermont newspapers, he first implied it was his maternal grandmother that was "Abenaki" ... then going a number of years forward ... he implies and states clearly, that he's pinned-the-tail-of-his-Abenaki-ness on Josephine Kay (nee: Erno) who married his paternal grandfather, Frederick William Wiseman in 1904.

As you can see and review of these two jpeg's above, there doesn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary with this genealogy (though I am not sure where Frederick Matthew Wiseman, was specifically born i.e. location within Maryland; but let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater over that very slight technicality, we know he was born in the State of Maryland regardless).

NOW, just WHO is Josephine Kay (nee: Erno) born January 12, 1883 in Phillipsburg, Missisquoi County, Québec, Canada who married May 24, 1904 in Ste. Armand, Missisquoi County, Québec, Canada to Frederick William Wiseman (b. 1871 - d. 1985) and died on March 02, 1966 in St. Albans, Franklin County, Vermont?

Did Homer Walter St. Francis Sr. map out and validate HER genealogy? Did Chris Roy or Carol Nepton check and validate this Professor's Grandmother's genealogy? Did ANY OF THEM EVER do the genealogy of her ancestors and their ethnicity, thereby such would be Josephine (nee: Erno) Wiseman's ethnicity?!

So, recently, I surprisingly got quite a number of communications from Carollee (nee: Reynolds) to my utter surprise, beginning October 06, 2019. And while I was extremely wary of her intention(s) ... (considering her previous retrospective repeated BAD MOUTHING and LIES about my person, trying to perpetuate 'disability shaming' to the next level, and infer that I was to be watched around little boys, when doing ceremony (lodges), and this and that nonsense, I decided to simply let her communicate via email.

Retrospective Carollee Emails and MY Response to her.

October 06, 2019 
8:11 PM
From: Carollee Reynolds
To: Douglas Buchholz
Subject: Bruchacs
I knowingly misled the Bruchacs. I told them we had a common ancestor, Elizabeth Van Slyke.
I let them borrow a book I had. Elizabeth was born on the ship crossing from the Netherlands. I just wanted to see how far they would run with it ... I am a distant descendant of Ots Tock about 6 different ways. The Bruchacs are not from Ots Tock (?)

He is telling people that he is descended from a "Great Chief" the first chief of Swanton an Ouimette. He also told people that his home was the longest continually inhabited/ owned Abenaki home in Swanton, Franklin County, Vermont.
Now you may think me just a River Rat, indigenous to that area perhaps butt trying to claim that your Germanic privileged self in regards to a town where we go back at least 8 generations just makes me sick.
Carollee

I could care less about the Bruchacs. Who I really do have issue is Fred Wiseman who is telling huge whoppers, that his house beautiful in Swanton is the longest continually occupied Abenaki home in the area. And that he is descended from a great chief? 

Whether or not any one is Abenaki isn't the point, it's running around telling gullible people a lot of lies about who you are, then telling people you are a spiritual leader! But I will try to get a copy of that book and photo copy it for you . His new 503(c)3 with the the  Ethan Allen Homestead is a complete dictatorship, money, members, grants all go directly through him. It's like the Mickey Mouse Club for Fred & Company.

October 10, 2918 

10:45 PM

Having retired with bad health I am letting go of negative things, I have trouble remembering half the places I have been ... much less the things I have said. I'm sorry for my behavior. I choose to go forward and not hold grudges as it weighs down and poisons today.Hopefully we have grown in the passing years, 2006-2019 is a chunk of time. I choose to remember the good things. I know you have a curious mind as do I and nobody else in the world cares about this stuff unless of course money is talking.

October 25, 2019

10:46 PM

Fred M. Wiseman spun some crap that because the Sheehans and Melody (nee: Walker) Brook (my first cousin's daughter) had a common ancestor that that somehow made them a tribe, through the Patnode/ Patenaude line.

October 25, 2019

11:02 PM

Fred M. Wiseman said he was the descendant of a Great chief called Ouimette so I started looking.

October 25, 2019

11:41 PM

Nancy (nee: Millette) was really nice to my daughter T K and myself and you know how defensive/ offensive people get about their beliefs. So I was going to stay out of that mess. To me the community was more about having a supportive family. Because mine were alcoholics, etc. 

You like the details and I am more into the broader strokes. However its just gotten to be about money and self importance. I don't pretend to know a lot of things but I do know the history of Swanton. 

Fred Wiseman's family doesn't show up there until 1910, mine were there continuously since 1788, so when dumb ass Wiseman tells a room full of people that his family has the longest occupied Abenaki residence in Swanton ... 

Also the Great Chief thing and he said his family was the last ones forced off the reserve. My dad remembered the flood of 1927 and their farm was across the river from Monument Road. he remembers that they floated canoes out the second floor windows, took the tools and kids, they were not forced off, the government paid them. 

My ancestor John Hilliker spoke Mohawk, Abenaki, French, German, and English. He has a Court document in St Albans where he leaves land to his Abenaki Daughter, also he interpreted for Abenakis in court. He leased his land from the Abenaki. So yes I know my family's history. 

When we first met Fred Wiseman at Johnson State College in the Theater he was doing this play about the Abenaki and it was so awful we laughed so we almost lost it, then it suddenly wasn't funny at the end of the play. I stood up and hollered across the theater, "Your full of shit, if anything like that walked across the streets of Swanton I'd think my grandparents would have known about it and the outfits you have the students wearing look like you took a box of outfits from all over and shook it up! That girl has a Seminole skirt on for Christ's Sake. He still it has on his Artist web page that he is Missisquoi Abenaki. He has a membership card from the 1990's because he couldn't produce any documentation; so whatever I am or am not, I share a heck of a lot of DNA with every one in that area.

October 26, 2019

9:11 AM

Melody (nee: Walker) Brook says she can't do genealogy. At her grandmother's Betty's funeral, I tried to find out what the older people thought and they all stubbornly said they were Mohawk.

October 26, 2019

5:01 PM

I just wish Don Stevens would adopt him Frederick Matthew Wiseman so he can play make believe other there.

October 26, 2019

5:26 PM

Missisquoi won't accept him Frederick Matthew Wiseman because his line is so far out. 

Don Stevens tried to get us to go to his group. 

I found out that he took every one from Swanton who didn't have any documentation. But they weren't full members. 

They couldn't vote, etc. So he created first and second class membership cards. I know some of those people, they have like one ancestral line; so Frederick Matthew Wiseman could become a member of Don's group!

October 26, 2019

5:41 PM

I know why he Frederick Matthew Wiseman left Johnson State College; and the same BS he told those girls is the same crap he is telling newbies "I am descended from a Great Chief and let me be your Spiritual leader" ... pass the cool aid.

October 26, 2019

6:00 PM

Frederick Matthew Wiseman has recruited the Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs (that appointed by the Governor). Fred goes before the Commission but they have received goods and services and money from Fred.

The new By-Laws of his group Aln8baiwi, which is one of the reasons I hit the roof. So he has Don Stevens, Roger Sheehan and the current chief Eugene Rich in his pocket.

October 26, 2019

8:21 PM

Frederick Matthew Wiseman has the perfect self-sustaining system. He invents the other groups ... then he makes up his little group with complete control over monetary grant's etc. He can cherry pick who he wants and his council is appointed by him, such as his secretary. He can kick out anyone he wants. He doles out the grant money at his discretion, because he thinks that he won't find enough Native People he will have " friends" of the Alnôbaiwi  to dress up. There is no voting, as there is a gag order ... so no one says anything ... and he controls all press releases.

On his council, are Vt Native Commission,  Eugene G. Rich (who has been giving him Missisquoi money and Eagle wings), who gets to sell his stuff at Ethan Allen Homestead; and Fred M. Wiseman has a special clause wherein the council gets special trips to Maine, etc. with Fred discreetly.

Joanne Crawford and her teenage son Patrick are on his council.

Joanne Crawford is also on the Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs VCNAA as is several other people; all the commissioners got invited to be on Fred's Aln8baiwi Organization. 

I wrote to Vermont Governor Scott about the corruption from his own appointed people. I asked him to read the by-laws. 

Eugene got chewed out by the elders for treating me Carollee Reynolds really bad and threatening me. I included that, plus information that Fred Wiseman is lying about having a current St. Francis-Sokoki membership card. 

Then I explained this to the Vermont head commissioner who was clueless, because then she went silent .... because Fred is trying to get funding for his club through the VCNAA commission, while on her watch. 

Then I put pressure on the St. Francis-Sokoki group while at the same time, I kept telling Don Stevens that the guy Fred Wiseman lies. At first Don Stevens tried to intimidate me and when that didn't work, he wrote an email explaining what my point was. 

