NAFPS Forum

She's one of those it's pretty easy to make a call on. A mix of just about everything.

http://www.nancyredstar.com/lestan/nancy2.htm
"Nancy Red Star, daughter of the Cherokee, is a citizen of the Sovereign Republic of the Abenaki Nation of Missiquoi, St. Francis/Sokoki Band. She lectures and leads workshops throughout the United States on the teachings of the Star Ancestors. Nancy currently resides in Taos, New Mexico.
UFO's NO THREAT: Official Eyewitness Testimony, Now Available from this site only!!  
 Personal Consultation    Books by Nancy Red Star  Upcoming Events
 Writer's Retreat   Weaponizing Space  "For Your Eyes Only"   Wing Makers Museum  
 Mystery School Course   Audio Tapes Video Film Archive  Taos Intensive  Red Star Library Archive
Documentary Film, "Star Ancestors... Guardians of the High Frontier" Narated by Dean Stockwell    

PERSONAL CONSULTATION WITH NANCY RED STAR
For individual consultation and questions about personal transformation, UFO experiences, earth changes and the time of purification, speak with Nancy Red Star by telephone at (505) 776-5038.
Call for appointment.
One hour: $75.00 One hour and a half: $100.00"

http://www.aztecufo.com/speakers/nancy-red-star.htm
"Nancy Red Star will be a guest speaker at the Aztec UFO Conference to share excerpts from the "Star Ancestors" Trilogy and in addition she will be reading from her two new titles, "Life with a Cosmos Clearance" and "UFO's - No Threat, Official Witness Testimony" which explores the connections that exist between extraterrestrials, the International Military Complex and Indigenous cultures throughout the world."

http://www.mysterious-america.net/redstarinterview.html
"Nancy Red Star: Between the indigenous people and the military people that were in that Disclosure Project, because I've been working with them, there's a couple of messages. One is the idea or the premise that right now this planet is a burning mass of domestic violence and most of it is territorially inter-racial. The colors - the red man, the white man, the yellow man, the black man and the brown man - you could say the five root races - can't accept each other. Now with that premise going forward, it's very difficult if people can't accept their neighbor to be able to accept other races from other realms, other planets, other universes, other worlds. This process is an evolutionary process for us. It's not just a transition or a phase we're going through. We're actually moving into other dimensions of reality."

Quote
Quoting Nancy Red Star at http://www.mysterious-america.net/redstarinterview.html
The colors - the red man, the white man, the yellow man, the black man and the brown man - you could say the five root races - can't accept each other.

That revolting "five root races" idea comes from Blavatsky's Theosophy and Steiner's Anthroposophy. The upshot of it is that the Aryan fifth root race inherits the earth from non-white people, who are the remnants of the other four root-races. Non-white people are supposed to have stopped evolving, and to be degenerating into ape-like creatures, because they refuse to 'evolve' spiritually.

Now im really lost, confused as to what she isng here ,besides being a idiot....

Thanks so much for this information.I have heard of Nancy Redstar.

Miss Red Star sounds like a follower of Tecumseh Brown Eagle and Mary Sutherland. Are the "Ancestors" extra terrestrials or Africans/Moors/Egyptians etc? Has anyone investigated her claims of being Cherokee or Abenaki? From what I've seen she is just selling books, not Native ceremonies.

Nancy Red Star


Title of Lecture: "Legends of the Star Ancestors"

In "Legends of the Star Ancestors" traditional wisdom keepers from diverse cultures share their insights into how Earth's environmental and social cries are part of a larger cosmic plan for the planet's transition into an enlightened age. Furthermore, the Star Ancestors that once seeded the Earth remain with us today in order to assist and guide us through this time of transformation.

Healers and teachers from American Indian, Israeli, Tibetan, Australian aboriginal, Islamic, Japanese, and Celtic backgrounds share their knowledge of the role Star Ancestors have within their respective traditions and how this wisdom participates in a larger global vision of Earth's future. We further learn how star beings continue to make contact on Earth today through UFOs, the Dreamtime, and physical encounters.

Nancy Red Star will be a guest speaker at the Aztec UFO Conference to share excerpts from the "Star Ancestors" Trilogy and in addition she will be reading from her two new titles, "Life with a Cosmos Clearance" and "UFO's - No Threat, Official Witness Testimony" which explores the connections that exist between extraterrestrials, the International Military Complex and Indigenous cultures throughout the world.

In addition, Red Star will be screening the pilot for her documentary film entitled, "The Bright Ones" which previews the Testimony of both Military and Indigenous Leaders.

Please join her at her booth to speak and consult with her.

Nancy Red Star, daughter of the Cherokee, is a citizen of the Sovereign Republic of the Abenaki Nation of Missiquoi, St. Francis/Sokoki Band. She lectures and leads workshops throughout the United States on the teachings of the Star Ancestors. Nancy currently resides in Taos, New Mexico. 

To Contact Nancy Red Star:
email: nancy@nancyredstar.com
Website: nancyredstar.com

Quote from: Don Naconna link=topic=820.list]

Nancy Red Star, daughter of the Cherokee, is a citizen of the Sovereign Republic of the Abenaki Nation of Missiquoi, St. Francis/Sokoki Band. She lectures and leads workshops throughout the United States on the teachings of the Star Ancestors. Nancy currently resides in Taos, New Mexico. 


