Abenaki leader Merrill’s Exploitation charge dropped Burlington Free Press 6/16/11

Abenaki leader Merrill’s Exploitation charge dropped-Burlington Free Press   Sam Hemingway  6/16/11

Text as follows:

The chief of the St. Francis/Sokoki band of the Abenakis in Swanton has been cleared — for now — of a charge alleging that she improperly spent money belonging to a vulnerable man in her care.

April St. Francis Merrill was arraigned in March on charges she’d financially exploited Louis P. Lafrance of Highgate Center. According to court papers, Merrill spent $30,697 between 2008 and 2010 on items that did not benefit Lafrance, also an Abenaki member. Lafrance died in October.

Merrill, 42, of Highgate did not respond to a phone request for comment Wednesday. Her lawyer, Peter Langrock, said Merrill was glad the charge had been dropped. He said Merrill may not have been a perfect bookkeeper, but that she did “not steal a nickel.”

“Chief April St. Francis Merrill at all times has maintained her innocence and claimed that all monies that came into her control on behalf of Louis Lafrance were spent on his behalf and at his direction,” Langrock said.

Franklin County State’s Attorney Jim Hughes confirmed his office had dropped the charge against Merrill but said he intends to file new, more specific felony charges against her in the Lafrance matter in the near future to resolve a procedural issue raised by Langrock in the original case.

“The defendant filed a motion requesting specificity on all the different acts,” Hughes said. “So we’ll be filing at least a dozen charges we feel can be proven.”

Hughes said he expected to file those new charges in the next week or two. “They’re coming,” Hughes said.

Langrock said he didn’t think Hughes would re-charge Merrill once he studies the facts in more detail.

“I’d be very surprised if he does,” Langrock said. “He doesn’t got anything.”

According to court papers, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department began investigating Merrill’s handling of Lafrance’s money after Lafrance’s family raised questions about expenditures listed on his bank and credit card records and alerted police.

Among the transactions that came under scrutiny were instances where Merrill withdrew money from Lafrance’s account via an ATM while in Rutland, where Merrill has family, and at the Veterans of Foreign War post in Swanton, where she is a member but Lafrance wasn’t, court documents said.

Other purchases she made occurred while Lafrance was in the hospital or a rehab center. Still others involved things such as buying pizza and paying for a car wash. Lafrance, who lived on Social Security payments, did not own a car.

Langrock said the car wash was for Merrill’s car and was done after Lafrance had become sick while in the car. As for the pizza purchases, Langrock said the food was for Lafrance and his friends. “I don’t think she got a single piece of free pizza out of it,” Langrock said.

Merrill became chief of the Sokoki band of the Abenakis following the death of her father, Homer St. Francis, in 2001.

Putting aside all personal vendettas, one must still look at the facts in this case. It will be interesting to see if Mr.Hughes does indeed file these charges as mentioned.

Personally, I have a feeling that there is more to this case than meets the eye. April Merrill has been accused for years by others of mis-managing money but this is the first time that she has been before a court of law to answer to those accusations.

The only other thing I have to say is that if they can find something that will prove her guilt, then they should approach it by all means.  Otherwise, there is nothing more that can be done.

Much like politicians that are forced to step down after scandals, it is only fitting that Merrill step down from her tribal leadership. Rumors abound that this has happened but until solid proof surfaces, it really is her call.

I do want to ask our readers a question: If you were in charge of someone else’s finances, would you ever feel the temptation to spend them on pizza or car washes, even if you know that they could be scrutinized?

Time will tell as this case unfolds further. Some may claim that it does not affect the Vermont Indigenous Alliance. I believe otherwise as the character of leaders in our society must be upheld or else, they do not deserve to be leaders in the first place.

 

Letter to St.Albans Messenger regarding Swanton VCNAA forum

This is my letter to the St.Albans Messenger, which was published shortly after the VCNAA forum up in Swanton back in April.

The letter concerns the media coverage of this event by Leon Thompson.

I don’t think it’s much of a surprise that the media in Franklin County would be supportive of (now ex)Chief Merrill and her merry band of cohorts. You can say the same for various other newspapers in the State of Vermont.