I asked Aaron Todd York to reason with his stepdad Fred M. Wiseman but then a month later Aaron said for me to 'stop being evil' and I said in response that "stealing ancestors for material gain is wrong". Then Morgan Lamphere who is also in Fred's club and tribal council sent me a poorly written letter as if it were scribbled in kindergarten, and in reply, I asked him about his ethics? I said my grandmother would have whacked pansy ass Fred M. Wiseman with her ugly stick. 

Then there's all the violations of the Indian Arts law. Fred has a card from the 1990's which was issued before we had to produce actual birth death and marriage certificates. 

Because he couldn't produce those documents, his membership was revoked by the previous tribal council before Eugene Rich was chief. 

The head commissioner now wants to see his card. I also said I would later drive to all the places he makes money in the next election. The other 2 candidate despise Fred M. Wiseman; except Eugene who obviously has his head up Fred's ass. I am going to try to get an amendment wherein no one who is in leadership can take favors from Fred Wiseman PhD. 

It doesn't see like much but perhaps other people will catch on to the sneaky grasping behavior of Fred's.

October 26, 2019

8:35 PM

I could not believe the people at the meeting of the Aln8baiwi org. by-laws just went along with it. 

I got excited saying that I asked (or was asked) to be part of this group so take my name off your damn list. 

They all had dollars and trips dancing in their eyes ... so now Fred's trying to rewrite history. 

The fools were marching in the St Albans Maple Festival; that's like the Irish descendants dressing up and marching. It was so embarrassing, because they looked like a bunch of crazies with cheap powwow pan-Indian crap on.

October 26, 2019

8:37 PM

Fred Wiseman is into everything. He has the monopoly and now he says he's a spiritual teacher; that's why I stay home. 

October 26, 2019

9:41 PM

Tom Ledoux Sr. had called my parents house in the 1970's and asked if we had an oral history of John Hilliker jumping Split Rock in Lake Champlain. When I said yes, but that our history was that John Hilliker had jumped Split Rock because the Indian warriors had been chasing him due to he was too popular with the Indian women. 

The real reason was because the Colonists kept commandeering him as a Scout and he afterwards became a Tory and went to Sorel, Quebec.

October 26, 2019

11:06 PM

Did I tell you that Fred Wiseman said I was too stupid to find his Indian lines and that Tom Ledoux did, I know Tom Ledoux and his father so Tom wrote to Fred and said his family had never met him much less did his genealogy.

October 27, 2019 

12:44 AM

Supposedly Eugene's grandmother was on tribal council Eugene runs for reelection in November. Brenda Gagne is a candidate and Dick Menard, the totem pole guy. He seems pretty down to earth; but both of them really hate Fred. 

I've called Fish and Game about the eagle feathers. I have turned him in a couple of times for the Indian Arts program on the federal level. 

If he is outed by the commission, that might do something In his group, Charles Lawrence Delaney Jr. is an Elder (Ha Ha Ha). 

If you send me a corrected copy of his genealogy I guess I could plaster the Capital Building and the Maritime museum and over the Internet. 

I could also put it up in the office; but not with Eugene there. 

But the Vermonters eat that stuff up and it generates tourist dollars. 

October 27, 2019

1:25 PM

She showed Fred's genealogy to Eugene Rich. She said he had a funny look on his face.

October 27, 2019

7:13 PM

Most of Don Steven's Nulhegan people only have one rumored line (sigh). 

When Don was trying to give me a talking to, he was most worried that you would get wind of it.

October 28, 2019 

3:15 AM

I recently found out that Fred M. Wiseman used my grandmother to legitimize the Elnu. 

Apparently we had a common ancestor Alexis Patnode. Fred M. Wiseman told the Vermont Legislature that because the Roger Longtoe Sheehan' group were distantly related when Melody joined with them that that made the proof that Elnu was a tribe. 

A month ago Seven Days kept calling Fred M. Wiseman an Abenaki and about his lineage, so I wrote and alluded to the Johnson State College thing along with the corruptness of his organization ... And also the Abenaki Artists Association non-profit.

Douglas Buchholz to Carollee Reynolds: "Interesting dynamics with the Patnode connection between the two groups, Missisquoi and Elnu. Do you have objective evidence of this mess, or is it just "awareness" / belief/ perception of what, how why and when on your part? 

What you state makes sense on the surface but I am curious if there is documentation to this situation you describe?"

October 28, 2019 

3:15 AM

Seven Days wrote all this stuff about Fred M. Wiseman being native and I made them aware that the tribe had proof, in genealogy, that Fred wasn't native, but that he was a fraud. 

I hooked that information all up to the Abenaki Artists Association and showed Phil this Professor Wiseman's artists page and reminded him that Fred helped them become a tribe and now he is using them to make money for himself and keep the lie alive. 

I asked Phil to have him produce his tribal card; he has the old green one. 

When we asked for vital records he could not produce them. 

Look at that list of accomplishment on the web page ... he states "my work is not available for the Euro-Americans to buy and he lists whom he has gifted these to legitimate chiefs in other places. I will look to find the document about my grandmother.

October 28, 2019

1:54 PM

I just now wrote to the Vermont Governor again, stating that 5 generations ago, the Sheehan's and Doris had a common ancestor from Canada who was 100% percent white and never lived in Vermont but Malone New York. 

I said I met the Sheehan' online doing genealogy and they came up to meet me at a powwow, and they then ran into Melody (Walker) Brook. 

I said to the Governor that my family had no contact with the Sheehan' ... until they came up seeking distant relatives. Frederick Matthew Wiseman then fraudulently helped them become a tribe and then used them to further his lies, sell his stuff, get paid lectures and further support more of his lies.

October 28, 2019

1:54 PM

In the Elnu's recognition draft is my grandmother Doris (nee: Hilliker) Reynolds. They used her to show a pattern of affiliation. 

Also how Frederick Matthew Wiseman is profiting off the same people he helped to create.

October 28, 2019

3:28 PM

I was referring to Fred Wiseman. Your work is impressive!

October 28, 2019

4:22 PM

I try to be understanding and patient with people but when I figured out the ever-widening circle of self-aggrandizing, self-serving  bullshit and brazen-capitalizing off the same people he looks down on, his name is now 'Fred, the Euro-American' ... how much more of a hypocrite can one be!

October 28, 2019

4:34 PM

Subject: Re: Doris Hilliker Reynolds

You know, I think I read about my Grandmother being used by the Elnu like that on your blog last month and it was the first time I had heard of it. Because my grandmother would never have agreed to let her name be used like that. A person would have gotten some rare abuse from her. 

Melody and her mom have no idea how to use genealogy. Melody's mom thought those 4 Indians in Alburgh, Vermont ca. 1863-4 ... had been brought in as a bounty and forced into the Civil War.

October 28, 2019

6:32 PM

Hi, I don't think I am going to send this to anyone yet. I don't want them to think that I have a grudge,  who's finally figuring it out. I don't want to alienate the other groups because when they hear it's you (Salmon) their brain turns off ... so I hope I can remain anonymous. 

If it comes out another way then it will be just me against Fred M. Wiseman. 

Other people tried to keep me quiet and my answer is "over my dead body! 

Where are you ethics?" I asked them.

I wonder how embarrassed the State of Vermont will be? 

Will they sweep it under the rug or go right after Fred?

Vermont Governor Phil Scott is running for re-election and perhaps he doesn't want this info to bite him in the ass. 

I gave the genealogy to a person who wants to be rid of Fred Wiseman. 

If Eugene G. Rich decides to give the Euro-American (Fred) a membership card then this might be ammunition. 

Like the pictures of the Ouimette relatives; a picture is worth a thousand words! For now, since the shit has hit the fan (the nonprofit is no longer listed and their site is down for maintenance) I'm just going to let Eugene and Fred stew. 

I will be watching to see what happens to the Abenaki Artists page, I'm all in favor of community but I'm not one for dancing for the tourists for that clown Fred Wiseman. 

October 28, 2019

7:39 PM

I am sorry for my words about you.

Bruce Delorme said he was in AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) with Charles Delaney Jr. who was kicked out for trying to **** a ****. 

I am standing up. Don Steven's thinks he's enrolled and had sent an email to Fred Wiseman stating my beef. 

Please forgive any wrong I have done you. I really am trying to be a better person. Thank God for my little dog, she makes this studio apartment a home. 

The band is in a sorry state now; nobody wants to hang around; only 25 people showed up for harvest supper this year, when it used to be 300 persons.

Montpelier has already been getting complaints about all of this business with Fred Wiseman and Co. way before I started. I have been encouraging others as well to speak out and stand up.