To Contact Nancy Red Star:
email: nancy@nancyredstar.com
Website: nancyredstar.com

That so called abenaki tribe is fake and has been determined back in 2007 by the BIA. Here's the article I've taken from the DOI website:  http://www.doi.gov/news/09_News_Releases/SalazarApplaudsLEHConfirmPR.pdf

My bold.

Lim Lemtsh

Diana


OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY INDIAN
AFFAIRS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Nedra Darling
June 22, 2007 Ph: 2022194150

Artman Issues a Final Determination to Decline Acknowledgment
of the St. Francis / Sokoki Band of Abenakis of Vermont

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Carl J. Artman today issued a final
determination not to acknowledge the petitioner known as the St. Francis/Sokoki Band of
Abenakis of Vermont as an Indian tribe. This petitioner, located in Franklin County in
northwestern Vermont, has 1,171 members with enrollment files completed to the petitioner's
satisfaction.

The petitioner claims to have descended as a group mainly from a Western Abenaki Indian tribe,
the Missisquoi Indians, in northwestern Vermont. The available evidence indicates that by 1800
the disruption caused by colonial wars and nonIndian settlement had forced almost all the
Western Abenakis in northern New England to relocate to the Saint Francis River area of
Quebec, Canada. The petitioner claims that its ancestors remained behind in northwestern
Vermont or moved to Canada until it was safe to return, hiding their Indian identity until the
1970's to avoid notice by their nonIndian neighbors. However, the available evidence does not
support these claims. Instead, it indicates that the petitioner is a collection of individuals of
claimed but mostly undemonstrated Indian ancestry with little or no social or historical
connection with each other before the petitioner formally organized in the 1970's.

The petitioner did not satisfy four of the seven mandatory criteria for acknowledgment under 25
CFR Part 83, specifically criteria 83.7(a), 83.7(b), 83.7(c), and 83.7(e).

Criterion 83.7(a) requires that external observers have identified the petitioner as an American
Indian entity on a substantially continuous basis since 1900. The available evidence
demonstrated that external observers identified the petitioner as an American Indian entity on a
substantially continuous basis since 1975, not since 1900.

Criterion 83.7(b) requires that a predominant portion of the petitioning group has comprised a
distinct community since historical times. The available evidence demonstrated that at no time
since the early contact period did the petitioner show that it was a distinct community. Even
since the 1970's, the petitioner has not demonstrated that a significant portion of its membership
regularly associate with each other or that its recent social and cultural activities are of more than
symbolic value to the group as a whole.

Continued Sokoki Band of Abenaki
Page 2

Criterion 83.7(c) requires that the petitioning group has maintained political influence over its
members as an autonomous entity since historical times. The available evidence did not
demonstrate that the petitioner maintained political influence over its members at any point in
time. Even since the 1970's, the petitioner did not show widespread participation by the group's
members in political meetings or legal issues. Instead, it appears that political influence is
limited to the actions of a few group members pursuing an agenda with little input from the
membership.

Criterion 83.7(e) requires that a petitioner's members descend from a historical Indian tribe. The
available evidence demonstrated that only 8 of the petitioner's 1,171 members, less than 1
percent, demonstrated descent from an Indian ancestor who once belonged to the historical
Missisquoi Abenaki Indian tribe. The available evidence does not show that these eight
individuals associated with the petitioner before the 1990's.

The petitioner met three of the seven mandatory criteria for acknowledgment: 83.7(d), 83.7(f),
and 83.7(g).

Criterion 83.7(d) requires that the petitioner provide a copy of its governing document.

Criterion 83.7(f) requires that the petitioner's membership be composed principally of persons
who are not members of another federally recognized Indian tribe.

Criterion 83.7(g) requires that the petitioner not be subject to legislation forbidding the Federal
relationship.

The petitioner did not meet all of the seven mandatory criteria? therefore, it did not qualify for
acknowledgment under the Department's regulations.

This determination is final and effective 90 days after publication of a notice in the Federal
Register, unless any interested party requests reconsideration with the Interior Board of Indian
Appeals.

The Department made the final determination following a review of the petitioner's and the
public's comments on the proposed finding, which the Department issued on November 9, 2005.
See the Department of the Interior website at (http://www.doi.gov) for copies of the proposed
finding and final determination.

DOI 

[/list]

I'm always curious about what kind of real, day jobs some of these people have.

Redstar just sent a series of emails where she posed as working for or with the Attorney General of Vermont. I've forwarded them to the actual Attorney General's office.

In her clumsy impersonations, she demanded our contact information, oblivious to the fact that she already has it.

But to make things comical, she chose a Youtube email address as her own contact address.

My email responding follows.

----------------------

NancyRedStar sent you a video: "Abenaki Black Ash Basket Demonstration" Friday, July 24, 2009 7:27 PM
From: This sender is DomainKeys verified"YouTube Service" <service@youtube.com>
 
NancyRedStar has shared a video with you on YouTube:

Need Your Full Contact Information For The Attorney General Of The State Of Vermont For Defamation of National Heritage 

-----------------------

Contact Information Friday, July 24, 2009 7:33 PM
From: "Nancy Red Star" [email address deleted]

NAFPS~

This is a formal request for you to respond with your contact information for The Attorney General of the State of Vermont.

Nancy Red Star

----------------------

Obviously this request is not from the Atty General's office. It is illegal to impersonate law enforcement as you are doing. I have forwarded this illegal impersonation to the actual Atty General's office.

This email address is our usual contact address. People can also simply go to the forum.

