Abenaki leaders in Québec on Friday unveiled genealogical research that they say proves specific members of Vermont-recognized tribes have no native heritage.
Representatives from the Odanak First Nation detailed their claims during a Friday morning press conference, then posted the 730-page report on their website.
It used publicly available documents to examine approximately 15 generations of ancestry for five prominent members of Vermont tribes, including Don Stevens, chief of the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation; Brenda Gagne, chief of the Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi; and Shirly Hook, chief of the Koasek Traditional Band of the Koas Abenaki Nation. The report, which also looked at some Abenaki tribal members in New Hampshire, examined each person’s ancestry, which it concludes is nearly 100 percent European.
“One person might have a native ancestor 3-400 years ago,” said Rick O’Bomsawin, chief of Odanak First Nation. “This doesn’t make them a native. The people here in this community and in our nation — our blood is strong. Our ancestry comes from our parents and our grandparents.”
The Odanak did not contact any of the Vermonters whose ancestry it examined. Reached for comment after the press conference, Chief Stevens, the Nulhegan Band leader, denounced the latest report, saying it was “twisted” to fit the Québec tribe’s narrative. He said he had his own genealogical records, from “reputable sources,” that prove he is indeed Native American.
“Many native people were listed as ‘white’ or ‘colored’ on Census data based on the census taker’s observation or to ‘fit in,’” Stevens wrote in an email. “Many families from Odanak census records and birth records also indicate ‘white’ so that proves nothing.”
Gagne and Hook did not respond to requests for comment.
The Québec-based tribe’s salvo is the latest in a yearslong battle over the legitimacy of Vermont’s four Abenaki bands, which gained state recognition in 2011 and 2012. The Canadian Abenaki have argued that, while Vermont and northern New England were long Abenaki territory, members of the tribe all later retreated to Québec. Any true Abenaki now living in Vermont, they say, can only claim that heritage if they are related to the Odanak and Wôlinak bands in Quebec.
“The conclusions are unequivocal,” said Jacques Watso, a member of the Abenaki Council of Odanak. “The individuals studied have no Abenaki ancestry. Some may have distant Indigenous ancestors, but they are neither Abenaki nor close enough in time to justify any legitimate identity claim.”
Darryl Leroux, an associate professor in the school of political studies at the University of Ottawa, said his team examined 10,000 documents dating back to the 1600s as part of its research. The Odanak paid Leroux $7,000 Canadian for his work, which began in August 2024.
“Our work establishes facts,” Leroux said. “These facts are essential for Indigenous peoples such as the Abenaki to defend their history, identity and right to self-determination.”
But Margaret Bruchac says she disputes these “facts.” Bruchac, a retired anthropology professor at the University of Pennsylvania, was among the Vermont Abenaki singled out in the new report. She said the research and Friday’s event was the latest in “an ongoing hate and slander and harassment campaign.”
Like Stevens, Bruchac noted that census data is not reliable, particularly for records of marginalized people. And she took issue with the Odanak conducting genealogical research on living people without their permission or participation — something she said is highly unethical in the fields of anthropology, sociology and genealogy.
Bruchac wondered why the Odanak want to disparage Vermont Abenaki when members are just living their lives and aren’t asking the northern tribe for anything.
“No individual, no genealogist, no historian, no tribal nation has the inherent right to dictate anybody’s ancestry or anybody’s identity or anybody’s tribal membership — bottom line,” she said.
Watso and others at Friday’s event used the report to renew their call for Vermont to reexamine its recognition of the local tribes. Lawmakers have shown little appetite for that in recent years, though the Odanak have a supporter in Rep. Troy Headrick (I-Burlington) who, in February, sponsored a bill that would “create a task force to review the validity of prior recognition of State tribes.” The measure went nowhere last session.
“These false claims have allowed illegitimate groups to obtain official recognition and rights that rightfully belong to the true Abenaki people,” Watso said. “This undermines our sovereignty … our ability to define who we are, and our access to our rights and our resources on our traditional territory.”
The Vermont and Canadian tribes most recently came face-to-face during a Statehouse hearing in February that quickly devolved into a shouting match. At Friday’s press conference, the Odanak representatives offered to try again.
“We do come in peace,” O’Bomsawin said. “We’re willing to sit down and meet with them and discuss it, without war — in peace.”