October 29, 2019

12:51 PM

From: Carollee Reynolds

Subject: Fwd: Emailing Frederick M. Wiseman Ancestral Chart October 28 2019.pdf

To: Brook, Melody, Tom Ledoux Jr., Chief Donald Stevens Jr., Jesse Lawyer, Morgan Lamphere, Roger Longtoe Sheehan, Eugene Rich (personal email), Eugene Rich (business email), Ethan Allen Homestead Museum, Charles Delaney Jr., Chan Crawford, and the Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi Newsletter

To Whom It may Concern, 

I am fed up with the Euro-American Frederick Matthew Wiseman lying about his past, his ancestors and their heritage. He used my Grandmother Doris (nee: Hilliker) Reynolds' name to further his own capitalistic and self self-promoting ambitions

He has no native ancestry. 

He was not descended from a great chief. 

So I hear Fred telling people that his residence is the longest continually occupied Abenaki dwelling. His German ancestor moved into Swanton in 1910 and married a pure French Woman.

He says his family was the last people forced of the reserve (sic). Actually Carollee is referring to the Missisquoi Wildlife Refuge, not a reserve. 

My father remembers great flood of 1927, they had a farm near Macs Bend on the Missisquoi across from Monument Rd. My dad said they floated canoes out the second floor window, put tools and kids and paddled away. The government paid them for their land. Nobody was forced out and the Missisquoi Wildlife Reserve (sic) Refuge did not exist at the time. What a twisting of words and lies! He creates non-profits to continue to circulate his lies. 

No More!

Perhaps he is delusional or senile? He (Fred Wiseman) is not a member of the Missisquoi Band. 

He has a card from the 1990's; but since that time, the tribe required birth, death and marriage records. He uses the tribes name and then bad mouths them. 

He says he is a spiritual leader, which is so pathetic and sad. 

If you all want to be his puppet tourist Indians then go right a head. 

Let people pay $10.00 bucks a head to watch the Indians eat. 

It was so degrading and humiliating. 

Where are native values like humility and not making a big deal of yourself. 

You can decide; but I am going to every place Fred makes money off our culture and every publishing house and straighten this out.

Carollee

[Clarification: Professor Fred Wiseman uses the word "reserve" when talking about the Missisquoi Wildlife Refugee while doing speaking engagements/ presentations, because people are NAIVE as to his distortions. Using the word "reserve" in lieu of "refuge" is not a Freudian-slip oops moment of Fred's slippery tongue. It is quite intentional on his part. Because "reserve" equates to "reservation" wherein he can IMPLY more of his BS to the naive Vermont (etc) audience. You see, he wants the audience(s) to believe stupidly that the Missisquoi Wildlife Refuge was somehow an Abenaki Reservation, wherein Abenakis were forcibly removed in the 1920's or so. In fact, people were FLOODED OUT in 1927, and the Disaster Relief trucks came in to save people. No one was "forced out" or removed (as Charles L. Delaney Jr.) has implied, to made to "disappear".] 

October 29, 2019

1:28 PM

From: Fred Wiseman

Subject: RE: Emailing Frederick M. Wiseman Ancestral Chart October 28 2019.pdf

To: Carollee Reynolds

Cc: 

Melody (nee: Walker) Brook

Tom Ledoux

Chief Donald Stevens Jr.

Jesse Lawyer

Vera Sheehan

Morgan Lamphere

Roger Longtoe Sheehan

Eugene Rich

Ethan Allen Homestead Museum

Charles Delaney Jr.

Chan Crawford

Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi

Rich Holschuh

I was not planning to release this document regarding Carollee Reynolds, but I suppose this is the time. It is too bad. She had so much potential, wasted. Eugene Rich, could you make sure that the Tribal Council gets this complaint. I am sorry to have to do this. Be well.

F. (Frederick Matthew Wiseman)

(Please note in the email section, Carollee Reynolds wanted to learn spirituality from coursework I was planning)

October 29, 2019

1:02 PM

From: Carollee Reynolds

To: Douglas Lloyd Buchholz

Subject: I emailed this to Fred, Eugene and a lot of other people along with his pedigree.

October 29, 2019

2:17 PM

Fred has filed a complaint against me with the tribe.

October 29, 2019

6:15 PM

Fred is trying to lodge a grievance against me with the tribe. But Fred is not on the rolls. 

Also I lodged a complain against Eugene Rich and Cody Hemingway for saying nasty demeaning sexual things to me.

If Eugene Rich contacts me I will tell him that he gave tribal money and he was on Fred's Aln8baiwi "Council" I already told Vermont Gov. Phil Scott about his appointed State VCNAA members being on Fred's Aln8baiwi Council. 

Fred was going to the Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs (VCNAA) for grants, etc.  Eugene also accepted favors, publicity and money from Fred. Eugene Rich is implicated with Fred's doings.

Some folks are telling me that I ruined Fred's reputation, works etc etc. I said "Well, Fred's was a fraud using my grandmother and lying about the area". 

The Alnôbaiwi Incorporated is no longer listed on the Secretary of State's website and if you click on their website it says under massive maintenance.

October 29, 2019

6:43 PM

I just got an email from Donald Warren Stevens Jr., and he said that if I drag this out into public ... then I am no better than you, Salmon (Douglas Lloyd Buchholz). Don Stevens also said he didn't want to get involved, so I said Fred is not enrolled in the tribe and that he, Don Stevens, was subordinate to Fred in the Alnôbaiwi Incorporated group.

October 29, 2019

7:16 PM

I have put this out in public to the Governor's Office and Seven Days etc. I am going to follow up with all the public places Fred relies on.

Fred has written up some trash on me and sent it out, but who the hell is going to care? I'm nobody. I haven't made money off anything. I am not selling anything. 

Personally I like the slow roast.

Let him fume and worry and try to do damage control, and whine like crazy.

October 29, 2019

7:23 PM

Eugene G. Rich was a cop in Swanton, VT. He beat the hell out of Jesse James Larocque back in the day. He said he believed in racial profiling. 

I brought a complaint up to the tribe because he (Eugene) and Cody Hemingway were really saying nasty sexual things ... and the council let Cody have it ... so he hasn't been around. 

Eugene Rich called me a liar and said I was crazy. 

Now Fred Wiseman wants Eugene Rich to file a complaint against me. 

He's got something missing. He's not with the tribe and Eugene will be opening a can of worms for reelection.

I have already complained to the Vt Commission on Native American Affairs and the Governor etc. about Eugene Rich and Joanne Crawford, who are both Fred's minions.

She showed up last year from Shelburne, Vermont offering to be on the Maquam Board and the Vermont State VCNAA. She is one sneaky person and grasping at everything she can attach herself to. 

The tribal ladies call her Joan Crawford. She refused to eat their food. So Joanne became Fred's right-hand person in the Alnôbaiwi Incorporated group. 

Fred Wiseman makes a proclamation and she backs it up. 

She is at the State level (VCNAA, tribal level and very friendly with Eugene Rich. And also on Fred's Alnôbaiwi Inc.'d council. She put her teenage son Patrick on the Alnôbaiwi Inc.'d council, while he's still in high school ... and hes going to have hierarchy over elder members? 

She is a 'female' version of Eugene Rich. I called her out at tribal council, i.e. "there's another snake in the grass!"

October 31, 2019

4:10 PM

So Fred responded to the letter I emailed to him by asking Eugene G. Rich to take his complaint against me, to the Tribal Council.

1. Fred M. Wiseman is not on the membership rolls.

2. If Eugene Rich does that,  then he implicates himself and that he gave Fred  money and free advertising, etc. Plus he is on the Vt Commission (VCNAA) that Fred tries to get grants and endorsements from.

November 03, 2019

9:12 AM

Fred M. Wiseman sent Eugene Rich a formal complaint against me with the tribe ... wherein I would have to show up and defend myself. So far nothing has come of this.

So factually when I was up at the Harvest Festival in Swanton, VT there were Jeff Benay and other people on the membership rolls who have wanted to ditch Fred Wiseman as well, So I can truthfully say it came from with in the tribe.

November 08, 2019

4:37 PM

Don Stevens Jr. put Jesse Bruchac and Jesse's kid "on display" in Burlington on Church Street and officially declared them Abenakis and at that point I really took a dim view of Don Stevens Jr.

I'm just waiting for Don to take Fred in!

November 11, 2019

11:10 PM

I just read Fred's complaint against me. It was submitted a while back, but nothing came of it. 

