Ms. Gagne - Disturbing Behavior from a Self-Identified Abenaki Woman

It is astounding that Ms. Gagne and Ms. Hook, white European women with absolutely no historical connection to the Abenaki Nation people, attempt to demonize one of our most treasured and talented citizens, Mali Obomsawin.

As was plain from Seven Days coverage, Ms. Obomsawin is a passionate defender of Indigenous rights with a degree from Dartmouth. And she is an extremely talented musician.  I have seen her play live – a moving experience! She contributes to the growth and well-being of our people in our ancient territory.

What contribution does Ms. Gagne make to her community? Teaching kids to sneak into the back of a ballroom to attend a scholarly event in April? Why did both Mr. Gagne and Mr. Holschuh think devising a plan to disregard registering to attend, sneaking in with children in tow after the registration table and and everyone who registered came into the event, lights went down for the Akwesasne Women Singers (AWS) started singing, this group snuck into the back seats, ignoring the rules to attend that every other adult abided by? Why not register? What was this group of people, with Richard Holschuh, children in tow attempting to subvert?  Interrupting when a speaker used an expletive? Lurking when it ended like she wasn’t sure what to do next to disrupt the speakers? Did the children she dressed up and brought to UVM that day understand what the program was all about?

I watched has they came in after lights went down, drumming upfront looking into the crowd with the AWS along with Mali O'Bomsawin in total disbelieve. This one action told me all I needed to know about there intentions and character.

Ms. Gagne tells a good story, I will give her that. I know the young Penobscot man who respectfully went to the back to speak separately with the “adults” and witnessed his actions and theirs.

Both Ms. Gagne and Ms. Hook hope to draw our attention away from their lack of Abenaki genealogy, but that is the issue. If they’d paid attention in April, they would have learned how Pretendians pose a problem to Indigenous people and universities across North America.

Obviously, Ms. Gagne did not attend secretly and slid into the event after the security and registration tables closed nor did she intend to listen to scholars invited to speak at UVM. The scholars did NOT once speak about self-identified Abenaki VT groups specifically, but to educate about the threat of "pretend-Indians" are to sovereign First Nations.

Last word: Indigenous people DO NOT dress in regalia (the self identified had on what I would consider "costumes") for a scholar event, bring "drums", children who would be bored, sneak into a registered event at a college purposely without registering, use children for their newspaper article to come later, all of this charade was a plan for newspapers and the cameras. Nice try though...

Denise Watso

Citizen of Abenaki Nation

A Federally Recognized Nation 

Another letter and another set of vague platitudes from the “Abenaki Alliance.”

FYI-Hyperlinks in blue take the reader to the relevant websites/articles

They “believe that communities are stronger when they are inclusive, respect differences, and honor a variety of lived experiences.”  That’s wonderful, but the inclusion they call for is one where no questions are asked.  Questions like “How does the Vermont Attorney General, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, New Hampshire Public Radio, and sociologist Darryl Leroux find that the vast majority of your members have no Indigenous ancestors?”

The “Alliance” avoids the tough questions by invoking their Vermont state recognition.  As if that ends the discussion.  However, that law is something that the Odanak First Nation has been disputing for over a decade.  The process has been inadequate and riddled with conflicts of interest.  It must be repealed.

And it must be understood by Vermont leaders such as UVM Provost Prelock.  The law establishes the Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs and the state recognition process.  It does not mandate that state agencies, universities, or others accept the stories being told by self-identified and state-recognized “Abenaki,” let alone invite them to consult as Indigenous representatives or tradition bearers.

Finally, the “Alliance” claims “shared heritage, family origins, and cultural traditions” with the Abenaki of the Odanak and Wôlinak First Nations.  This can’t be true.  The “Alliance” members are by and large strangers to the Abenaki people, not relatives who share family and nation.  It is true that many Abenaki enrolled at Odanak and Wôlinak have Canadian passports but it isn’t clear how Mr. Holschuh and company think this matters to questions of Indigenous rights and Abenaki history.

This Indigenous Peoples’ Day let us all find inspiration to support the true Abenaki people and demand answers from the “Abenaki Alliance.”

Christopher Roy, Ph.D.

Philadelphia, PA

October 9, 2023

A few thoughts after attending Indigenous sovereignty, Race-Shifting and University Responsibility April 28th, 2023

“I recently have retired from the Commission on Native American Affairs. The commission is staffed with, in my estimation, a whole room full of white men pretending to be native,” said Beverly Littlethunder, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.

TV Station WCAX News Coverage LINK

WCAX News in Vermont Video

The oldest of these would-be "tribes" is almost 50 years old. Most are much younger. The real Abenaki Nation? Our historically known families have been in this land since time immemorial. And we can prove it.

Vermont's Governor Scott attempts to deny our rightful home, territory, and nationhood demonstrates a shallow grasp of the illegal and unethical process by which the State of Vermont granted State Recognition to Pretendians without genealogical evidence, credible or serious expert review, or any sort of transparency or accountability. Furthermore it was riddled with conflicts of interest. State recognition is unconstitutional regardless.

One of these groups did apply for Federal Recognition and failed miserably according to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Similarly the VT AG also found evidence that the group isn't Abenaki.

The Chief of Odanak should be heard and will be heard in Vermont, as should other elected Abenaki leaders and citizens of the Odanak First Nation.

Shame on VT politicians for their ignorance and incompetence!

2017 Abenaki Elections

"NULHEGAN" AND "ELNU" CLAIMS NOT SUPPORTED BY EVIDENCE.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: "NULHEGAN" AND "ELNU" CLAIMS NOT SUPPORTED BY EVIDENCE.