It's not clear why the links to videos were sent to us. All we can guess is that you're upset that we point out your "tribe" is made up of pretenders and that you sell seminars to the UFO crowd.

We always seek out as much information as possible and welcome discussion. If you wish to comment on what we've written, you are welcome to join and do so. I could also repost any statement you wish to make.

Just when you thought it couldn't get any weirder, Red Star is accusing us of being Satanists.

----------------

Re: Contact Information Saturday, July 25, 2009 7:25 AM
From: "Nancy Red Star" [address deleted]

Yes~ The request is from me~ For the Attorney General.

Good Luck 666

NRS

Found this about the St Francis "tribe." Ironically, posted on their own website is the State of Vermont's debunking of their claims of being a tribe. It's over 250 pages long, so I'm only posting the very self explanatory table of contents, followed by a very revealing investigation of the group's internal workings. Page numbers are left in.

-----------------------
http://www.abenakination.org/STATE.pdf

STATE OF VERMONT'S RESPONSE
TO PETITION FOR FEDERAL ACKNOWLEDGMENT
OF THE ST. FRANCIS/SOKOKI BAND
OF THE ABENAKI NATION OF VERMONT
STATE OF VERMONT
WILLIAM H. SORRELL, ATTORNEY GENERAL
Eve Jacobs-Carnahan, Special Assistant Attorney General
December 2002
Second Printing, January 2003
CONTENTS
ABBREVIATIONS... v
MAP...vi
LIST OF TABLES...vii
INTRODUCTION...1
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND...............................................................................................1
Historic Tribe Elusive ...................................................................................................1
Major Scholars of the Western Abenakis .....................................................................3
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.......................................................................................5
Seventeenth-Century History is Sketchy ......................................................................5
Some Noteworthy Events of the Seventeenth-Century ................................................7
EIGHTEENTH CENTURY ..........................................................................................8
Population Movements In and Out of Missisquoi During the Eighteenth
Century ...8
Grey Lock's Dominance..................................................................................10
Epidemic and Slow Repopulation: 1730-1740 ...............................................11
Missisquoi Villagers Move to Odanak/St. Francis: 1744-1760 ......................12
Return to Missisquoi: 1763-1775.....................................................................16
Abandonment of Missisquoi During American Revolution............................22
NINETEENTH CENTURY.........................................................................................28
The Insubstantial Evidence of Continued Tribal Presence in the Nineteenth
Century ...28
Comments on Recent Scholarship ..............................................................................36
i
Countervailing Evidence that the Missisquoi Did Not Return to Vermont as a
Tribe After 1800..............................................................................................41
Travelers, Historians, and Surveyors of Indians..............................................41
Federal Census Enumerations..........................................................................46
Sightings of Indian Visitors and the Basket Trade..........................................50
Rowland Robinson's Indian Friends................................................................55
French-Canadian Migration to Vermont .........................................................61
Caughnawagha Claims Presented to Vermont Legislature .........................................64
TWENTIETH CENTURY...........................................................................................67
Twentieth Century Claims of Abenaki Continuity .....................................................67
The Eugenics Survey of Vermont ...............................................................................67
ANALYSIS OF CRITERIA...78
CRITERION (A)—IDENTIFICATION BY OUTSIDERS....................................................78
1900 to 1929 ...82
Researchers Identify Vermont Abenakis as Tribe of the Past ........................82
Federal Government Records Identify Only a Tiny Number of Individual Indians ...........................................................................................87
Records of the Vermont Eugenics Survey Do Not Identify Any
Abenakis...89
Newspapers Fail to Identify Any Abenaki Tribe in Vermont ........................92
Swanton Birth Records ...................................................................................93
1930 to 1947 ...94
External Observers Silent on Existence of Any Contemporary
Abenaki Tribe .................................................................................................94
ii
1948 to 1973...96
Researchers Failed to Discover Any Contemporary Vermont
Abenaki Tribe .................................................................................................96
Other Material Attests to Absence of Abenaki Tribe From Vermont ..........108
1974 to 1981...110
External Observations ...................................................................................110
1982 to Present ...118
External Observations ...................................................................................118
Summary of Failure of Evidence to Satisfy Criterion (a) .........................................119
CRITERION (B)—COMMUNITY ......................................................................................121
Swanton Church is French Canadian, not Indian ......................................................123
No Indian Cemetery was Used by Petitioner's Ancestors in Twentieth Century......126
No Indian School Existed in Franklin County ..........................................................128
Petitioner's Ancestors Were Active Participants in White Business and
Social Groups ...128
There Has Not Been a Continuous Geographic Concentration of Indians in
Franklin County...131
The Petitioner Did Not Immigrate to Vermont as a Group at Any One Time...........132
The Abenaki Language Was Not Spoken by Petitioner ...........................................140
Cultural Practices Were Not Retained in Any Abenaki Community in
Vermont ...141
Membership in the St. Francis/Sokoki Abenaki is Loose and Fluid .........................142
There Were No Social Ties Between the Bulk of Petitioner's Ancestors
and the Visible Abenakis in Vermont........................................................................144
Summary of Failure of Evidence to Satisfy Criterion (b)..........................................147
iii
CRITERION (C)—POLITICAL AUTHORITY ..................................................................148
Vermont Abenaki Silence in the Face of 1950's Caughnawagha Land Claims........149
Creation of Abenaki Tribal Council in 1974.............................................................152
The Petitioner's Political Organization was Dominated by One or Two
Families...154
Summary of Failure of Evidence to Satisfy Criterion (c)..........................................160
CRITERION (E)—DESCENT FROM HISTORIC TRIBE .................................................160
An Overview of the Progenitors ...............................................................................162
Moody's Genealogical Work is Incomplete and Speculative ...................................166
Petitioner's Family Charts Do Not Trace Back to Any Historic Lists of
Known Abenaki Indians ...........................................................................................169
Petitioner's Family Charts Do Not Include Anyone Identified by Federal
Census as Indian From 1870 to 1910 ........................................................................172
Petitioner's Other Lists From Censuses are Speculative ..........................................175
Petitioner's Evidence of Indian Births is Contradicted by the Original
Records...177
Individual Family Genealogies Contain Unproven Assumptions of Abenaki
Heritage...183
Petitioner Self-Identified as White ............................................................................191
Summary of Failure of Evidence to Satisfy Criterion (e) .........................................194
CONCLUSION ...194
SOURCES AND AUTHORITIES........................................................................................196
ATTACHMENTS
Affidavit of John Alexander Dickinson
Affidavit of J. Kay Davis
iv
INTRODUCTION
This Response to the Petition for Federal Recognition of the St. Francis/Sokoki Band of the Abenaki Nation of Vermont is submitted by the Vermont Attorney General's Office on behalf of the State of Vermont. The response follows the format of recent proposed findings and final determinations issued by the Bureau of Indian Affairs ("BIA"). After an examination of the historical background of Indians in Vermont, the response addresses four of the criteria for federal acknowledgment set forth in the federal regulations at 25 C.F.R. 87. Two affidavits of experts consulted by the State are attached to this Response to the Petition. Accompanying this filing is a collection of Exhibits comprised of articles, government records, newspapers, and manuscripts that are referred to in the response.1
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Historic Tribe Elusive
A natural starting point in the historical examination of an Indian tribe would be the identification of the historic tribe. In this case, that is not so easy. The petition itself illustrates the difficulty. The original petition was submitted in 1982 by the St. Francis/Sokoki Band of the Abenaki Nation of Vermont. See "Resolution of Abenaki Tribal Council" (Petition:ii). Later correspondence to the BIA is from the Sovereign Republic of the Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi. See, e.g., 1995 Certification of Records with re-submitted