I like the part where Don Stevens tells Patrick about Fred. (Ha Ha Ha)

November 12, 2019

12:27 AM

So funny about Fred Wiseman asking Eugene Rich to see his paperwork that was allegedly illegally taken. Also how Don Stevens Jr. told other people. I didn't want to be on Fred's Alnôbaiwi Inc.'d council. 

It was when he put in his by-laws wherein it stated that people had to submit an application and could be turned down and anyone could be kicked out with out due cause that I started saying that "I never applied so take my name off your list Fred!" 

See how stupid Wiseman is, when he was refuting my 1910 statement he starts talking about 1908. 

I do not have access to tribal genealogies but they are a wreck. 

I don't need to drive 70 miles round trip for free to steal his genealogy files! 

If someone wants me to look something up for them, then I do that.

Douglas, free to use my letter about him using my grandmother and Fred's complaint about me. The dumb ass just proves that he is, in fact, a fraud. 

You can mention because he isn't in the band, that nothing came of his complaint against me.

November 12, 2019

Forwarded message

From: Carollee Reynolds 

To: circleofcourage@comcast.net

Subject: Fwd: Emailing Frederick M. Wiseman Ancestral Chart October 28 2019.pdf

You can put that in your blog Douglas.

November 12, 2019

12:25 PM

It has been said that the prior chief sent letters to people who had no supporting documentation, before their files were removed, so Eugene Rich, did in fact know.

November 12, 2019

10:15 PM

I always knew Fred M. Wiseman was full of crap, and apparently he was unpublished before he moved to Swanton, this has been his gravy train, his platform for him to play an important person and direct other people. I'm going to give away my regalia and never attend anything else; there's just too many self-serving people. A lot of these people have a weak sense of identity and hide behind embellishment. 

Regardless of the above cited emails from Carollee (nee: Reynolds) Matthews to my person, I have decided to post them, AND re-examine Dr. Frederick Matthew Wiseman's genealogy, and in particular, that of whom he claims in his ancestry, was his "Abenaki" grandmother. 

Review and (please) cross-reference the genealogical ancestry of his paternal grandmother Josephine Kay (nee: Erno) and FIND and CONCLUDE what I have.

She (Josephine) was NOT ABENAKI. Hell, she wasn't even descended from ANY NATIVE PEOPLE whatsoever! 

So HOW IS IT that Frederick Matthew Wiseman PhD. can sit there (or stand there) and claim his paternal grandmother, Josephine Kay (nee: Erno) Wiseman was an Abenaki? When CLEARLY she was not even Native at all !!

OK, now that we are (again) touring the cesspool of Vermont's concocted post-1975 "Abenaki" La-La-Land , let's next post Dr. Frederick Matthew Wiseman's recent complaint to Eugene G. Rich, (of the St. Francis-Sokoki group up in Swanton, Vermont) complaining about Ms. Carollee (nee: Reynolds) Matthews, on October 29, 2019 and emailed to all of his cronies/ followers/minions.

Because this all begins and ends with objective evidence along with genealogy.

Part 8 of the TRUTH about Frederick Matthew Wiseman PhD will be next ... 

The TRUTH about Frederick Matthew Wiseman PhD.- PART 6

January 29 2016

6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Next weekend at the Missisquoi Wildlife Refuge, join a presentation by Dr. Fred Wiseman examining 10,000 years of ‪#‎Wabanaki clothing and accessories.

Where: Missisquoi Wildlife Refuge, 29 Tabor Road, Swanton VT 05488

(Photo credit: Donald Soctomah)

Last fall, Dr. Fred Wiseman of Swanton Vermont, as well as the Wapohnaki Museum Cultural Center and the Passamaquoddy Cultural Heritage Museum, co-produced an historic fashion show in Maine. 

It featured 24 of Dr. Frederick Matthew Wiseman’s original and re-created clothing outfits, based on over 25 years of study of historic and ancient Abenaki clothing, headgear, and jewelry and fashion accessories. 

Anyone interested in learning about a little-known facet of Vermont’s fascinating fashion history will want to join Dr. Fred M. Wiseman to hear how the event went — and most importantly, how the wearing of ancestral clothing affected the young Native people who wore the attire.  This deeply moving cultural experience has much to teach indigenous people in Vermont about tribal revitalization, and points the way, perhaps, to new directions in Abenaki arts. 

Dr Wiseman will share a rich slide show of reconstructed and original prehistoric and historic clothing, including that of an Ice-Age mariner on the Champlain Sea, 1600’s warriors defending their homeland, and 1920’s basket sellers at Highgate Springs, Vermont. ABENAKI from the PANADIS' FROM ODANAK.

In addition, he will share some rare examples of historic Abenaki, Penobscot, and Passamaquoddy clothing that have survived until this day.  Dr. Wiseman will also preview the “Alnobak” clothing exhibit that is planned to open in June at the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum in Vergennes, VT.  Following the presentation there will be time for questions as well as time to view the original Abenaki clothing from Wiseman’s collection.

February 09, 2016

The Caledonian-Record Newspaper, Page A2

OBITUARY – ALBERT JEAN DAIGNEAULT

Albert Jean Daigneault, 67 years of age, passed peacefully surrounded by his wife and four children on January 19, 2016 in his log cabin that he so proudly built 34 years ago. Albert was born on June 24, 1948 to Lionel and Eleanor (nee: Remick) Daigneault. He attended schools in St. Johnsbury and later married Johnna Rosselot in 1970.

Albert was an avid hunter and fisherman. He also enjoyed motorcycles and snowmobiling. His greatest love was his family. Albert served in the U.S. Navy and was a proud member of the first crew that commissioned the USS John F. Kennedy Aircraft Carrier. He also served and retired from the Vermont Army National Guard. Multiple sclerosis became a part of his life but he was determined to not let it rule him. He continued to be productive right up until his passing.

Besides his parents and his wife Johnna, he is survived by his sons Justin and wife Barb, Jared and wife Janet, Josh and Nicole, and daughter Emily Rivard, as well as grandchildren Jailyn, Lillianna, Ashlyn, Valerie, Jaxson, Logan, Colton and Rosaleigh; his brother Normand and four sisters, Suzanne Wallstrum, Theresa Fried, Denise Russell and Annette Ruffner as well as many nieces and nephews.

A graveside service will be held later at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, date and time to be determined. Memorial Contribution in his name may be sent to: Wounded Warrior Project at 4899 Belfort Rd., Suite 300, Jacksonville, FL 32256, CFC #11425

June 20, 2016

The Addison Independent Newspaper

Abenaki to present their history at Maritime Museum

FERRISBURGH — What does it mean to be Indian in Vermont? What does it mean to be an indigenous artist?  On June 25 and 26, 2016 members of Vermont’s Abenaki community gather at Lake Champlain Maritime Museum in Ferrisburgh, Vermont to present their own history and heritage directly to the public. Abenaki Heritage Weekend is open from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday and 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Sunday. A highlight of the event is the Native Arts Marketplace of the Vermont Abenaki Artists Association (VAAA), where visitors can talk to artists, watch crafts demonstrations and purchase outstanding beadwork, quillwork, jewelry, basketry, woodworking and other items.

“Indigenous artists no longer need to choose between traditional and contemporary art forms,” said Vera Longtoe Sheehan, of the Elnu Abenaki Tribe, and founder of the VAAA. “Many of us practice both, and our contemporary art is informed by tradition.”

Throughout the weekend there will be songs and drumming, storytelling, cooking demonstrations, kids’ activities, and demonstrations by Abenaki artists and artisans. Drumming, dancing and singing will be led by the Nulhegan Drum. Members of the Elnu Abenaki Tribe will present storytelling, food preparation, crafts and other life ways at an encampment in the Pine Grove.

A garden of heirloom plants, including corn, squash, beans and pumpkins, planted this spring on the LCMM museum grounds, is a result of a multi-year quest by Dr. Frederick Matthew Wiseman to discover sources for ancient local crops and bring the precious seeds to renewed harvests.

“Always in Fashion,” an illustrated program about clothing and accessories worn by the original people of Northern New England and neighboring areas of Canada will showcase images and original garments and accessories gathered by Frederick Matthew Wiseman for the Wobanakik Heritage Center’s collection.

for ceremonial use and field testing will also be presented in slides, music and video.

Visitors are encouraged to participate. They may be invited to join a drumming circle, or join in a song, try their hand at stringing wampum or creating a design, or working to create designs in clay.

Lake Champlain Maritime Museum (LCMM) is open daily from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., a family-friendly 4-acre lakeside campus with daily hands-on opportunities, Lake Adventure Camps for ages 7-16 are offered June 20, 2016 through mid-August 2016.

Upcoming events include the Big ShaBang July 03, 2016, Rowing and Racing Weekend July 09-10, 2016, and Rabble in Arms, August 06-07, 2016.

