Under the editorializing headline “Leaders of Vermont-recognized tribes defiant at Statehouse panel on Abenaki identity”, media source VTDigger - whose tagline “News in pursuit of truth” indicates they have some catching up to do - reported on the informational presentation held at the Vermont State House at 4:40 pm on Wednesday, April 23, 2025

The full video recording of last night’s (04/23/25) State House event, as posted on the blog here, is available for reference and sharing. It was a good evening and both well-received and attended.

The Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs (VCNAA) is hosting “An Evening with the Vermont Abenaki” to educate and engage with new lawmakers about the state’s Tribal Recognition process and hear from scholars, community members, and allies. The evening will include a presentation on the VCNAA, a look at Vermont Abenaki history and current experience, and a panel discussion.

Pitta alamizwôganal kolaloka Attean - much gratitude for your good work, Stephen! - a beautiful video storytelling…

Author and storyteller Randy Kritkausky, a federally enrolled tribal member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation who lives in Vermont, writes about awakening to Native American spiritual teachings and working with allies.

Guest Opinion by Kenneth Barnett Tankersley, Ph.D. in Native News Online December 2, 2024 - Indigenous McCarthyism seeks to establish an internal termination process through disinformation and divisiveness. State-recognized tribes have been accused of being frauds, and historically and politically problematic

“New Lights in the Dawnland” is a two hour audio documentary based on five individually recorded voices recounting 13,000 years of Indigenous history of Northfield leading up to the arrival of English colonists in the 17th Century and the impacts of colonialism that followed. Replete with tribal songs, flute and drum interludes and ambient sounds, this conversational telling of the story creates its own imagery, to the considerable satisfaction of those whose voices are interwoven throughout.

For Monday - October 14, 2024 - Vermont Governor Phil Scott issued an Executive Proclamation affirming Indigenous Peoples’ Day for this year’s observance.

“How many times does Mother Earth need to send us a message of, ‘You can’t build right next to the creek or river and not expect Mother Nature to do what Mother Nature does,’ which is, assert her right to flow freely,” said Kritkausky. 

“It has driven home the message of Indigenous people that we need to look at Mother Nature as our coequal and not some thing that we can dominate,” he said. “It just doesn’t work.” 

The Montpelier Bridge has also published the commentary (June 26, 2024) written by AJ Ruben and recently printed in several other Vermont media outlets. An unabridged, more comprehensive version can be found on his personal blog here. It is time to examine the motives and methods of those who seek to bring division in a world that needs healing and reconnection. There is a crucial difference between messages of diminishment by competition and those of collaboration by coexistence.

Over the last several years, increasing at an alarming rate over the last several months, there has been a dismaying onslaught of negative statements, presentations and media attacking the integrity and existence of Abenaki people living in Vermont. The recent attacks by some Native people and UVM-affiliated academics have and continue to cause harm – emotional pain and real physical danger - to the elders, children and all Abenaki people in Vermont.

A thoughtful, provocative essay by Jenny Odell published in Emergence Magazine dated March 21, 2024.

“Walking was reading, and every wrinkle had a meaning. If I kept looking up and around in the way I had just learned, I could really see the whole thing: the movement of rock, the signature of water.”

On Tuesday June 11, 2024 Randy Kritkausky will present “A Native American's Indigenous Perspective on the Anthropocene” as a part of the University of Vienna’s Welcome to the Anthropocene lecture series.

My son and I bleed the same color, but I’m Penobscot and he’s not. That’s because of blood quantum, a legal measure that affects our political and social rights. But there’s another way to live—and another way to understand our identity.

A news item that came across our desks makes it clear that the Federal government and the Administration understands that there is room for dialogue with Native communities of all types and standings, regardless of qualified legal status for restricted programs elsewhere.

In May, a community group will begin unveiling its work on a $37,000 study of the Native rock carvings next to the Vilas Bridge on the Vermont side of the Connecticut River. The Kchi Pôntegok Project (kit-see pohn-tuh-guk), named after the Abenaki expression for "at the Great Falls," which refers to the location of the petroglyphs. The group is at the point of wrapping up the project and members are planning public presentations of their findings.

Vermont Governor Phil Scott has renewed his annual Executive Proclamation of Abenaki Heritage & Recognition Week as of today, May 1, 2024. The week itself will run from May 5th through May 11th for this year of 2024, which is the 6th year in a row this action has been taken by the Governor.

First in the series. The Vermont Truth & Reconciliation Commission presents this series of discussions that speaks to the truth by examining history and present-day realities of the impacted communities outlined in Act 128.

Leading scholars of indigenous identity and belonging gathered at UVM on Thursday to examine contested claims of indigeneity in our region. Before the talk began, protestors were outside the Dudley H. Davis Center, proclaiming these discussions were the opposite of educational.

 "There is not one Abenaki past, but a complex, dynamic story, as their culture changed and adapted as much as that of any people," Goodby notes. Many areas most important to the Abenaki have been completely developed, like Bellows Falls, Vermont, which was once a major fishing site, village and burial ground. But Goodby says, "You can go there and look at the rivers and waterfalls that were — and are — so important to the Abenaki."