Missisquoi Abenaki Tribe facts for kids
| Named after | Missisquoi people, Abenaki people |
|---|---|
| Formation | 2015 |
| Type | state-recognized tribe, nonprofit organizations |
| Legal status | mental health organization, charity |
| Purpose | F20: Dependency Prevention and Treatment |
| Location | |
|
Official language
|
English |
|
President
|
Richard Menard |
|
Revenue (2018)
|
$116,856 |
| Expenses (2018) | $126,720 |
|
Formerly called
|
St. Francis/Sokoki Band of the Sovereign Republic of the Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi |
The Missisquoi Abenaki Tribe is a state-recognized tribe in Vermont, who claim descent from Abenaki people, specifically the Missiquoi people.
They are not federally recognized as a Native American tribe. Vermont has no federally recognized tribes.
Contents
Name
The Missisquoi Abenaki Tribe is also known as the Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi. They have also gone by the name St. Francis-Sokoki Band of the Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi, the Abenaki Tribal Council of Missisquoi, and the St. Francis/Sokoki Band of the Sovereign Republic of the Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi.
State-recognition
Vermont recognized the Missisquoi Abenaki Tribe as 2012. The other state-recognized tribes in Vermont are the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation, Elnu Abenaki Tribe, and the Koasek Abenaki Tribe.
Nonprofit organization
In 2015, the group created Maquam Bay of Missisquoi, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, based in Swanton, Vermont. Their registered agent is Richard Mendard.
Their mission is "To promote wellness in the Abenaki community through holistic approaches that integrate health, education, and the environment."
Their board of directors are:
- April Lapan, treasurer
- Brian Barratt, director
- Chantel Bockus, director
- Joanne Crawford, secretary
- John Lavoie, other officer w/policy-making authority
- Richard Mendard, director and agent.
Petition for federal recognition
The Missisquoi Abenaki Tribe are the only Vermont state-recognized tribe to have petitioned for federal recognition.
Under the name St. Francis/Sokoki Band of Abenakis of Vermont, the group applied for but were denied federal recognition as a Native American tribe in 2007. The summary of the proposed finding (PF) stated that "The SSA petitioner claims to have descended as a group mainly from a Western Abenaki Indian tribe, most specifically, the Missisquoi Indians" and went on to state: "However, the available evidence does not demonstrate that the petitioner or its claimed ancestors descended from the St. Francis Indians of Quebec, a Missiquoi Abenaki entity in Vermont, any other Western Abenaki group, or an Indian entity from New England or Canada. Instead, the PF concluded that the petitioner is a collection of individuals of claimed but undemonstrated Indian ancestry 'with little or no social or historical connection with each other before the early 1970's'...."
Heritage
The Missisquoi Abenaki Tribe are one of four state-recognized tribes in Vermont. They had 60 members in 2016.
St. Mary's University associate professor Darryl Leroux's genealogical and historical research found that the members of this and the other three state-recognized tribes in Vermont were composed primarily of "French descendants who have used long-ago ancestry in New France to shift into an 'Abenaki' identity."
In 2002, the State of Vermont reported that the Abenaki people had migrated north to Quebec by the end of the 17th century.
Activities
They participate in Abenaki Heritage Weekend, held at the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum in Vergennes, Vermont.
Property tax
Vermont H.556, "An act relating to exempting property owned by Vermont-recognized Native American tribes from property tax," passed on April 20, 2022.
