Who Are the Abenaki?
The Abenaki (Wabanaki meaning "People of the Dawnland") are Algonquian-speaking peoples of northern New England and southern Quebec. In Vermont, four state-recognized tribes claim approximately 4,000 members; no Abenaki tribe has federal recognition. In Quebec, the Abenaki of Odanak and WĂ´linak have reserve status with approximately 3,000 members. The Abenaki speak Western Abenaki, an Algonquian language now with very few speakers despite revival efforts. Once occupying Vermont, New Hampshire, and western Maine, the Abenaki were largely displaced by colonial wars and fled north to French Canada, though communities persisted in hiding.
Hidden History
Vermont's official history long denied Abenaki presence—the state claimed to have no indigenous inhabitants. This erasure was deliberate: Vermont's 1936 Eugenics Survey targeted Abenaki for sterilization and family separation. Abenaki survived by hiding their identity; families kept heritage secret for generations. When Abenaki began reasserting identity in the 1970s-80s, they faced skepticism and accusations of "wannabes." This emergence from hiding created unique challenges: documentation of continuous community existence, required for federal recognition, is difficult when that existence was deliberately concealed for survival.
Recognition Struggles
Vermont recognized four Abenaki tribes in 2006-2012, but federal recognition has proven elusive. Federal acknowledgment requires documenting continuous community from historical times—documentation the Abenaki deliberately avoided to survive eugenics persecution. This catch-22 reflects how federal recognition processes disadvantage tribes whose survival strategies included invisibility. Several federal recognition petitions are pending; outcomes remain uncertain. Without federal recognition, Vermont Abenaki lack sovereignty, federal services, and many protections other tribes enjoy. Their situation demonstrates that state recognition provides limited benefits compared to federal status.
Contemporary Abenaki
Modern Abenaki pursue recognition while rebuilding cultural practices. Language revitalization works with the small number of remaining speakers and historical documentation—Western Abenaki is severely endangered. Basket making, canoe building, and traditional arts continue. The Abenaki in Quebec maintain stronger institutional standing through reserve status. Cultural tourism and education provide some economic opportunities. The Abenaki Heritage Center in Swanton, Vermont, preserves and teaches traditions. How Vermont Abenaki achieve federal recognition while rebuilding from generations of hiding, and how Quebec Abenaki maintain traditions, shapes this dawnland people's continuing emergence.
References
- Calloway, C. G. (1990). The Western Abenakis of Vermont, 1600-1800: War, Migration, and the Survival of an Indian People
- Wiseman, F. M. (2001). The Voice of the Dawn: An Autohistory of the Abenaki Nation
- Gallagher, N. L. (1999). Breeding Better Vermonters: The Eugenics Project in the Green Mountain State