1
petition. These two different names for the petitioner suggest three possible historic tribes: St. Francis Abenaki, Sokoki, and Missisquoi.
The St. Francis Abenaki is, and was, a Canadian tribe based in St. Francis, Quebec, also known as Odanak, Quebec. The Sokoki, a tribe within the Wabanaki confederacy, inhabited the Connecticut River Valley along the border between Vermont and New Hampshire. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries they resettled at Odanak/St. Francis. In fact they may have been the earliest residents of Odanak/St. Francis (Day 1981b:12-15, Haviland & Power 1994:219-27). The Missisquois inhabited the upper Lake Champlain region on the western side of Vermont. They have often been thought to be an offshoot of the Abenaki tribe at Odanak/St. Francis.2 Even the petitioner admits that "the Missisquoi villagers were never a tribe," but rather a changing group of families who hunted in the area (Petition:15). The confusion in nomenclature in the petitioner's own submissions may indicate a more serious ambiguity as to identity and an uncertainty about community and descendancy.
The word Abenaki (or Wabanaki) refers to a group of Algonquian speaking tribes in Northern New England. Abenaki means "people of the dawn." They are divided into the Eastern Abenaki and the Western Abenaki. The Eastern Abenakis originally inhabited Maine and parts of New Hampshire. The name for these people stems from coastal view of the sun rise. Eastern Abenaki groups or tribes include the Penobscot and Maliseet. Western Abenaki include the Sokokis and Cowasucks of the upper and middle Connecticut River
2 Indeed, the relationship between the St. Francis Abenaki and the Missisquoi groups is an intriguing puzzle embedded in this petition. If the Missisquoi was a separate tribal entity from the Abenaki at Odanak/St. Francis, then that historic tribe would have a claim for acknowledgment in the United States. If the Abenakis at Missisquoi were only an outlying temporary settlement of the St. Francis Abenakis then their claim should be directed toward Canadian First Nation status and the reservation
2
Valley of Vermont and New Hampshire, the Pennacooks and Winnepesaukees of the upper Merrimack River in New Hampshire, and the Missisquoi on Lake Champlain (Calloway 1986:198, Dickason 1990:87).
established in Quebec. As will become evident in this Response, the ultimate significance of this puzzle may not matter, given the post-1800 history of Indians, or the lack thereof, in Vermont.
The petitioner claims its historic origins lie in the northern Lake Champlain Valley, near Missisquoi Bay in Swanton, Vermont, the same area in which most of its members reside at present. This would suggest that petitioner's members view themselves as descendants of the Missisquoi, not the Sokokis. The history of the Abenakis of Missisquoi and those of Odanak/St. Francis is extensively intertwined. The inclusion of the St. Francis tribal name in the petitioner's original submission indicates a sense of affiliation with that Canadian tribe. One theme of this Response to the Petition is that the Missisquois drew closer and closer to the Abenakis of Odanak/St. Francis so that by 1800 they were indistinguishable.
3
........
35
....From this critique, the weakness of the petitioner's evidence of continued Abenaki presence is apparent. The sightings of Indians in the state are rare, because they no longer lived here as a community in any real sense. Those that were here were purposely visible, making use of their differences for economic gains. Others who may have had some Indian ancestry, but chose to assimilate into the white culture, were no longer identified by outsiders as Indian because they no longer lived in an Indian community.
Comments on Recent Scholarship
With such feeble evidence of continued Abenaki presence in the Missisquoi region, it seems surprising that recent scholarly works have repeated the blanket statement that the Abenakis maintained their connections to the area throughout the nineteenth century. However, closer examination of these works reveals that they all rely on the petition, or its primary author, John Moody, for support. He was hired by the Abenaki Tribal Council in February 1978 to conduct research to find support for the petition, and worked with Abenaki assistants in 1978 and 1979 carrying out that research (Petition:128, 153). Moody once described himself and his connection to petitioner thus:
I am a student of Native American studies at Dartmouth and a Vermonter searching out my roots and ancestry. For the past two months I've been working on a narrative history of the Wabanaki peoples who lived and still live in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Quebec. My intent is to fill an expressed gap in the Native American history of this area....There are presently some people working on reconstituting Abenaki identity in Northern Vermont who are interested in my work. (Moody 4/24/1976).
36
He developed strong ties to the petitioner, even giving the eulogy at the funeral of Chief Homer St. Francis (Burlington Free Press 7/12/2001). Since Moody has been working for the petitioner and relies heavily on family assumptions and declarations of Indian heritage in the recurrent absence of documentary proof of Indian ancestry, then his work is merely self-identification. Such self-identification, without proof through external sources, is insufficient under the federal criteria for tribal acknowledgment (59 Fed. Reg. 9280, 9286, BIA MaChris Lower Alabama Creek Indian Tribe 1987:5, 32-35).

