On April 13, 2010 3:46 PM Rhonda Besaw said...
Rhonda,
Your email was passed along to me at the Health Department. The Vital Records' Office is located within the department and we work closely with the Secretary of State's Office regarding the access and availability of the birth, death, and marriage certificates.
Vermont is one of a few remaining states that have their birth and death certificates as public records. Most recently, Puerto Rico and Maine passed laws to limit access to their certificates. At this time, only four states have no restrictions on access to birth certificates: Vermont, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Kentucky. (There is a bill pending in MA to limit access in their state.)
The vast majority of states consider their certificates as closed records, meaning that access is limited to the person, family member, or legal guardian. In some states, the certificates revert to open record after a specific number of years after the event (e.g., 50 or 100 years). In Vermont, the statutes allow anyone to access and receive a copy of any other person's birth or death certificate - no questions asked and no proof of identity or tracking.
Therefore, I'm required by statute to allow these certificates to be accessible to anyone that wishes to see them or obtain a copy. Various organizations have accessed and made copies of a town's birth and death certificates, such as the Genealogical Society of Utah and Ancestry.com. At this time, most of Vermont's birth, death, and marriage certificates are accessible at the Ancestry.com web site. This is legal and we do not have the authority to request that a person or organization remove images of Vermont's certificates.
I agree with you that access to the certificates with no limitations and lack of proof of identity or tracking creates a risk for individuals and families. Our primary concern is that anyone in the world can request a certified copy from Vermont, which contains all of the information, as well as the state seal and signature. A certified copy is used for legal purposes - proof of citizenship to access state and federal benefits, application for a U.S. Passport, etc. It would be very difficult for a person to create a certified copy based on the image from a web site, but very simple for a person to create or modify a certified copy that they are holding in their hands.
We are preparing a report for the Vermont Legislature that describes these potential fraud issues, as well as recommendations for improving the efficiency of vital records' management. We hope that the report will be released soon and that we can discuss the opportunities for improving the security of these certificates in the 2011 legislative session. We are aware that members of the Legislature share our concerns.
Please let me know if I can help with any additional questions.
Richard H. McCoy
Public Health Statistics Chief
Vermont Department of Health
108 Cherry St., PO Box 70
Burlington, VT 05402-0070
Phone: (802) 651-1862
Fax: (802) 865-7701
April 13, 2010 3:46 PM
On April 13, 2010 3:55 PM Rhonda Besaw said...
email from Richard McCoy, State of Vermont Dept of Health regarding vital records:
Rhonda,
Yes, please feel free to share this information with other parties. I receive similar questions each month and most people are surprised to learn that these records are available to anyone. It is helpful for the public to know about these certificates and how our state law differs from other states. If additional questions come up, please feel free to forward them.
Race and ethnicity data on vital records' documents are not very accurate, especially on death certificates. In the past, many people would automatically mark "white" or would make a judgment based on the appearance or name of the person. We rarely utilize the race data from those older certificates since we know it is typically poor quality. In recent years, we have asked that greater care be taken in completing this information. For example, we have asked funeral directors to ask the next-of-kin which race/ethnicity would the person have considered themself, rather than make a decision based on his/her appearance. Also, we have expanded the list of races from the original five to a list of 15 options. This has helped slightly. But yes, those old certificates should be considered carefully before making a determination based solely on the race information.
We are hoping to speak with members of the Legislature this summer, so please feel free to check in with me around July or August to see if those preliminary discussions have occurred. We consider this an important issue to address, especially since there are now a few states that are refusing to accept copies of Vermont birth certificates unless my office provides them directly.
If you need additional information for any of your discussions or letters, please don't hesitate to ask. Thanks.
Best,
Rich
MY RESPONSE:
The "defensiveness" of Rhonda Lou (nee: Besaw) True....and these Alleged and Reinvented Vermont and New Hampshire Abenaki, in the exposure of their genealogical documentation, social histories and documented historical records on this blog simply shows and provides the public evidence, that these groups, their "Chiefs" and so on, are not who these people claim to be.
These groups are solely responsible for their own legal approach to the State of Vermont and or New Hampshire governments, claiming that their groups are legitimately "Abenaki" and that their Incorporations legitimately represent the Abenaki populations in either Vermont or New Hampshire, geographically-speaking.
Their genealogical records, including their vital records, their social histories, and historical records ought to be placed out in the PUBLIC RECORD and not "hidden in plain sight" as these groups have repeatedly claimed that their ancestors were "hiding" for generations upon generations. The FACT, that these people have communicated with the State of Vermont Vital Records in their attempts to have the State of Vermont Vital Records have me remove Vital Record images from this blog (because the factual records of their ancestral histories and everything else on this blog THREATENS their lies and deceit. This blog content EXPOSES the FALSE FOUNDATIONS upon which these "Abenaki" incoporations have been).