June 25-26, 2016

Abenaki Heritage Weekend

This special weekend hosted by Lake Champlain Maritime Museum gives visitors an Abenaki perspective on life in the Champlain Valley. Members of the Elnu Abenaki Tribe, the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk and Koasek Traditional Band of the Koas Abenaki Nation, and the Vermont Abenaki Artists Association work with Museum staff to plan and present the event.

The Native people at this event are experts in the living indigenous arts and traditions which they come together to share with one another and with visitors. They have inherited, researched, reconstructed, or apprenticed to learn the techniques with which they create outstanding beadwork, quill-work, basketry, pottery, woodworking and other items for personal use or for sale. Tribal members will also share songs, drumming, dancing, games, food preparation, and other life skills.

Abenaki Heritage Weekend also includes opportunities to share cultural heritage through illustrated talks and Round Table discussions on topics such as efforts to preserve Abenaki as a living language, and the cultivation, use and exchange of heirloom plants. “I have been amazed by the richness and depth of the cultural and historical information brought out by the Vermont Indigenous bands during their research for Vermont State Recognition,” says Frederick M. Wiseman, Ph. D., and Director of the Wobanakik Heritage Center in Swanton. “This is a new stage with great potential in Vermont culture and history – for Native people to work on their own history and culture and then present the results.”

June 25, 2016

11:00 a.m. Dr. Frederick M. Wiseman’s findings from Seeds of Renewal, his multi-year quest to discover ancient local crops from written documents and modern Indigenous oral history. He has tracked down seed sources as far away as Manitoba and Colorado, and brought the precious seeds to renewed harvests in their ancient homeland.

His presentation includes an illustrated talk and a visit to demonstration plantings on the Museum grounds.

Learn more about Dr. Wiseman’s Seeds of Renewal project in a Teacher Training Workshop at LCMM August 1-5, 2016 and a Special Exhibit at LCMM in 2017.

http://www.castleton.edu/academics/professional-development-continuing-education/the-castleton-center-for-schools/continuing-education-workshops-contract-courses

October 23, 2016

The Rokeby Museum

4334 Route 7

Ferrisburg, VT 05456

(802) 877-3406

Rokeby@comcast.net

Abenaki Artifacts

Rowland E. Robinson had friends among the ODANAK Abenaki who camped, hunted, and fished along the shores of Lake Champlain. He collected baskets, snowshoes, and other items, some of which are unique in New England. Frederick Matthew Wiseman spent the winter surveying all of Rokeby’s ODANAK (?) Abenaki artifacts and will share his research into this little known archaeological and ethnological collection. Professor Wiseman has made some surprising discoveries, including a “possibly unique” ash splint basket woven around a cedar frame. Join us on Sunday October 23, 2016 at 3:00 p.m. to learn more.

Professor Frederick Matthew Wiseman directs the Wobanakik Heritage Center in Swanton, Vermont. The program is $2.00 or free with Museum admission.

March 30, 2017

The Vermont Cynic

Maddy Pimentel

Radio show offers a voice to the native community

One woman discovered the power of community radio in 2009, when the indigenous people of Vermont were still not recognized at a state level.

Some tribes of the Abenaki nation, the people native to the region now known as Vermont, achieved state recognition as late as 2012, according to the state website.

Deborah Regers, host of Moccasin Tracks on 90.1 WRUV, felt conversations about these people were held exclusively at state and professional levels.

“As a non-native person, I felt like I needed to know the truth,” she said. “I wanted to hear the truth from the people themselves, not be told by privileged white people.”

Deborah Regers created Moccasin Tracks to voice the stories and perspectives of Native Americans.

“The material that Deborah Regers single-handedly brings to this radio station is unmatched, here and at other radio stations,” said sophomore Rachel O’Neill, WRUV station manager.

Through her show, Deborah Regers shares the current cultural revitalization of the Abenaki with the larger community, she said.

“Some descendants are trying to reclaim their identities in these modern times,” Deborah Regers said.

Many Abenaki people are discovering who they are by learning their native languages, songs and traditions, she said.

Languages survive through music and oral stories which are passed on through generations, Deborah Regers said.

“All the music I play is by native artists from all over the country,” she said.

Moccasin Tracks also hosts a range of artists, including a traditional basket weaver and a birch-bark canoe maker.

Like music and language, traditional arts are passed down through generations, Deborah Regers said.

“I don’t think people are aware these arts are still practiced by many of the nations today,” she said.

“There is a huge network of history, art and music,” Deborah Regers said. “The challenge is: how do I bring that on the radio? How do I share that with the larger community?”

Rachel O’Neill remembers listening to a broadcast around Halloween on cultural appropriation which brought her to tears, she said.

“If we can understand history through communicating with the original people, we can achieve mutual respect,” Deborah Regers said. “There is racism everywhere, including Vermont.”

In recent history, Abenaki people were sterilized due to eugenics, a science dedicated to improving a human population by controlled breeding, Deborah Regers said.

Henry Perkins, a UVM professor in the 1920’s, was a major proponent of the Vermont eugenics movement, according to the University of Vermont’s website.

Moccasin Tracks also focuses on current events such as political and environmental challenges, which are threatening native culture, Deborah Regers said.

“They are losing a lot of human rights, tribal rights, sovereignty and the ability to protect the earth for future generations,” she said.

Native Americans who participated in the Standing Rock resistance have voiced their experiences on Moccasin Tracks.

“I want to hear from the grassroots people,” Deborah Regers said. “Although I have heard from professors and professional people, I’m really interested in the extraordinary things ordinary people do.”

Through Moccasin Tracks, Deborah Regers calls for an awareness of societal and cultural conditioning, she said.

“From doing this radio show I am learning to be an ally; I am learning to decolonize the way I think,” Deborah Regers said. “A lot of the times that means relearning what I have learned in school.”

While certain setbacks still exist, such as enduring prejudices and resistance to climate protection, Deborah Regers is grateful to be alive during this time of rising consciousness, she said.

“It’s a beautiful thing to witness,” Deborah Regers said. “The Abenaki people are re-indigenizing themselves and reaffirming their traditions with each other and with their larger communities.”

Deborah Regers hosts Moccasin Tracks from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. every Thursday on 90.1 WRUV.

My Response dated March 31, 2017:

"With all due respect, the Abenaki Peoples living within the boundaries of Vermont were NOT "recognized" whatsoever. The Abenakis were told to shut up and could not testify at Senate Committee Hearings by the State after being invited to testify. But the "recognition" process from the beginning to the end was an affront and an insult to the Abenakis. Confused? You should be because that is what 'they' wanted you to be. The Public of Vermont have been greatly deceived by what has been done in the State of Vermont and by these so-called "Abenaki" groups that have now State Recognition as "Tribes". And yes, we do have proof of the merits of what I have stated herein. 

For example, the Professor, Mr. Frederick Matthew Wiseman stated and quite openly implied that the Phillips family MUST BE Abenaki through the Phillips ancestor Antoine Phillips Sr. through the Philips Deed of 1796 here in northern Coos County, NH ... and yet research has clearly proven otherwise, just by reading the 1859 and 1873 Burlington Free Newspapers! Therein, in 1859 the articles indicated that Antoine Phillips Sr. was a colored man as were his two sons Peter and Michael Phillips Sr. Apparently Mr. Wiseman didn't research too much, because if he had, the narrative and "proof"/ "evidence" he and they threw on Senator Vincent Illuzzi and Senator Hinda Miller's desks as well as Senator Diane Snelling's desk would have been detected to be lies! But none of those countless Vermont politicians did a stitch of research or validation of the data shoved in front of them. They didn't care about the lies and they sure as heck didn't care about the truth! None of them ... not the Professor, not the "Chief's" of these 501(c)3 groups claiming and implying they were "Abenaki" "tribes" to the State and varied other entities where they sought status, recognition and grants etc. Genetically, the Phillips family, documented in the Eugenics Survey of VT were Black, Born-Out-Of-Slavery ca. 1780's African descendants, targeted by Henry F. Perkin's Field Researcher Harriet Abbott, not because they were "Abenakis" let along Indians, but rather, because the Black man Antoine Sr. had married a French Catholic woman from Quebec, Canada in the 1830's and their children and descendants were in the Burlington Free Press newspaper, and getting themselves incarcerated both at the County and State levels throughout the late 1800's and early 1900's. The 4 Alburgh Indians that the Partlow's claim is their proof to "Abenaki-ness' was also propped up as "evidence" by both the Professor and his groups of pretenders. A simple trip to the Alburg Town Clerks office to see the official original records would have sufficed, had any politician in Vermont done that. But they didn't. It is proven that the 4 Alburgh Indians were in fact Bero, Loran, Laughlin, and Squires (NOT Partlow, Vosburgh, Olena, or the other white fella listed by name on that Town Book page). But the descendants, the groups nor the politicians cared much about FACTS or the TRUTH. And on and on and on down the list the reality goes, that proves, that the so-called "researched' evidence by this Professor afore mentioned, etc and their other "expert' 'unbiased' scholars was NEVER done. Genealogically and genetically these people are not Abenakis whatsoever. So what is this radio show hostess Deb Regers, host of Moccasin Tracks on 90.1 WRUV, really doing, but helping to perpetuated to the naive masses of the Vermont public, that she is documenting the "Abenaki" pretender people are re-inventing themselves and parroting their so-called "traditions" with each other and with their larger communities. If they are becoming larger "groups' of pretenders, it very likely because the groups themselves, are allowing anyone and everyone with 1 drop of or NOTHING ... or one ancestor in the 1600's to come into the group and become members. I mean if my 9th or 15th great grandmother was a documented Native woman, such as there is in the Phillips family, due to Antoine Phillips Sr.'s French wife Catherine Emery dit Coderre, that still doesn't make the descendants 'Abenakis' ... now does it?! I could go one about Mr. Frederick Matthew Wiseman Ph.D. but the naive Vermonter's like to keep their heads stuck in the Vermont soil, with their arses up in the air apparently about these so called "Abenakis" parading themselves to the naive media." Don Stevens Jr. is am Antoine Phillips Sr. and Catherine Codderre descendant through their son Peter Phillips (ca. 1833-1906).