Pt 2

---------------

37
Countervailing Evidence that the Missisquoi Did Not Return to Vermont as a Tribe After 1800
As pointed out above, the weight of the evidence cited by the petitioner in favor of its case for continuity of Missisquoi settlement and community is questionable given the ambiguities in the material and the amount of guessing necessary to interpret it. The speculative conclusions that the petitioner draws from the scarce evidence it cites must be viewed in context. There is a large body of evidence that indicates that during the nineteenth century there was no continual presence of any Indian tribe in the Missisquoi region, or elsewhere in northwestern Vermont. This evidence includes journals of travelers, surveys of Indians, town histories, and census records.
Travelers, Historians, and Surveyors of Indians
There were a number of travelers and contemporary historians who wrote about Vermont during the nineteenth century. Some of these individuals took a specific interest in Indians, whenever they encountered them. The fact that they never came across a community of Indians in northwestern Vermont along Lake Champlain is significant....

41
Membership in the St. Francis/Sokoki Abenaki is Loose and Fluid
....In contrast, other petitioning groups have been denied acknowledgment when they have been created by a fluid membership recruitment process. This was the case for the Southeastern Cherokee Confederacy, the Northwest Cherokee Wolf Band, and the Red Clay Inter-tribal Indian Band (BIA Southeastern Cherokee Confederacy 1985a:5).
All three are recently formed voluntary associations of individuals who believe themselves to be—and in some cases are—of Indian descent. Additionally, they are overtly multi-tribal. Their recruitment notices state that specific tribal heritage is not a consideration for whether or not a person may join one of the groups—only a certain blood quantum. (BIA Southeastern Cherokee 1995a:54).
As the BIA put it, this is the "direct antithesis of belonging to an historic tribal community through birth or marriage" (BIA Southeastern Cherokee 1995a:55).
The members of the St. Francis/Sokoki Abenaki of Vermont do not exhibit the clear sense of belonging to a tribe that the Narragansett display. It is difficult for outsiders, such as the State, to know very much about internal membership disputes, but some have crept into
142
the public view. In 1977, Chief Homer St. Francis threatened to kick people out of the tribe. Wayne Hoague, the first chief of the reconstituted Abenaki Tribal Council, filed a complaint with the State about the tribe's mishandling of funds. According to the Burlington Free Press:
In his complaint, Hoague said, "People who are card holding members (of the tribe) are being told by Homer St. Francis (present Tribal Council chairman) that if they don't like the way things are being done he will take their Indian cards away." (Burlington Free Press 1/17/1977).
Chief St. Francis's method of dealing with Hoague was repeated in his treatment of another political opponent ten years later, as seen in the following news report of a tribal meeting:
There were allegations of misuse of funds and power tossed back and forth. One voice could be heard to say: "The bylaws say if the chief or anyone else is a nuisance, you can throw him out."
Another voice, this one female, yelled: "Throw Joan (St. Pierre)." Someone apparently made a motion to that effect. The screamed yeas and nays sounded of equal volume but St. Francis announced that St. Pierre had just been kicked out of the tribe. (Rutland Herald 11/2/1987; compare Burlington Free Press 5/1977).
This was not simply ouster from a meeting; a year later, Joan St. Pierre was not allowed to vote at an Abenaki election, because, according to Homer St. Francis, she had been "thrown out of the tribe" (Burlington Free Press 10/10/1988).
There have been splinter groups that have left the tribe because they opposed the leadership. These included Homer's niece Connie Brow, who was instrumental in forming the Traditional Abenaki of Mazipskwik and Related Bands in 1995, as well as others in the 1990's (Burlington Free Press 10/29/1995, Wiseman 2001:181-86).
There are also examples of pan-Indian attitudes among the Abenakis in previous decades. According to the petition in 1982, "[t]he community, now as in earlier times, has always been receptive to Indian families from anywhere in the northeastern United States and
143
the border region with Canada" (Petition:158-59). At that time, any Indian, no matter whether he or she was descended from a historical Abenaki group in Vermont, could be welcomed into the group.
In 1995, the Abenaki Tribal Council apparently instituted a major change in the tribal constitution's criteria for membership. This was undertaken specifically to improve the group's eligibility for federal acknowledgment (Burlington Free Press 11/7/1995). This change reflects vagueness as to the identity of the tribe, both now and in the past. It indicates a lack of certainty over the real shape of the tribe. Its composition was not fixed and identifiable; rather it was subject to alteration by the petitioner. The standards for evaluating Abenaki tribal identity over the years have changed depending on the circumstances. This is the opposite of a clearly defined community whose members know each other and who have been inter-twined as an Indian community since historic times.
144
Creation of Abenaki Tribal Council in 1974
It was not until 1974 that a constitution was adopted and a formal organization for the St. Francis/Sokoki Abenaki was created71 (Baker 1976:8, Wiseman 2001:156). Fred Wiseman, a member of the petitioner, observed that the creation of a tribal government was very challenging since none had existed before (Wiseman 2001:152). He said the new organization grew out of an awareness created by the "Red Power" movement of the 1960's (Wiseman 2001:152).
It appears that the primary purpose of the organization was to pursue claims against state and federal governments for recognition. It called this work "status clarification," and pursued it through activities related to membership, correspondence with other tribes, and appearances before government agencies (Petition:129). Jane Baker's 1976 Report to Governor Thomas Salmon said as much: "First and foremost is the campaign [by the Tribal Council] toward formal recognition by the State of Vermont which will render the
