From the webpage of the University of Vermont’s Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, this announcement was posted yesterday - October 29, 2022 - following the Board’s regular meeting. We welcome this step toward building and affirming community relationships here in this landscape, led by the Division’s Amer Ahmed and Sherwood Smith and the Office of Provost Patricia Prelock.

Abenaki, Mi’kmaq and Mohawk Nations in Quebec don’t want the federal government to list the black ash tree as an endangered species — even though it’s central to some of their cultural practices, mainly basket-weaving.

Inexplicably, promoting reconciliation with Indigenous populations seems to end at the U.S. border. On this side of that boundary, Canada has actively sown seeds of hatred and attempted to undermine, indeed to reverse, Vermont’s own attempts at reconciliation with its Indigenous population, the Abenaki.

Seasonal knowledge has been central to Wabanaki sovereignty and to collective well-being in Dawnland, but a “vernal bias” has prevented scholars from fully comprehending the importance of winters in the Native Northeast. Snowshoe trails connected Indigenous nations long before Europeans ever wintered on the continent, and winter has long been a season for education and storytelling in the region.

A poem by friend and ally Duane Sherwood, published in the Commentary section of VTDigger on June 27, 2022.

People are increasingly recognizing the history and culture of Indigenous people, Elnu Abenaki leaders said Thursday at a celebration of a National Park Service grant that will allow Rockingham and an Abenaki organization to re-evaluate the importance of the petroglyphs at Kchi Pontegok, or The Great Falls.

The town of Rockingham and the Elnu Abenaki tribe joined forces to apply for a National Park Service grant for underrepresented communities, which would correct and expand the 1980s official record, with a more accurate and sensitive description of the petroglyphs and their role in the region

It is enlightening to look back at the words of Canadian Studies Professor David Massell from the podium that day, who more recently has been speaking from a very different place, the aegis of which is still under discussion. Such an about-face begs many questions, especially given his comments not very long ago.

The town of Rockingham, which includes the village of Bellows Falls, in collaboration with the Elnu Abenaki, received a nearly $37,000 underrepresented communities grant from the National Park Service to support two years of research around the site, beginning this fall.

Roger Longtoe Sheehan, Chief of the Elnu Abenaki, said he hopes the project will increase awareness about the Abenaki and the landscape they traditionally inhabited.

The hope and focus of the group is now the establishment of a Kchi Pôntegok Cultural Center. They state that the purpose of the center is, “To teach the community about a culture through use of events, festivals, and workshops.” Jones says the exact shape, size, and location of the center itself is still in the visionary and planning stages, but some funding sources have been identified.

Given the central role the University of Vermont played in the eugenics movement of the last century, one would think they might be wise to be very, very cautious when wading into international tribal politics. Apparently, that wisdom was lost on them when they decided to host a group of people claiming Indigenous legitimacy to denounce Vermont Native Americans without offering the tribes here an opportunity to speak up at the same event.

Research into the history of a petroglyph site along the Connecticut River in Bellows Falls will be getting underway thanks to a grant from the National Park Service. The hope is to share a story of Indigenous people that has not yet been told.

The island in Bellows Falls is sacred Abenaki land. It was a fishing spot for native Americans thousands of years ago and soon that history will be told from a new perspective. “There has not been a native voice informing this and that is the source, it’s why it’s here,” [Elnu] Abenaki Cultural Relations Officer Rich Holschuh said.

The town of Rockingham and the Elnu Tribe have been awarded a national grant for underrepresented communities to expand and correct the official record about the Indigenous petroglyphs at The Great Falls, considered a sacred site to the Abenaki.

The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), has announced that Swanton Public Library (SPL) in Swanton, VT is the recipient of the 2022 ALSC/Candlewick Press "Light the Way: Outreach to the Underserved" Grant. As recipient of the grant, the library will receive $3,000 to engage and uplift the voices of their Native American community, which accounts for approximately 1.5% of the Swanton, Vermont population.

With this grant, the Swanton Public Library will highlight and support local Native American populations through a multidisciplinary mix of programming and activities focused on breaking down long-standing racial prejudice.

Some very good news today: The US National Park Service has awarded an Underrepresented Communities Grant (from the Historic Preservation Fund) to the Town of Rockingham, VT (Village of Bellows Falls) for a proposal entitled "Kchi Pôntegok - Revisiting the Historic Landscape of the Bellows Falls Petroglyphs".

The Vermont House voted Wednesday in favor of establishing a state commission to study the history of racism, discrimination and eugenics in Vermont statutes.

H.96, which was approved 109-30 in an initial vote, builds on last year’s Joint House Resolution 2 — a four-page, unanimously supported apology for a 1931 law that legalized eugenics via sterilization in Vermont.

In 2021, the Vermont Legislature issued a long overdue apology for Vermont’s early 20th century state-sanctioned eugenics movement, which targeted Indigenous people and other groups…The apology left unspoken how to undo the harm. Now, a bill in the Vermont House, H.96, proposes that Vermont establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to examine what happened and possible reparations. This interview catches up with where that process is in the Vermont legislature right now.

Now posted online: the video recording for archaeologist Gail Golec's informative presentation of last Wednesday (02-16-22) entitled "Interpreting Historical Landscapes in the Upper Connecticut River Valley", sponsored by Rockingham Free Public Library and the Rockingham Historic Preservation Commission.

A preview of the soon-to-be-released tribute for the River from Quinetucket LLC. Filmmaker Vince Hogan has crafted a gorgeous hymn to the liquid heart of this landscape.

At the southern end of the Long Trail lies the tallest peak in Massachusetts, Mount Greylock. This mountain was once referred to as Grand Hoosuc or Saddleback by Abenaki people, Elnu Abenaki Tribe public liaison Rich Holschuh writes on the Green Mountain Club website.