Indigenous People

For decades, Indigenous people have often been the subject of documentaries — but haven't had much say in how they are represented in those films. Abenaki documentary filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin, who is based in Quebec, has spent her life's work changing that. Recently, she was recognized for her work with the Edward MacDowell Medal.

Chief Rick O’Bomsawin of Odanak First Nation – currently based in Quebec, whose ancestral lands include Vermont – says no one contacted Odanak officials during the state's Truth and Reconciliation selection process.

For the first time, the New Hampshire-based MacDowell program is honoring an artist from the Wabanaki lands where the residency takes place.

The chief of Odanak First Nation has invited Vermont’s state-recognized tribes to visit the Quebec-based Abenaki community.This comes in the midst of Odanak First Nation as well as Wôlinak First Nation — another Abenaki community based in Quebec — continuing to assert that Vermont’s state-recognized tribes have not shared the genealogical and historical evidence showing they are Abenaki.

Beverly Little Thunder has served on the nine-person Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs since 2019. In her email letter, Little Thunder said she was stepping down because of “deceit and dysfunction.”

A University of Vermont official apologized for causing harm to state-recognized tribes through an event hosted by the school last spring.The event, held last April, featured Abenaki representatives from Odanak First Nation in Quebec. They reiterated their stance that Vermont’s state-recognized tribes have not provided genealogical or historical support showing they are Abenaki.

A new sign at Sweet Pond State Park has an Abenaki word: Amiskwbi. It means beaver water. Not everyone is happy about it.

In 2021, the USDA launched its Indigenous Food Sovereignty Initiative. The goal is to rethink the USDA’s food and nutrition programs from an Indigenous perspective.

In the court Wednesday, lawyers for the state of Texas and for non-Native adoptive parents told the justices that ICWA violates the Constitution by discriminating based on race

As of Sept. 13, six Indigenous Americans are in the House of Representatives, which now has Native American, Native Hawaiian and Alaska Native members.