These groups know this, I know this.
Through this blog, the PUBLIC in Vermont and New Hampshire will know this as well.
Created regalia, smiles and annumal Pow-wow events will not suffice anymore to make one legitmately "Abenaki" and neither will self-proclaimed declarations of ...."just look into my eyes and say that you are Abenaki" is not good enough anymore. Not when the "game" rules has been changed. No longer are these groups willing to simply be. Now these groups demand official State of Vermont and New Hampshire Recognition (and everything else that goes with it such as Federal/ State Grants, ICWA and IACB funding). These groups want and demand to have the same standing and foundation as legitimate bonefide historically-documented Native Communities. These groups of Alleged and Reinvented Abenaki groups (who have incorporated *under State Law) are no longer "Sovereign" Nations as they purport that they are, claiming to be allegedly "Abenaki Tribes" and/ or "Bands". No longer can these groups "hide" behind their created "stories," "myths," "Grandma-Said-So-Stories....," and their "proclaimed "Grandpa or Great-Grandma's death-bed funerary 'whisperings' that one's ancestry is alleged Abenaki." The "I am Abenaki" (without having the genealogical-social-and historical foundation) fantasies are over, fini, done and finished. These groups, who have approached the U.S. Governmental States or Commonwealth's have changed the "rules of the game" their groups have played since the mid-1970's. It is time, that these alleged and reinvented VT and NH Abenaki's either show and provide the clear and convincing evidence, or else be exposed for the realities in which they have thrived, deceived, and manipulated in, against the legitimate Abenaki ancestors and descendants who lay in and walk upon this land N'dakinna.
WHY are these groups so threatened and afraid of their own genealogical records, their own social histories and historical records from being shown and provided to the Vermont and New Hampshire Legislature's, and to the PUBLIC? Their "defensiveness" "their libelousness" and very likely "slanderousness" as well, are very indicative of hiding the seemingly apparent reality that these groups of alleged and reinvented Vermont and New Hampshire Abenakis, have lied about themselves (and their ancestral connections to the legitimate Abenakis), culturally mis-appropriated Abenaki Cultural language and materials, including Abenaki Burial remains & funerary goods.
Indeed, "someone" NEEDS TO ASK themselves, WHY is it that this "defensiveness" even exists in the first place from these alleged and reinvented Abenaki incorporations and groups? The Truth is the Truth. The Lies and Deceptions are just that......
Let's think about this a minute (or two...) IF race, ethnicity, or "color" data on vital record documents are not very accurate, especially on death certificates....and thus a vital record indicating "White" or "Caucasion" is not very accurate....then so too does the same principle/ or rule of thinking apply, for when a vital record indicates a person is "colored," "le sauvage," "Indian," or "Native American." If one uses the conclusion that such information on vital records "over a span of generations" for the same familial lineage, is not accurate information (in the record stating the person is "White") then the SAME CONCLUSIONS of thinking MUST APPLY to those Birth, Marriage and Death Vital Records that indicates a person is alleged "American Indian" (such as Homer St. Francis Sr. Death Certificate, even "Blackie" Lampman's Death Certificate or even Thomas Henry Cass' Death Record). These people can't have it both ways, one way and not the other; either the Vital Records informaion as documented on the Vital Records for their ancestors and themselves is valid or it isn't.
So, it is interesting that factually and documentarily-speaking, these groups and their alleged "Chief's"/ hmm pardon me, "Speaker's" would contact the State of Vermont Vital Records "to complain" about the contents of this blog. According to Frederick M. Wiseman of Swanton, Franklin County, Vermont......"this blog is a great resource." Then again, his words will ONLY APPLY up until the time that his own genealogical records are posted on this blog.
Indeed, the whole process of this blog will very likely expose the reality of Abenaki Cultural mis-appropriation to persons and groups of people who have merely incorporated *under State Law, and who are not even Abenaki in the first place.
Frederick M. Wiseman & Co. can imply that this blog content and commentary is just a matter of merely perpetuating "Lateral Violence." Or is it simply these groups stating this "lateral violence excuse" yet another attempt to deny their own factual genealogies, social histories, and historical records for what it truthfully has been and is? Are these groups attempting to "hide" their appropriation of a Abenaki cultural heritage, language and identity that honestly may not even belong to their ancestors and themselves? One has to wonder.....
The pathetic reality and truth of all of this....is that it is these persons and groups own genealogical record documentations, social histories and historical records are what will prove to be the factual documentary TRUTH.
