Just about everyone in the United States has heard someone claim to have a great grandmother who was a Cherokee princess. A small piece of “family history” many love to share without further knowledge or connection to any native community. A claim that harms many within the Cherokee nation and other tribes across Turtle Island. The Odanak and W8linak Abenaki communities are no stranger to this claim. Both the Odanak and W8linak communities are located in Quebec, Canada. Home to many Abenaki people, they have spent many years fighting the various claims of bad-actors trying to appropriate their traditions.
The historical homeland of the Abenaki, N’dakinna, did encompass what is now Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, and Quebec, Canada. The notion of this homeland has many people in Vermont to believe they are also Abenaki. The four state recognized tribes in Vermont are the Elnu, Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk, Koasek Traditional Band of the Koas, and the Missisquoi.
The Odanak Abenaki community continues the fight for identity preservation whilst fighting the claims of the four Vermont Abenaki tribes. Jason M’Sadoques, a member of the Odanak Abenaki community who resides in the United States, firsthand understands this fight for preservation of a human-to-human connection.
“They’re making a mockery of who we are, just by being them,” said M’Sadoques.
M’Sadoques spoke about how the chiefs of these Abenaki tribes of Vermont started as a bunch of war reenactment actors. These people did not grow up indigenous nor with claims to be indigenous until they found they could potentially benefit from this identity. M’Sadoques mentioned how he is often skeptical when people claim to be Abenaki due to the ongoing disputes between the Abenaki communities. The desire to have people learn their language and culture, in efforts of preservation, rather than appropriation, is something M’Sadoques wants to see. He wants to see the Vermont Abenaki members connect with the Odanak community in a meaningful way, but not as trying to speak with authority or claim to Abenaki heritage. To come to the table with truth, honesty, and the ability to recognize the concrete facts of history.
Between 1675 and 1748, the Abenaki people migrated north into Quebec to escape colonialism and persecution for their race and culture. Many within the Vermont Abenaki communities claim that not all Abenaki people migrated. The Vermont tribes then proceed to claim that Abenaki people had to “hide in plain sight.” Perpetuating the idea that Abenaki people in the United States had to lie and deny their heritage to escape racial violence. There is no evidence to back this claim that indigenous Abenaki people within Vermont and New Hampshire had to be in hiding. This is actually far from the truth.
Suzie O’Bomsawin, the previous director of the Abenaki office and current member of the Council of Odanak, shares how the Abenaki people after forced removal, several families returned to the southern regions of N’dakinna, such as Vermont, to find work. Many Abenaki people sold baskets and other Abenaki goods. This false narrative that Abenaki people were hiding in plain sight is causing these non-native people to carry trauma that isn’t one their family holds. Especially as the tribes of Vermont are now implementing and influencing curriculum within their school systems to teach the children of Vermont about the idea of hiding in plain sight.
“The things that happened did not happen the way they say it happened,” said O’Bomsawin, “I feel like it’s just… I would say almost like, illegal, to teach kids about something that is not true.”
She highlights the shame some children may hold over what their ancestors did or hold the grief of what the education system claims their ancestors survived. Whilst there’s the group of people who continuously perpetuate the false Abenaki claims, O’Bomsawin notes that many are likely just believing the lies they are told as children and never dug further. That the tribes of Vermont operate like a cult, with members who are brainwashed.
The United States lacks a key component of tribal sovereignty that Canada has: the Duty to Consult. The duty to consult means companies and the federal government have to consult and work with indigenous communities that operate within their lands. With this, a main company, Hydro Quebec, has become a stronghold argument for many of these Vermont Abenaki people. Victoria Barry, someone who claims to be Abenaki and is enrolled in Vermont, has previously made several claims that Hydro Quebec has bought out the Odanak people to pin them against the Vermont Abenaki people. Barry has also claimed that people within the Odanak people do not preserve their land and languages. She claims the Odanak are poisoning water and harming their communities.
This claim comes at the detriment of the Odanak community. The reality is that Victoria Barry is not Abenaki. There is no evidence to support the claim that she has even a single Abenaki ancestor, per the nearly 600 page family tree, containing 18 generations of her family history. This is a common theme across the Vermont Abenaki people. Through their genealogy, it has been shown time and time again that the people of the Vermont Abenaki tribes are French-Canadians whose families immigrated in the 1800s. The council of Odanak and W8linak have presented a full, comprehensive genealogical report of those who hold the title as chief within the Vermont Abenaki tribe, continuing to confirm the assertion that the Vermont Abenaki tribes are comprised of French-Canadians and Franco-Americans. The full report is located here through the Abenaki Heritage organization.
Suzie O’Bomsawin reminds everyone that having to pull genealogy is not natural. The Odanak and W8linak communities do not want to have to pull people’s genealogical records, but the stakes are too high. With the Vermont Abenaki tribes being consulted to rename places, being consulted on tribal affairs, and being placed in positions of power and a voice within conferences, the entire Abenaki identity is on the line. There is a duty to protect the ancestors that the state of Vermont is not upholding. Several politicians within the Vermont State Government have refused to speak and listen to the Odanak and W8linak communities. The governor of Vermont, Phil Scott, has refused to comment.
Due to the failure to properly consult the Odanak and W8linak communities, the remains of several ancestors are being repatriated from the ground and then given to these Vermont tribes. The wishes of the Odanak is that these remains are left within the ground. The ceremonial artifacts to be placed in an Abenaki museum. The Vermont Abenaki have not had care for the remains and cultural pieces. The Vermont Abenaki lack respect for Abenaki traditions, most notably, that women do not drum on the sacred powwow drum. The Vermont Abenaki tribes use songs from the Odanak, as well as other tribes in their version of powwow. Powwows are often a sacred ceremony for native people. There are just some traditions you don’t question. Not only have the Vermont Abenaki disregarded this common practice, they choose to change the tradition to suit their needs.
The high stakes of truth and reconciliation lie within this issue. There are several other tribes across the United States and Canada that also have various controversial claims to indigeneity, but the Vermont Abenaki have mountains of evidence stacked against them. It’s time for the state of Vermont to stand with indigenous people and rectify the errors of giving these people rights they should not hold. The four state recognized tribes of Vermont have denied to comment.
