General > Frauds

"Nancy Red Star"

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educatedindian:
Pt 2

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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
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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
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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.
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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).
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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.
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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).
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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).
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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).
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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
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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
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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).
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Diana:
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

E.P. Grondine:
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.

Defend the Sacred:
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
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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.
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