71 The petition says the Council was formed in 1975, but the other documents give 1974 as the date (Petition:123).
152
membership eligible for application to receive congressionally mandated funds" (Baker 1976:13).
The 1970's Abenaki tribal organization does not appear to have been primarily formed for the purpose of self-government. Its focus was on obtaining benefits from the state and federal government through recognition. In the Duwamish case, an organization "which existed to pursue claims rather than to provide self-government" was found insufficient to satisfy Criterion (c). (BIA Duwamish Tribal Organization 1996:5, 10).
There is also a significant question as to whether the mid-1970s Abenaki Tribal Council was a voluntary membership organization or the governing body of a pre-existing tribal structure. Jane Baker described the Tribal Council as a "two year old membership organization" that issues cards "verify[ing] that the holder is an Abenaki Indian or descendant of Abenakis" (Baker 1976:11). She reported to Governor Salmon in 1976 that there were 1700 Abenakis in Vermont. However, she also stated there were only 400 card-carrying members (Baker 1976:11). Thus the Abenaki Tribal Council could not even count as members a quarter of the individuals claiming Abenaki heritage. Moreover, Wayne Hoague, the first chair of the Abenaki Tribal Council, stated in 1977 that there were only 176 adult voting members of the group, plus 120 children (Hoague 1/12/1977). In the 1970's support and membership in the petitioner's organization was not widespread. Even the petitioner concedes that the creation of a governing body for the group was artificial and unnatural:
Families and individuals long accustomed to taking care of themselves have only gradually come to reckon with the Tribal Council as a significant factor in their lives. (Petition:126).
The newly created Tribal Council of the 1970's did not have political authority.
153
The Petitioner's Political Organization was Dominated by One or Two Families
The focus on obtaining recognition and federal money, and the way that federal money was used, became a point of contention within the petitioner's group. In the 1970's, and again in the 1990's, many members of the group questioned whether the St. Francis/Sokoki organization really represented the views of the Abenakis in the region. There was not wholehearted acceptance of the new self-proclaimed tribal government.
The very first chair of the Abenaki Tribal Council, Wayne Hoague, became the first loud critic of the new organization. Although Wayne Hoague had been one of the original organizers of the new government, he stepped down from chair of the Tribal Council in less than one year (Wiseman 2001:152, 154). He was succeeded by Homer St. Francis who served from 1974 to 1980, and would later be chief again (Burlington Free Press 7/9/2001).
During the first time period that Homer St. Francis was chief, Wayne Hoague charged that leaders of the tribe were secretive and that tribe members were not told how the federal money is being spent. (Burlington Free Press 1/17/1977; Hoague 1/12/1977). As a result of Hoague's criticisms, he was ostracized from the St. Francis/Sokoki Abenaki organization. Not only did Chief Homer St. Francis and Kent Ouimette obtain his removal from the Governor's Commission on Indian Affairs, but they denied him membership in the tribe. This was reported by Mrs. Hoague:
When her husband reapplied for tribal membership—which requires a card issued by the council—"they replied he couldn't prove he was Indian." Mrs. Hoague said.
"How can they say he's not an Abenaki if the rest of them are all related to him?" she asked. (Burlington Free Press 5/1977).
154
From 1974 to the present, petitioner's organizational politics has been dominated by one or two families struggling for control. For the most part, the St. Francis family has controlled the organization. Mrs. Hoague charged in 1977 that Homer St. Francis was elected "tribal chairman" in an election that was not widely publicized to Abenaki members. She said, "St. Francis was elected tribal chairman by the St. Francises, who were the only ones informed of the meeting" (Burlington Free Press 5/1977). Wayne Hoague also complained that several people were named to positions of authority to represent the Abenaki Tribal Council without ever being voted on by the membership (Hoague 1/12/1977). Similar instances of control by one family have weighed against federal recognition under this criterion (BIA MaChris Lower Alabama Creek Indian Tribe 1987:4, 26).
Further disagreements took place within the fledgling Abenaki organization in 1977, again demonstrating that there was no cohesive political leadership as required by the federal regulations. Kent Ouimette, who had helped St. Francis oust Wayne Hoague, himself decided to split off from St. Francis's group. He left his position as administrator of the St. Francis band and joined the "Missisquoi Council," headed by Chief Arthur 'Bill' Seymour (Burlington Free Press 10/21/1977). Ouimette wrote to Governor Snelling, saying,
Some of us have found that the present governmental structure of the St. Francis band is incapable of protecting the constitutional rights of the individual, to say nothing of aboriginal rights. (Burlington Free Press 10/21/1977).
In fact three of the original organizers broke off in 1977 to form separate groups claiming to represent Vermont Abenakis (Wiseman 2001:157). In 1979, another dissenter, Richard Phillips, also broke away and formed a separate group, The Eastern Woodlands Band of the Abenaki Nation (Petition:131).
155
Homer St. Francis only stepped down as chief in 1980 when he had to serve a jail sentence (Burlington Free Press 9/13/1987). That is when Leonard "Blackie" Lampman became chief. Lampman was chief from 1980 until his death in 1987 (Burlington Free Press 5/10/1987). The 1987 election of chief was extremely contentious and surrounded by charges of unfairness. The race was between Lester Lampman, son of the former chief, and Homer St. Francis. One summary of the election read as follows:
