At this month’s Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs meeting, members and allies of the state-recognized tribes responded to a recent presentation at the University of Vermont. They rejected Odanak First Nation’s claims of Vermont tribes being “Pretendian.”
In the UVM presentation, held two weeks ago, Abenaki citizens of the Quebec-based Odanak First Nation repeated what that government has written in two resolutions: that due to a lack of historical and genealogical evidence, Odanak First Nation does not recognize groups calling themselves Abenaki in Vermont or New Hampshire.
Panelists said those groups — including Vermont’s state-recognized tribes — were actively harming Indigenous people by trying to replace them.
More from VPR: Odanak First Nation denounces Vt. state-recognized tribes as 'Pretendian'
But at a Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs meeting Wednesday, Chief Roger Longtoe Sheehan of the Elnu tribe disagreed.
“They're trying to say we're trying to erase them,” Sheehan said. “That's not what's going on. They're trying to erase us down here.”
Others at the meeting said they had heard from parents of students at UVM who said they are now afraid to identify as Abenaki.
“And the concern is from their kids, who are saying, ‘Are we safe? Are we safe at University of Vermont?’” said Jeff Benay, a member of the Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs. “Because if they weren't actually at this event, they heard. And they heard that the way the American Abenaki — the Vermont Abenaki — were castigated.”
“They're trying to say we're trying to erase them. That's not what's going on. They're trying to erase us down here.”Chief Roger Longtoe Sheehan of the Elnu Abenaki Tribe
The Commission voted Wednesday to write a letter to UVM and the professor who helped organize the event.
VPR reached out to Wôlinak First Nation — the second Abenaki community based in Quebec — as well as Gov. Phil Scott’s office.
Wôlinak officials declined to comment, and Scott’s spokesperson sent the following statement:
“The Governor hasn’t been briefed on the Odanak First Nation's position, but he is confident in the thorough process Vermont went through in the 2000s that led to State recognition under Governor Douglas.”
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