April 08, 2017

Mountain Lake PBS

2:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Flynn Center for the Performing Arts

153 Main St 
Burlington, VT 05401

Alnobak: Wearing Our Heritage – Opening Reception

Amy E. Tarrant Gallery: April 08, 2017 through June 17, 2017

Opening Talk: Saturday, April 08, 2017 at 2:00 p.m. with co-curators Eloise Beil and Vera Longtoe Sheehan

AD + ASL available for opening talk.

To request, call 802-652-4504 by March 24, 2017.

What does it mean to be Indian in Vermont? What does it mean to be an Indigenous artist? Native identity finds expression in different ways with each generation. Since the State of Vermont recognized four Abenaki Tribes in 2011-12, Vermont’s Indigenous artists have embraced the right to identify their work as Indian art. The inspiration for Alnobak: Wearing Our Heritage emerged from a decade-long collaboration between Lake Champlain Maritime Museum (LCMM) and Vermont’s Abenaki artists, community members and tribal leaders.

“Identity is a negotiation between what others expect of you and what you expect of yourself,” says Frederick M. Wiseman, Ph. D., Abenaki scholar and activist, who has spent several decades gathering, interpreting, and reconstructing artwork, artifacts, images and traditions of the Abenaki throughout the Northeast. An essay by Dr. Frederick Matthew Wiseman will provide historical and interpretive context for the exhibit.

In the quest to interpret Native art and culture from an Indigenous perspective, Vera Longtoe Sheehan has made the transition from community member and tradition-bearer to contemporary artist and curator – and founder of the Vermont Abenaki Artists Association. “Indigenous artists no longer need to choose between traditional and contemporary art forms,” she says. “Many of us practice both, and our contemporary art is informed by tradition.” Vera brings these multiple perspectives to the selection of works and images and to the exhibit text and proposed print-on-demand catalog.

In the Maine State Museum’s 2009 landmark exhibition, Uncommon Threads, co-curator Bruce Borque called Wobanaki textiles “one of North America’s most dynamic indigenous textile traditions,” and expressed concern that the “scattered, scarce and fragile” historical examples are slipping away. Historical images of Western Abenaki clothing are especially scarce, even through the mid-twentieth century, giving heightened significance to both the rare family photographs and the robust body of work by Vermont’s contemporary Abenaki artists that will be brought together in Alnobak: Wearing Our Heritage.

Background: In 2009, as the 400th anniversary of Samuel de Champlain’s visit was commemorated in the Champlain Valley, Vermont’s Abenaki people were immersed in their struggle for recognition. Amidst the Quadricentennial activities in Burlington, contemporary Abenaki artists and artisans presented a Fashion Show of replica garments and accessories in styles worn by their ancestors as far back as the Archaic period (ca. 7,000 – 1500 BC). The accomplishments and the frustrations of participating in the Champlain Quadricentennial gave rise to a new commitment to self-determination and self-expression among Vermont’s indigenous people.

affirmation, to affirm connections with family, clan, band and tribe, and to express identity within the geographical locale co-occupied with mainstream culture.

We hope that this exhibition will encourage public engagement and understanding of some of the issues associated with Native identity and recognition, and evolving creative expression by members of a traditional culture.

The importance of clothing, accessories and regalia to Vermont’s Native people as an expression of personal and community identity is eloquently expressed by Francine Poitras-Jones, a Member of the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation.

On joining the Vermont Abenaki Artists Association in 2014, she wrote, “I have drawn and painted almost as long as I can remember. . . In addition to painting and making leather pouches, I make regalia. In 2014, I made my mother’s first regalia from her head (headband) to her toes (beaded moccasins), including her dance fan, dress, and shawl. She was 86 years old at the time and had never danced in the circle because she had never been allowed to speak of her heritage.”

There is a special sense of urgency in presenting this exhibit to audiences in Vermont, while it can be shared with members of the oldest generation of tradition bearers, as well as opening new creative horizons to the younger generations who can now express their heritage with a freedom undreamed of until now.

April 13, 2017

The Burlington Free Press Newspaper

By Brent Hallenbeck

Abenaki exhibit comes to Flynn Center's Tarrant Gallery

A new exhibit at the Amy E. Tarrant Gallery highlights the wearable art of the Abenaki population in and around Vermont.

“Alnobak: Wearing Our Heritage” opened Saturday with a discussion by co-curators Vera Longtoe Sheehan of the Vermont Abenaki Artists Association and Eloise Beil of the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum. The exhibit will be on display through June 17, 2017.

“Wearing Our Heritage” looks at how garments reflect Abenaki heritage and are still being made to express native identity. “You can see our clothing has changed very much over the years but our identities have very much remained that of the people,” Vera Longtoe Sheehan said at Saturday’s opening reception at the gallery affiliated with the Flynn Center in Burlington.

Donald Warren Stevens, Jr. of Shelburne, chief of the Nulhegan Abenaki Tribe, said after Saturday’s opening that the tribe has long had good connections with the Maritime Museum as well as the ECHO Leahy Center for Lake Champlain. He said the exhibit adjacent to the Flynn Center is another big step forward for the Abenaki.

“This is kind of a culmination of a mainstream venue accepting us and wanting to display our items, so this is a great day,” according to Don Stevens.

WHAT: “Alnobak: Wearing Our Heritage”

WHEN: Through June 17, 2017; open 11:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. Saturdays; also before Flynn Center performances and during intermission

WHERE: Amy E. Tarrant Gallery, 153 Main St., Flynn Center, Burlington

ADMISSION: Free. 863-5966, www.flynntix.org

February 05, 2018

Seven Days Newspaper

An Introduction to Abenaki Horticulture & Garden Forestry

When: Mon., February 05, 2018 from 5:30-8:30 p.m.

Slides, videos and demos supplement Frederick Matthew Wiseman's short but comprehensive introduction into ancient food systems.

Price: Donations.

June 18, 2018

The Burlington Free Press Newspaper, Page 09A-10A

From Staff Reports – USA TODAY NETWORK

Abenaki Heritage Weekend on tap: Lake Champlain Maritime Museum will hold two days of special events.

On Saturday, Abenaki scholar Frederick Matthew Wiseman introduces his new book, “Seven Sisters: Wabanaki Seeds and Food Systems” at an afternoon book signing. On Sunday, Fred M. Wiseman will discuss new directions in the consideration of Indigenous art by collectors, investors, museums and galleries, in “Who Owns the Past?”

The vent opens with an Abenaki Greeting Song each day. There will be storytelling by Chief Roger Longtoe Sheehan and music from the Nulhegan Abenaki Drum Group. Activities for the kids are offered all weekend: making a bracelet of glass wampum beads, identifying animal tracks, and fire-making with flint and steel. Sign up for a special workshop on making a gourd rattle (register as you arrive, first-come, first-served).

The Native Arts Marketplace will provide opportunities to browse for traditional and contemporary artwork, jewelry, and regalia. The exhibition features garments and regalia by contemporary Abenaki artists together with cherished photographs of earlier times. A gallery talk with the curators and artists will provide insights into how Native identity finds expression in different ways with each generation.

