Members of Vermont’s indigenous community gathered on Tuesday to issue a call for tolerance and wider discussion after members of the Abenaki nation in Canada have called into question the validity of state recognition in Vermont.For years, Abenaki tribes in Vermont have looked to educate and celebrate their culture through talks, ceremonies and other celebrations. But for Indigenous peoples in Canada, those displays have been an insult.”There has to be a criteria to it; it can’t just be you walk up and say ‘My grandmother told me on their death bed,'” said Rick O’Bomsawin, Chief of the Abenaki Council of Odanak. O’Bomsawin insists the state’s recognition process was flawed.”This is not something that we can solve amongst ourselves. This is a problem that the state of Vermont created. It is their problem. I won’t even blame the people who came there who claim they are Abenaki, I blame the state of Vermont,” said O’Bomsawin. In 2012, Vermont officially recognized four Abenaki tribes, allowing them to receive funding for social programs, free hunting and fishing licenses, and allow them to run the state commission on Native American Affairs.Since the state did not require people to prove their genealogy, some argue that it paved the way for false claims or mistaken identity and say this risks erasing generations of history. Indigenous leaders in the Green Mountain State are defending themselves and calling for a respectful resolution.”We’re looking for connection. We’re looking for restoration. We’re looking for healing,” said Rich Holschuh chair of the Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs. “We’re not looking for divisiveness. We’re not looking for power, and we’re not looking for control.”Other tribal leaders weighed in on the conversation.”What is so hurtful to Missisquoi is that our leaders from many decades ago are being called frauds and wannabes,” said Brenda Gague, the chief of the Missisquoi Abenaki. Some leaders said there is nothing to prove.”We are legally Abenaki, we are morally Abenaki and our ancestors are Abenaki and I am Abenaki. I am indigenous,” said Don Stevens, the chief of the Nulhegan Abenaki. Recently O’Bomsawin and other members of the nation went before the United Nations to get a wider audience for what they see as threats from Vermont to their cultural integrity.”I will agree to all Abenaki people are one big family. I just want to know where your family links to mine,” said O’Bomsawin.The recent UN appearance certainly raised the profile of the claims, which has prompted Abenaki leaders from both Vermont and Canada to agree to a sit-down.Leaders are hopeful both sides can openly discuss their concerns and goals in finding a path forward. A date and time for that meeting has not yet been set.
Members of Vermont’s indigenous community gathered on Tuesday to issue a call for tolerance and wider discussion after members of the Abenaki nation in Canada have called into question the validity of state recognition in Vermont.
For years, Abenaki tribes in Vermont have looked to educate and celebrate their culture through talks, ceremonies and other celebrations.
But for Indigenous peoples in Canada, those displays have been an insult.
“There has to be a criteria to it; it can’t just be you walk up and say ‘My grandmother told me on their death bed,'” said Rick O’Bomsawin, Chief of the Abenaki Council of Odanak.
O’Bomsawin insists the state’s recognition process was flawed.
“This is not something that we can solve amongst ourselves. This is a problem that the state of Vermont created. It is their problem. I won’t even blame the people who came there who claim they are Abenaki, I blame the state of Vermont,” said O’Bomsawin.
In 2012, Vermont officially recognized four Abenaki tribes, allowing them to receive funding for social programs, free hunting and fishing licenses, and allow them to run the state commission on Native American Affairs.
Since the state did not require people to prove their genealogy, some argue that it paved the way for false claims or mistaken identity and say this risks erasing generations of history.
Indigenous leaders in the Green Mountain State are defending themselves and calling for a respectful resolution.
“We’re looking for connection. We’re looking for restoration. We’re looking for healing,” said Rich Holschuh chair of the Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs. “We’re not looking for divisiveness. We’re not looking for power, and we’re not looking for control.”
Other tribal leaders weighed in on the conversation.
“What is so hurtful to [the] Missisquoi is that our leaders from many decades ago are [now] being called frauds and wannabes,” said Brenda Gague, the chief of the Missisquoi Abenaki.
Some leaders said there is nothing to prove.
“We are legally Abenaki, we are morally Abenaki and our ancestors are Abenaki and I am Abenaki. I am indigenous,” said Don Stevens, the chief of the Nulhegan Abenaki.
Recently O’Bomsawin and other members of the nation went before the United Nations to get a wider audience for what they see as threats from Vermont to their cultural integrity.
“I will agree to all Abenaki people are one big family. I just want to know where your family links to mine,” said O’Bomsawin.
The recent UN appearance certainly raised the profile of the claims, which has prompted Abenaki leaders from both Vermont and Canada to agree to a sit-down.
Leaders are hopeful both sides can openly discuss their concerns and goals in finding a path forward.
A date and time for that meeting has not yet been set.
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