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Abenaki Fifth Grader Speaks Out After CNN Labels Native Voters 'Something Else'

When a CNN graphic seemingly dismissed Native American voters as “Something Else,” Sage Gould, a local 10-year-old from the Abenaki community, decided she needed to say something.

With some encouragement from a teacher, Sage wrote in a short email to the news network that the graphic had made her “feel really sad, because we were the first people of this country and we never get recognized for that.”

“Maybe next time,” Sage wrote, “you could do better and recognize all races of this country.”

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Rich Holschuh Rich Holschuh

Exploring Abenaki Foodways Cooking Class

Roll up your sleeves and gather in the kitchen for this virtual instructional cooking class taught by Missisquoi Abenaki chef Jessee Lawyer. Jessee will demonstrate how to create a seasonal dish showcasing Native techniques and pre-colonial, Vermont-grown and gathered ingredients. Recipes will be included so you can create the dish for your own family and friends.

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Rich Holschuh Rich Holschuh

Should Brattleboro Be Renamed Wantastegok?

A question was posed recently, publicly, from a concerned individual. To paraphrase: Would there be support for a decolonizing initiative — by this person — to change the name of Brattleboro (and its accompanying official seal) to Wantastegok?

This type of situation comes up not infrequently. It seems appropriate to make a public reply in kind, by way of making clear the principles of our responses.

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Rich Holschuh Rich Holschuh

Wabanaki Enjoying Nut Milk and Butter for Centuries

“The Wabanaki were not domesticating wild animals,” said ethnobotanist, culinary historian and author E. Barrie Kavasch, who has documented both nut milk and nut butter as indigenous traditional foods in the northeastern United States.

“Doubtless Rosier was referring to other substances used in another way that he was totally unaware of,” Kavasch said. “In Maine especially, the Maine Indians used the resources from the nuts, which are enhanced by roasting, cooking and drying.”

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Rich Holschuh Rich Holschuh

Whose History Gets Set In Stone? A Closer Look At Monuments In Vermont

As part of protests for social and racial justice arise, people have called for the removal of monuments they feel represent America's racist past. University of Vermont Art history professor Kelley Helmstutler Di Dio spoke to VPR about statues and monuments in Vermont with troubling iconography and discussed what, if anything, should be done with them.

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Rich Holschuh Rich Holschuh

Abenaki Place Names To Be Added at Parks

According to a bill passed earlier this month signed into law by Gov. Phil Scott, all of Vermont’s state parks will soon be bearing alternate place names in the language of Vermont’s original inhabitants— the Abenaki. The recently signed Act 174 requires the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation (FPR) to list the Abenaki place name on any relevant signs for sites within Vermont’s state parks.

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Rich Holschuh Rich Holschuh

Wabanakiyik Rematriation and Land Justice, with Alivia Moore

A recording of a Blue Hill Public Library program from 11/4/2020, featuring Alivia Moore, co-founder of Eastern Woodlands Rematriation Collective, to explore a Penobscot perspective on land justice. Current rematriation efforts of EWR are discussed, including Wabanaki food & healing systems reclamation, the development of a Rematriation School, and land returns.

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Rich Holschuh Rich Holschuh

Restoration of Penobscot Land Stewardship

Recently, the Elliotsville Foundation supported the #LandBack movement by returning stewardship of 735 acres of land to the Penobscot Nation. The land is in Williamsburg Township, Piscataquis County, Maine and rests between two parcels of land that are recognized as Penobscot territory.

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Rich Holschuh Rich Holschuh

Williamstown: Living on Mohican Homelands

The Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians is moving its historic preservation extension office to Williamstown, MA. What has been the relationship between the Stockbridge-Munsee community and the town of Williamstown? How are members of the Stockbridge-Munsee community maintaining their connection to their Eastern homelands, including Williamstown? How can Williamstown residents support their work? This program is sponsored by Boston Univ. School of Theology, Faith & Ecological Justice Program.

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Rich Holschuh Rich Holschuh

735 Acres Returned to Penobscot Nation

More than 700 acres of Wabanaki Territory in Piscataquis County have been returned to the Penobscot Nation through a land stewardship agreement, the tribe said in a joint statement with the Elliotsville Foundation Friday afternoon.

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Rich Holschuh Rich Holschuh

DVC Equity Speaker Series: Colonization, Decolonization and Rematriation on Ohlone Land

We live in a country founded on genocide and slavery, built on stolen land, and stolen lives. Black and Indigenous peoples share a deep wound from these foundational violations. Corrina Gould spoke about the land that Diablo Valley College is on, Karkin Ohlone land, and the past, present and future activism of Ohlone peoples, and Indigenous and non-Indigenous visitors to restore right relationship to the land and to one another.

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Rich Holschuh Rich Holschuh

On Native Land: Reflecting on Dartmouth’s Indigenous History

Fuentes noted that when people ask if Dartmouth is “fulfilling its mission,” it is always a loaded question. Does this question place specific emphasis on Native American students from tribes in Dartmouth’s vicinity? Is graduation an accurate measure of success for an education? Often, she said, these questions arise from a Eurocentric worldview.

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Rich Holschuh Rich Holschuh

Stockbridge-Munsee Community Reclaims Some of Its History

Last week, the president of Williams College announced to the school community that the college will provide office space to the Stockbridge-Munsee Community's Tribal Historic Preservation Extension Office. The community's director of cultural affairs said this week that the group is relocating its current regional office from Troy, N.Y., east to Williamstown as part of a plan to create a stronger partnership with the liberal arts college.

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Rich Holschuh Rich Holschuh

Vermont Land Trust 2020 Annual Meeting

A partner event worth sharing, demonstrating a collaborative learning approach with Elnu Abenaki and Vermont Land Trust, a leading land conservation organization in the State of Vermont.

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Rich Holschuh Rich Holschuh

Elnu Abenaki and Retreat Farm Partner for the Atowi Project

In May 2019, Vermont Gov. Phil Scott signed into law a bill officially recognizing the second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples’ Day, in place of Columbus Day. At a celebration of the occasion Monday, Oct. 12 in Brattleboro, members of the Elnu Abenaki community were happy to announce the launch of the Atowi Project, a long-term collaboration with Retreat Farm, which hosted the gathering.

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