Chief Shirly Hook and Doug Bent of the Koasek Traditional Band of the Koas Abenaki Nation will be doing a fire pit cooking demonstration. They will begin digging the fire pit on Friday and the turkey and beans will be cooking all day on Saturday. Shirly Hook, and avid gardener who prepares foods that she grows herself, will have a display table with photos and seeds from tribal garden. Her young gardening apprentices will be selling some of the plants that they have grown under her guidance. Proceeds of the sales will benefit Koasek youth group and children’s activities at the Abenaki Heritage Weekend.

On-site lunch will be available from noon to 2:00 p.m.

Location: Lake Champlain Maritime Museum 4472 Basin Harbor Road, (adjacent to historic Basin Harbor Club), Vergennes, Vermont 05491.

Admission: Adults $14.00; Senior’s $12.00; Youth 6 to 17 yrs. $8.00, and Children 5 and under are free.

Blue Star Museum: Active service members and families free; Veterans $7.00

June 24, 2018

The Burlington Free Press Newspaper, Page 1C-3C

By Vera Longtoe Sheehan and Eloise Beil – For the Free Press / USA TODAY NETWORK

Lake Champlain Maritime Museum exhibit shares Abenaki heritage

Aaron Todd York [step-son to Frederick M. Wiseman], the Abenaki artist who constructed the Quadricentennial bark canoe for the First Navigators project, has traveled extensively learning the arts and skills of the Wabanaki nations.

Examples of original Abenaki outfits

Abenaki scholar and activist Frederick Matthew Wiseman gathered original garments and accessories to assemble representative outfits like those worn by Abenaki men and women before 1850, as well as outfits for a man and a woman in the 1900’s through 1920’s. The items in his collection were brought together through a decades-old process of research and discovery, and they reveal a fascinating combination of local and international origins.

Eighteenth and nineteenth century Abenaki outfits from the Frederick M. Wiseman Collection on view at Lake Champlain Maritime Museum in 2016. Low light levels help prevent damage to fragile textiles.

July 15, 2018

The Greenfield [Massachusetts] Recorder Newspaper

By Max Marcus - Recorder Staff

Northfield’s day of history presents ‘living archaeology’

Saturday, July 21, 2018 at Northfield Mountain center

NORTHFIELD — Members of the Abenaki nation will bring people into the history and culture of local indigenous groups on Saturday, July 21, 2018 at the Northfield Mountain Recreation and Environmental Center.

This “day of history,” from noon to 3:00 p.m., is the second in the Northfield Historical Commission’s series on “bringing to light the native history of our area” that encompasses a period of at least 12,000 years, Commissioner Lisa McLoughlin said.

Roger ‘Longtoe’ Sheehan, Chief of the Elnu band of the Abenaki nation, will talk about local history from the 17th century up to modern times, using period-authentic “things that we would have had in the 17th century,” like muskets, spears and bows and arrows, he said.

Roger Longtoe Sheehan specializes in what he calls “living archaeology” of the 17th and 18th centuries, using materials and traditional stories to help people understand the way Abenaki peoples lived when they occupied vast regions in Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and eastern New York.

But, “a lot of people have questions about modern history, too,” he said. Now, the Abenaki nation has about 15,000 members and is mostly based in Vermont, with reservations in Quebec. The Elnu band has about 60 members and is based in southern Vermont, making it the southernmost group of the larger nation.

Rich Holschuh, representative of the Elnu band, will lead a walk through Northfield Mountain’s trails where he will try to communicate the traditional understanding of the environment.

“I want to talk about the very real hands-on things in front of us, and then I want to talk about the relationship of the people to this place,” Holschuh said. “All of the various aspects out there in the natural world are considered to be a part of you, literally a relation to you. So you’re going to interact with them as equals. It’s not simply a harvesting or a taking, but there’s also a giving, a reciprocity. It’s a two-way relationship.

“Some of these things would be very practical,” like identifications of plants, Holschuh said, “but you’re also perhaps going to learn a lesson from the plant about how it is, why it’s growing there, how it’s growing there.”

Singer-songwriter and guitarist Bryan Blanchette will play traditional and new songs in both Abenaki and English.

Study update: King Philip’s War

Also, an update on a National Park Service-funded study of King Philip’s War will be discussed by David Brule, president of the Nolumbeka Project. The Nolumbeka Project advocates for a more thorough understanding of indigenous history up to and including the colonial era. The study, now in its third phase of funding, is focusing on the Battle Turners Falls.

Contact Max Marcus at mmarcus@recorder.com

or 413-772-0261, ext. 261.

July 22, 2019

Saturday – 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Ongoing Activities until 4:30 p.m.

Living History Encampment, 18th Century Life Skills (Pine Grove)

Arts Marketplace (Boat Shed)

Children’s Make-and-Take (on the Green)

Garden Apprentice Table and Plant Sale (on the Green)

Ash Baskets with Kerry Royce Wood and Aaron Wood (on the Green)

Wampum with Linda Longtoe Sheehan (Boat Shed)

In-Ground (Fire pit) Cooking Demonstration (Roost)

Animal Tracking (Roost)                             

Fire Making with Flint and Steel (Roost)

Flint Knapping (Roost)

10:30 a.m. – Greeting Song, Land Acknowledgement, and Opening remarks (Pine Grove)

11:00 a.m. – Enjoy ongoing activities

11:30 a.m. – Children’s Gourd Rattle making workshop. Space is limited, first come, first served (on the Green)

12:00 p.m. – The Vermont Indigenous Heritage Center with Frederick Matthew Wiseman, PhD. (Auditorium in Gateway)

1:00 p.m. – Storytelling, drum music, and dancing. Chief Donald Warren Stevens Jr. and the Nulhegan Abenaki Drum Group (on the Green)

2:00 p.m. – Nebi (Water) short films and discussion with Lina Longtoe Sheehan (Auditorium in Gateway)

3:00 p.m. – Nulhegan Abenaki Drum Group – Music (on the Green)            

4:00 p.m. – Nebizun: Water is Life Gallery Talk (Schoolhouse)

The Vermont Indigenous Heritage Center with Frederick M. Wiseman, Ph.D.

Since 2008, the Vermont Abenakis and partner organizations have discussed the creation of a place for the study and teaching of Abenaki ancestral tradition.  In 2018, the Winooski Park District and the Ethan Allen Homestead Museum offered to provide a "home" for such a Center. See how this rapid transformation has taken place.

September 09, 2019

Saint Albans Museum displays Abenaki agriculture exhibition

“Seeds of Renewal” – Abenaki Agriculture Exhibit on Display at the Saint Albans Museum The Saint Albans Museum is pleased to host a special exhibition – Seeds of Renewal – on loan from the Vermont Historical Society from August 28, 2019 through October 04, 2019.

The Seeds of Renewal exhibition was created in 2018 by the Vermont Historical Society in partnership with Dr. Frederick M. Wiseman, an Abenaki community member and retired professor and department chair of humanities at Johnson State College. Frederick Matthew Wiseman developed the Seeds of Renewal Project in 2011 to recover the produce raised and consumed by the Abenaki communities of the Far Northeast, and to reclaim the traditional cuisine of the Abenaki region, along with the systems surrounding seed nurturance such as agricultural technology and engineering, song, dance, and ceremony.

The exhibit includes panels exploring Abenaki agricultural history and techniques, varieties of indigenous Abenaki plants, agricultural ceremony and harvest dinners, and cooking techniques. It also includes models of indigenous squash varieties, examples of different types of indigenous corn, and recipes. The exhibit aims to raise awareness of Abenaki agricultural history, cuisine, and ceremony, and how one can play an active role in Indigenous cultural awareness and revitalization.

“This is the first museum exhibition in Northeastern North America that is focused on the ecology of the region’s modern Indigenous peoples. It serves as a prototype for future interpretations of the critical ancestral seeds and environmental knowledges still held by Native communities from Nova Scotia to New York State. If it leads to one more crop variety saved from extinction, or an improved relationship between indigenous and Euro-American gardeners, it will have served its purpose,” said Frederick Matthew Wiseman.

Support for the exhibit was provided by a Making of Nations Grant from the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership (CVNHP) and funding from the Montpelier Community Fund.

For more information, please call (802) 527-7933 or visit www.stamuseum.org. SAM is located at 9 Church Street in St. Albans and is open Wednesday – Friday, 11:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. and Saturday, 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.

October 01, 2019

The Seven Days Newspaper

By Melissa Pasanen

Sweetwaters Chef and Abenaki Community Honor Traditional Foodways

Seated in the dining room of Sweetwaters on a recent afternoon, the Burlington restaurant's executive chef, Jessee Lawyer, pulled two tribal identification cards out of his wallet.

