H.880 “An act relating to Abenaki place names on State park signs” was passed into law as Act 174 this year. It requires the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation to list the Abenaki place name for sites within State parks on signs within State parks. The Commission on Native American Affairs (VCNAA) must provide the Commissioner of Forests, Parks and Recreation with a list of places with Abenaki names by March 15, 2021. The VCNAA has begun this compilation; I was asked if I could contribute advice for Sweet Pond State Park in Guilford, as it is proximate to Elnu Abenaki, and will be the first to receive new signage. The following is an example of how this work might be undertaken.

It is a traditional understanding that Creation is continual – the only constant is change. What we see now was once something else, and what may come afterward will only be known when it is here. All that we encounter is made of the same substances… combining, recombining, transitioning, growing, fading. It has all “always been here” and it is still here. We are each a part of everything else in this whole we call Creation, in a very pragmatic manner, and even now there is change underway: things will be different afterward but Creation continues.