The tribal elections of November 198672 [sic] were contentious, with emotions high in both the Lampman and St. Francis factions. It was also one of the biggest elections, with both sides doing lots of politicking and bringing voters to the polls. In order to assure the fairness of the election, a tribal election committee was formed, with three from each "side" and Ted Greenia, an "outsider" as head. The vote was confusing. April Rushlow,73 a member of that committee, remembers the hours of counting and recounting and the problem with ballots that were incorrectly filled out. After the votes were tallied, St. Francis won by the slim margin of three votes. Former interim chief Lester Lampman and community members Joan St. Pierre attempted to have the results of the election voided, citing fraud, in that the incorrectly filled out ballots were not counted. St. Francis denied the recount, and the ballot box was sealed by the committee and stored in the tribal safe. (Wiseman 2001:160).
The new chief quickly consolidated his power. Before his two-year term had ended, he obtained a change in the Abenaki constitution to make him chief for life (Burlington Free Press 9/12/1989). St. Francis continued as chief until 1996 when he handed over the position to his daughter April Rushlow (Burlington Free Press 7/9/2001). Further changes in the constitution in later years gave Homer St. Francis more control and more certainty that he could keep the role of chief in his family (Burlington Free Press 11/7/1995). A similar by-law allowing council members lifetime appointments was adopted by the MaChris in a case
72 This appears to be an error; the correct date of the elections was September 1987 as attested to by contemporaneous newspaper articles.
73 She is the daughter of Homer St. Francis (Burlington Free Press 7/9/2001).
156
which found insufficient evidence of political authority due to the extensive control of the organization by only one family (BIA MaChris Lower Alabama Creek Indian Tribe 1987:4, 26).
....In the case of petitioner, dissenters and people who were unable to break into the ruling group by election to the Tribal Council have repeatedly broken off to form other Abenaki groups (Petition:131). The federal regulations state that the political authority criterion may be satisfied by evidence of "widespread knowledge, communication and involvement by most of the group's members." Exclusionary practices and the control of decisions by a small family group are contrary to the federal requirement, as borne out by the decision in the case of the Miami Nation, which was unable to demonstrate political authority under Criterion (c).
Attendance at tribal council meetings is one gauge of participation in governance. At the time the petition was first submitted to the BIA, only about 40-50 people attended tribal council meetings (Greenbaum & Wherry 1988:16). This is a small portion of the hundreds
157
claimed as members. The number of attendees grew to 80-90 prior to the contentious council elections of the fall of 1987, but "attendance fell again after turmoil in the fall to about 40" (Greenbaum & Wherry 16). These figures do not demonstrate widespread involvement or acceptance of the decision-making processes of the group.
Another piece of evidence that would satisfy Criterion (c) would be proof that the tribal organization is able to settle disputes between tribal factions (Miami Nation of Indians v. U.S. Dept. of Interior, 255 F.3d 342, 346 (7th Cir. 2001)). Where the organization is truly a tribe in which members live in community for generations, the tribal government must settle disputes in a manner acceptable to all. However, where the group is a voluntary organization which individuals may join at will, the disputes need not be settled. Instead, the dissenters disassociate themselves from the group and form a new voluntary organization meeting their needs. That is what happened in Vermont. Voluntary organizations, especially those formed for the limited purpose of pursuing legal claims, do not satisfy the federal requirement for political authority (BIA Duwamish Tribal Organization 1996:10; Mashpee Tribe, 592 F.2d at 582, n.3).
The result of the 1987 election and the subsequent constitutional changes was a splintering of the group as people realized they were not being listened to by their political leaders. In the 1990's, many members of the St. Francis/Sokoki Abenaki group did not accede to the leadership of Homer St. Francis. They formed separate organizations. In 1992 the Northeast Woodlands—Coos Band was formed. Through recruitment that band grew to 700 members (Wiseman 2001:169). In the fall of 1995 three more bands were created.
The first was the Traditional Abenakis of Mazipskwik and Related Bands. It split off from the St. Francis/Sokoki band and took with it a number of officials and employees from
158
the St. Francis/Sokoki tribal headquarters. Its chair was Connie Brow, a niece of Homer St. Francis, and its members included the former tribal judge Mike Delaney (Wiseman 2001:180-81). The Traditional Abenakis of Mazipskwik "described St. Francis as 'dictatorial' and tribal headquarters as a 'ghost town' dominated by members of the St. Francis family" (Burlington Free Press 10/29/1995). Members of this group wrote to the BIA and explained their dissatisfaction with the leadership of the petitioner. They contended that policies were decided by the Tribal Council which was dominated by immediate family members of the St. Francis family (Delaney 1/22/1996). They told the BIA that "anyone disagreeing with the Chief or Chiefs were politically caste [sic] aside and disenfranchised by the Chief" (Delaney 1/22/1996).
The second group to form in the fall of 1995 was centered in the upper Connecticut River Valley. This one was organized by Tom Obomsawin, Newt Washburn, and others. It became the nucleus of a dissident group in eastern Vermont and western New Hampshire. (Wiseman 2001:181). The third group was headed by David Hill-Docteau of Saxton's River in southeastern Vermont. He claimed that he, not Homer St. Francis, was the hereditary chief of the Abenaki Nation (Wiseman 2001:181). Further splintering occurred, so that by 2001 there were twelve groups claiming to represent Abenakis in Vermont (Wiseman 2001:186).
With all the dissension and creation of separate groups it is no wonder that an observer from the Cowasuck of North America, which includes the Vermont Abenakis, said that Homer St. Francis "does not speak for the rest of the Abenaki, only his small group" (Burlington Free Press 10/29/1995).
159