February 7th, 2011

Experts assembled by the Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs failed to identify even the most obvious flaws in applications for state recognition submitted by the "Nulhegan" and "Elnu."

Here are just two examples:

1) On pages 25 & 61 of the “Nulhegan” application, there are references to Nancy Snow, a woman claimed by Luke Willard as his Abenaki ancestor and falsely identified as a granddaughter of Helen (Otôdoson) Saziboet. You may wish to consult Click on for NEDOBA website LWillard gene_faked for an investigation of these claims. Clearly, Willard and the "Nulhegans" are not in any way related to the Otôdoson family.

We would add that Helen (Otôdoson) Saziboet is a great...grandmother of Denise Watso and Jacques Thériault Watso, and many other historically-known Abenaki people. According to the Warrensburgh (NY) News (June 8, 1922) she died at Saratoga Springs, NY, where many members of her family lived either seasonally or year-round. Another of Denise and Jacques's direct ancestors, Louis Watso, walked from Lake George to Saratoga Springs to attend the funeral. Louis Watso and Helen (Otôdoson) Saziboet were brother and sister. Their father, Swassin Otôdoson, was buried in Barton, VT.

2) The “Elnu” application cites an October 1863 Civil War conscription list from an Alburgh VT Land and Miscellaneous Records Book as proof that Charles Partlow, an ancestor of some “Elnu” members, was Indian. It is clear, however, that the applicant, experts and commission must not have read the actual record at the Alburgh Town Clerk's Office. Rather, they are drawing on a transcription of the record in a book of Alburgh history. The original document clearly indicates that Charles Partlow and three other men were not considered to be Indian at the time. The names of the four Indians being paid for their wartime service were not recorded.

The Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs, their panel of experts, and the Vermont legislature have not done an acceptable job reviewing the "Nulhegan" and "Elnu" applications. What other false claims are shrouded in the secrecy imposed by legislators last year when they passed the final version of their state recognition bill?

Citizens of Vermont and true Abenaki people deserve better than inadequate review of inaccurate claims being made as part of a process created by an unjust law.

2015 Abenaki Nation - Meet the Candidates AND Penibagos (October-leaf fall maker month)

source:NACI

2015 Abenaki Nation - Meet the Candidates and Penibagos (October - leaf fall maker month)

Hosted in the Capital of New York, Albany
Saturday, October 24th, 2015
1pm to 5pm, Dinner follows

Please join the Albany, NY community for the combined “Meet the Candidates” forum,
and the annual Penibagos fall social.

This event is open to ALL citizens of the Odanak Abenaki First Nation and their families. The forum provides an opportunity for off-reserve Abenaki voters to meet the candidates and determine who best represents their values and who best understands the issues facing all Abenaki citizens, on reserve and those of us who live in communities such as Waterbury, CT, and Albany, NY.

For Candidates Invitation: Please join the community to present yourself, answer voters’ questions, and have dinner afterwards.

For Citizens and their Families: Please join your community and meet the candidates seeking to represent us as Chief and Councilors.

Where: Best Western, 200 Wolf Road, Albany, New York, 12205
Website: www.bwalbanyairport.com; Phone: 518-458-1000
When: Saturday - October 24th
Time: 12pm Doors Open for Sign-In; Begin Promptly at 1pm

Contact: Denise L. Watso
Cell: 518-334-3101
Email: ab8naki@earthlink.net

Travel well family and friends;
Kchi Wli Wni

Denise Watso

 

Côté français autre version->>

OUR FUTURE AND THE 2015 ABENAKI NATION ELECTIONS

Greeting all;


I am honored to write this message to our Abenaki citizens and their families living at Odanak, in our three large off-reserve communities at Sudbury, Waterbury, and Albany, and beyond.  I am pleased to announce that we will host  a forum for Abenaki citizens to meet this year’s candidates for chief and council on October 24, 2015, at the Best Western on Wolf Road in Albany, New York. Doors open at noon and the forum begins promptly at 1pm.  We will wrap things up at 5pm, and then enjoy a buffet dinner.


All of our citizens and their families are welcome to attend., Candidates will be given an opportunity to describe their qualifications and relevant experience, to account for time they have already spent in office, and to explain why they believe that Abenaki voters should support them. Community members will have a chance to ask their own questions as well. A moderator will direct the forum and a translator will be available for candidates to bridge the French-English divide.  I hope that all of you can join our candidates and our Albany, NY community of Abenaki families, to consider the important issues facing our nation and have a chance to hear directly from those running for office.

It is my sincere belief that we as a people need to become more involved in the life of our nation.  We need to embrace opportunities like to this to learn more about our brothers and sisters on and off reserve and those who want to serve as our Chief and our Council members.  In just the last few years I have mourned the loss of community elders and I have been haunted by what their passing means for our families and for our nation.  I have met Abenaki kin who are unable to gain their Abenaki citizenship and I have met people with no Abenaki ancestors who falsely claim our lands, our rights, and our ancestors as their own.  I have learned about the Emerald Ash Borer threatening to destroy all of the beautiful Black Ash trees that have given our people so much.  And I have learned about the harm we continue to suffer as a result of residential schools and the Indian Act.

All of this can be discouraging.  The deck seems stacked against us.  However, I believe that we can overcome these challenges and strengthen our nation.  Today, we hold the future in our hands.  Our ancestors ensured our place in this world.  It is by their love and hard work and faith that we have endured and grown.  The elders pass on and leave this world to the next generation, our generation, and it is up to us to make a difference and secure our collective future.   Come out on October 24^th to take part in this process, or contact me if you’d like to become involved in any of the community projects and events being organized in the Albany area.

WLI WNI,

DENISE