Indigenous Basics

Weaving a Thread Through the 7 Generations

Elnu Abenaki citizen Melody Walker gives an incredibly powerful and touching insight into rebirth of the Elnu tribe. Finding pride in each other and hope for the future, Melody weaves a beautiful talk about finding one's place in creation and community. Melody is an Abenaki educator, activist, and artist.

This Land Is Whose Land? Indian Country and the Shortcomings of Settler Protest

An important and well-researched piece from Mali Obomsawin, Folkways artist with the band Lula Wiles and citizen of the Abenaki First Nation at Odanak. Click here for the article.

"This article is about improving allyship… Ignorance regarding Native people permeates all of American society– it cuts across income brackets and partisan lines, age and racial demographics, and elite and non-elite spheres at all levels of education. If this is your first encounter with concepts like Native sovereignty, aboriginal title, and federal recognition, this article is for you."

 What Is The Status Of The Abenaki Native Americans In Vermont Today?

Angela Evancie, host of Vermont Public Radio’s podcast series Brave Little State, answers a listener’s question tackling the troubling subject of the lack of awareness of the Native community’s continuance within their own homelands. How and why did this happen? And what is the reality today and looking ahead?

Read and listen to the post here.

Introduction to the Wabanaki: gkisedtanamoogk

gkisedtanamoogk is Wampanoag from the community of Mashpee located on cape cod south of Boston, Massachusetts ; he is family member of Nkeketonseonqikom, the Longhouse of the Otter, and married with three Children. His interests pertain to the social, political, legal and spiritual Life of Wabanaki Nations. He is an Adjunct Instructor with the Native American Studies and the Peace and Reconciliation Programs on the Orono campus of the University of Maine since 2005 and engages many activities of advocacy and interest to Indigenous Peoples including cross-border issues, the Wabanaki Confederacy, and building cross-cultural relationships.

Walking in Two Worlds

Part 18th century war reenactment and part traditional Abenaki hunting camp adventure, this film follows the annual gathering of a small group of Elnu Abenaki and allies that head to Lake George, NY to immerse themselves in nature and their ancestral life-ways. Their traditional clothing, hunting and fishing techniques, and drum songs are all part of this sacred living history experience.

The Melody of Language

In this short film: working closely together, Abenaki elder Eli Joseph Joubert and his mentee Jesse Bruchac lead a dedicated group of local people in learning and therefore preserving the Abenaki language before it disappears completely. People representing multiple generations gather regularly to practice and study the Abenaki language.

Ôjemowôgan Alnôbaiwi: Telling History the Abenaki Way

In this presentation, Chris Whitehead uses language as a window into the long history and enduring culture of the Abenaki people, whose ancestors have inhabited present-day New England for over ten thousand years. It examines key Abenaki words, analyzes the cultural knowledge embedded within them, and demonstrates how historians can use such linguistic evidence to complement traditional documentary research. Above all, it seeks to reveal the dynamism and richness of an Indigenous people who have long inhabited New England.

Etuaptmumk: Two-Eyed Seeing

Mi’kmaw Rebecca Thomas explains Etuaptmumk - Two-Eyed Seeing by saying it refers to learning to see from one eye with the strengths of Indigenous knowledges and ways of knowing, and from the other eye with the strengths of Western knowledges and ways of knowing ... and learning to use both these eyes together, for the benefit of all.

Read a bio of Rebecca here.