I can't remember where I read this, maybe ICT, but the state of Vermont made a very smart move.  It voted that in order to recieve state recognition all these phoney baloney tribes must submit their geneologies. End of story! Of course these so called tribes all screamed foul.

I will try to find the article and post the link later today.


Lim lemtsh


Diana

Guess who is the History Channel's main expert on Native America for their series "Ancient Aliens"?

None other than "Nancy Red Star".

I also heard another of their "experts" state that Serpent Mound was viewed by the Shawnee as a marker for alien visitors. That's news to me.

A lot of the footage for this series comes from Steve Zagada's Video Active productions of Chicago. Steve was hired to shoot it by David Hatcher Childress, Richard Kieninger's long time associate, who has now entered into a mailing list sharing agreement with Georgio, von Daniken's long time man in the US. That should fit well with Childress's outlet in Roswell, New Mexico.

The really racist Theosophic Aryan s*** has taken a back seat, but it still lurks there under the surface of the UFO s***.

While I haven't seen this new episode of the show myself yet, I have heard that they are going to claim the reason why the rings at Newark are circles is because they were landing pads for flying saucers.

In other news, the Ohio Historical Society has decided to build a septic drain field at the Serpent Mound site.

http://innertraditions.com/starancestors

Check out p.227 / back cover. A number of familiar names there. 

http://store.innertraditions.com/isbn/978-1-59143-143-5
*******************************************
   
FORTHCOMING
New Edition

Star Ancestors

Extraterrestrial Contact in the Native American Tradition
By (author)  Nancy Red Star

ISBN-13: 978-1-59143-143-5
ISBN: 1-59143-143-3
Quality Paperback — 7/15/12
Page Count: 224; 6.00 (width) x 9.00 (height)
Full color throughout
Imprint: Bear & Company

About Star Ancestors
Explores the long-standing contact between American Indian tribes and extraterrestrial visitors through interviews with the tribes' spiritual leaders

• Shares the wisdom and ET experiences of Dawnland founder Dana Pictou, Mayan daykeeper Hunbatz Men, Choctaw wisdomkeeper Sequoyah Trueblood, and Creek healer and artist Shona Bear Clark

• Includes color photos of ET-inspired work by prominent Indian artists as well as traditional Indian art depicting contact with "Sky Elders"

As humanity stands at the crossroads between the Fifth and the Sixth Worlds, American Indian wisdomkeepers have recognized signs that they must now speak their closely held knowledge about extraterrestrial contact, their original instructions from the Sky Elders. These ET relationships have existed since the beginning of time. They have been depicted on ancient rocks and hides, embedded in creation stories, choreographed in sacred dances, beaded on wampum belts, and continued to this day through rituals and the tobacco blessing. They show that with the vital support of our Star
Ancestors, we can bring our planet back into balance with natural laws.

Exploring the unifying "Sky Elder" theme found in virtually every Indian culture, Nancy Red Star shares her profound interviews with wisdomkeepers from several Native traditions, including Mayan elder and daykeeper Hunbatz Men, Stargate International CEO and UFO researcher Cecilia Dean, and Choctaw medicine man Sequoyah Trueblood, and offers their teachings on taking our rightful place among the peoples of the universe.

Laying out a path for rebuilding our world, the Sky Elders' original instructions initiate us into the possibility of a coming time of peace. Inviting all peoples to realize their Star ancestry, the women and men of proud lineage and inspiring wisdom who share their experiences here offer us a survival plan for walking into the next world.

About the Author(s) of Star Ancestors
Nancy Red Star, daughter of the Cherokee, is a descendant of the Red Man, Vann, Parker, Mathews bloodline. She is the producer, writer, and director of the feature documentary films Star Ancestors and The Trap-Line Song presented by Willow Spirit Productions LLC.
********************************************************