One had a photo of Lawyer's serious, bearded face in the top left corner. Text printed to the right said: "The card certifies citizenship in the St. Francis/Sokoki Band of the Abenaki Nation of the Missisquoi."

The second card, yellowed with age, had a photo of Lawyer's late father, John, his broad smile framed by long, dark hair.

Jessee Lawyer had just cooked a three-course demonstration meal featuring many traditional Abenaki ingredients: seared duck breast with toasted cornmeal polenta, blueberry glaze and sunchoke chips; maple-brûléed squash with smoked-squash broth, wild rice and roasted squash seeds; and a sunflower seed- and cornmeal-crusted squash pie with blueberry sauce.

According to the chef, the inspiration for the duck was an Abenaki legend in which the hero distracts an evil wizard with dried meat boiled with blueberries and maple sugar.

The duck dish became a weekend special with a mention of its indigenous connection. This meal is not what one might expect at Sweetwaters, a Church Street standby known more for burgers, nachos and salads. But since the beginning of summer, Jessee Lawyer has been offering Abenaki specials about once a week, combining traditional ingredients with indigenous and European cooking techniques.

"If you just do what was done hundreds of years ago, it's not a living, breathing culture. There needs to be growth," explained Jessee Lawyer, 32 years of age. "I just want people to recognize that this is an actual type of food. We are reclaiming and decolonizing our food ways, not only for ourselves but for the general public."

Decolonizing involves the rediscovery and honoring of indigenous traditions that have been devalued, stifled or prohibited due to colonial oppression and its aftermath.

During the eugenics movement of the first half of the 20th century, both in Vermont and nationwide, those with Native American blood were among the groups obliged to hide their heritage to avoid persecution, institutionalization and even forced sterilization.

Unlike many among the older generations, Jessee Lawyer's father, John Two-Rainbows Lawyer, openly claimed his Abenaki identity. "In my family," Jessee Lawyer recalled, "it wasn't hidden as much. My dad told me my grandmother hid it but my grandfather didn't."

Jessee Lawyer's father grew up in Alburgh, VT and Burlington, VT in the 1940’s and 1950’s. He wasn't always proud of his roots, something he later told his son he regretted. "It really wasn't cool to be Native back then," Jessee Lawyer noted with understatement.

According to the website of the Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs, at least 1,700 Vermonters claim to be direct descendants of indigenous Native communities.

Starting in the 1990’s, John Two-Rainbows Lawyer became active in the effort to gain recognition for Native Americans in Vermont. The legislature eventually established a state process for recognizing Native American Indian tribes in 2010.

Subsequent official recognition of four tribes within the Abenaki Nation — including the St. Francis-Sokoki Band, to which the Lawyers belong — prompted renewed efforts to preserve and share their history and traditions.

During his own childhood, Jessee Lawyer said, food traditions were less a focus than the Abenaki art skills of his father, which earned him a living and local acclaim.

Shortly before John Two-Rainbows Lawyer passed away in 2013, Lawyer became interested in his heritage, including the food ways.

"I was in New York State working in a pizza shop. I hadn't really begun to think of indigenous foods," he recalled. "We went up to a tribal council meeting together. Dad said, 'Learn as much as you can from Frederick Matthew Wiseman."

Frederick Matthew Wiseman is an ethno-botanist and retired professor, resides in Swanton, Franklin County, Vermont. He has Abenaki lineage on his paternal mother's side and had worked with John Two-Rainbows Lawyer over the years advocating for tribal recognition.

In 2012, Frederick Matthew Wiseman started a project called the Seeds of Renewal to find and preserve seeds cultivated by the Abenaki and other regional Native communities. He has gathered about 50 different seeds through networking. They range beyond the "three sisters" of corn, squash and beans — a popular culture understanding of Native American agriculture — to include sunflowers, Jerusalem artichokes and ground cherries. Tobacco was also grown for ceremonial purposes.

Varieties have been named for the towns in which they were saved, such as the Morrisville sunflower and the Hardwick ground cherry, or sometimes after a specific tribe, such as Koas corn. Frederick Matthew Wiseman is working with the Interval Center, the Ethan Allen Homestead Museum and Sterling College to catalog and protect the seeds.

But seed saving is just the start, he emphasized. Frederick Matthew Wiseman's goal is to build a complete understanding of traditional agricultural practices. His research indicates that the Abenaki practiced complex soil-management systems; seasonal ceremonies and cooking techniques were also integral.

"In Native society," Frederick Matthew Wiseman explained, "dances like the sun dance, rain dance and green corn dance are a very important part of the food system. We believe you cannot nurture seeds with human energy alone."

Frederick Matthew Wiseman helped start a recently established nonprofit called Alnôbaiwi, an inter-tribal organization of people with Abenaki and other Native American heritage. The word means "in the Abenaki way," explained the group's co-chair Kerry Wood during a mid-August tour of a garden in Burlington's Intervale that was planted with seeds from Frederick Matthew Wiseman's project.

"I didn't know I was Abenaki until I was well into high school," said Kerry Wood, 56 years of age. "My great aunt Jeanne A. (nee: Deforge) Brink (?) says her mother would not teach her the Abenaki language. Families would say, 'Don't talk about it. It's not safe.'"

The group is dedicated to building community around revitalizing and celebrating Abenaki culture, she explained: "If we don't [do that], then the assimilation is complete."

Alnôbaiwi partnered with Ethan Allen Homestead to host a traditional green corn celebration on September 14, 2019. It was exceptionally windy as Frederick Matthew Wiseman guided more than 75 people through traditional dances and other activities to honor the harvest of fresh corn on the cob. The corn was later roasted and eaten.

An impressive wigwam structure built from hand-hewn cedar lodge poles reached to the sky; its canvas cover had not been put on due to the weather. The outdoor kitchen was centered in a round a stone-bordered fire, flanked by colorful pumpkins, including the Abenaki varieties, Penobscot and Worcester.

Maine yellow eye beans, another traditional seed, had been cooking for hours in a bean hole dug three feet deep. They were seasoned with salt pork and maple syrup — but would have been made with bear grease and maple sugar before European contact, Wiseman explained.

Many tribal members from around Vermont came to share their expertise and stories. Shirly Hook, Doug Bent and Colin Wood were seated by another in-ground oven in which a turkey was cooking near a fire over which an elk and vegetable stew was simmering.

Shirly Hook and Colin Wood are co-chiefs of the Koasek of the Koas Abenaki Nation.

Doug Bent's great-great-grandmother was Native American, though he's not sure which tribe.

Shirly Hook, who is Doug Bent's partner, grew up in Chelsea, Vermont. "My brother found a letter from 1932," she recounted. "It was from two cousins, children, who had been taken to the Brandon Training School where they did a lot of the sterilization. They tried to telegram back to the family, but it came too late."

Shirly Hook and Doug Bent cultivate a large garden at their Braintree, Vermont home, including many varieties from the Seeds of Renewal project. In turn, they contributed the Koas corn to the effort. "We have 200 ears hanging to dry from the rafters back at the house," Doug Bent said.

Jessee Lawyer is a member of the Alnôbaiwi group, too, but he was working the day of the green corn ceremony. He knows Shirly Hook and Doug Bent and hopes they will save him some Koas corn cobs to use for smoking ingredients.

The chef continues to work on honoring the food ways of his ancestors by researching, reading and experimenting. In May at Dartmouth College, he cooked alongside a leader in Native American cuisine: Sean Sherman, a James Beard Award-winning chef from Minneapolis. In addition to continued specials at Sweetwaters, Jessee Lawyer has also made guest appearances at other local restaurants; he'll be at the Great Northern in Burlington in early December.

Jessee Lawyer appreciates the opportunity to apply his professional skills in such a personal way. Since Samuel de Champlain arrived in Québec in 1608, he said, "Our numbers have been decimated, the language is almost gone, the food crops almost lost. But we're still here; we've stood the test of time. Without practicing our culture, we become extinct."

The Ethan Allan Homestead and the Alnôbaiwi group will host a harvest celebration on Saturday, October 12, 2019 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., at the homestead.

See facebook.com/alnobaiwi for events around the state to celebrate Vermont's first Indigenous Peoples' Day on October 14, 2019.

The original print version of this article was headlined "Tribal Treasures | Sweetwaters chef and the Abenaki community honor food and agriculture traditions"

Wiseman's 'Alnôbaiwi' Organization

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The TRUTH about Frederick Matthew Wiseman PhD.- PART 7 will follow next ... 😊