I remember a time when journalists had integrity. Nowadays, it’s nothing short of a free-for-all in which most newspapers are at a race to the bottom. You can’t read actual news in a Gannett publication either  (Burlington Free Press).

Nowadays, it’s all sensationalist fluff and feel good stories.

 

VCNAA Meeting Minutes 4/7/11 (with my commentary)

Commentary is as follows:

Once again, the public hearing for the St.Francis/Sokoki band involved more fudging of the numbers. Funny how April asks if it would be best to withdraw the application and for some reason, has not done so. Trust me, they do not have the 51% they claim. For the last time, the application is outdated and should be rescinded.

3. You can clearly see where they attempted to change things around by including Chittenden County. Just another attempt to keep the people on the rolls and/or to make them seem more current so the application can stand. Clever.  And not surprisingly, they all voted yes. Typical.

3b. “New Information”.  Funny how Skinas and Lacy allegedly broke their own rules and now the commission claims they haven’t. It’s even more disgusting that Skinas will remain on the scholar panel.

If he hadn’t bribed them with sweetgrass, who knows?

This commission lost credibility right at the beginning. They are continuing their downward slide into the ridiculous.

Abenaki In-Fighting Mars Panel Session; St.Albans Messenger 4/20/11

http://www.samessenger.com/node/1420

Why am I not surprised that the Alliance is blabbing on about “unity” and all that when they still have not addressed the dissension in their own ranks? A point had to be made and that point is that the application as it currently stands is inaccurate and contains duplicate (and triplicate) names, deceased members and people who are no longer associated with the Missisquoi (including, yours truly and the Maquam band).

What I suggested is only common sense. It appears that the commission is not interested in mediating this conflict. That’s fair enough. However, they cannot and should not accept this application as it currently stands.

The article says that Mr.Willard was yelled at but it does not say that I pointed out to the commission that per their own rules, they were not allowed to view the application and that only the scholar panel would have access to it (for understandable privacy reasons).

Again, Thompson chose to spin this story into a way to help the Alliance and Commission by pointing out their desire for unity. The problem is, when April Merrill will not convene people to discuss these issues, she’s only making them worse.

The St.Francis/Sokoki band has no more tribal council (they quit), cannot provide updated tribal rolls (more like they WILL NOT) and does not have the 51% of members that they claim (it is more like 42%).

So, why can’t the commission look at this and say “hey, they don’t meet our requirements. We need more information?”

Instead, we get April and the commission kissing up to each other while the problem goes unaddressed.

Requiring a piece of paper in order to be removed from tribal rolls should not be required, since the Maquam Band split off over 10 years ago. April should have acknowledged this and updated her tribal rolls accordingly. She hasn’t.

So, while a spectacle was made, points were also made. No one is standing up and asking for clarification in this process. No one is actively challenging it, not even the commission themselves!

The joke is on April though because without a dummy council to enforce her rules, they no longer apply.

As for the school bullying comments? I grew up in Swanton, attended Swanton Schools. Not once did anyone pick on my Abenaki heritage.

VCNAA Meeting Minutes 3/15/11 (with my commentary)

Apologies for the late post as life has been incredibly hectic as of late. Below is the attached pdf file with my comments.

VCNAA_Minutes_of_March_15_2011

Update on current recognition legislation.

Luke brief those present on his understanding of the current bills. The Nulhegan and Elnu bills passed the House and are now with the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs. The Commission’s recommendation of the Koasek Band of the Koas was passed to the House and Senate. No action has been taken at this time.

Leave it up to the State of Vermont to IGNORE the evidence against both groups and approve their applications anyway. The people shall speak at the polls when the time comes. After all, the State of Vermont just can’t resist the idea of money flowing into the coffers from recognition of these voodoo groups.

Update on Public Records Redaction Process. The redaction of genealogical data and specific archeological locations
from all current recognition related documents has been completed under the supervision of Division for Historic Preservation legal counsel.

You can thank the DHP, especially Giovanna Peebles, for helping these groups to conceal their identities even further. Unfortunately for these fools, one can go onto a website such as ancestry.com and look up this information. Or, they can pour through documents that have been posted on blogs. It’s too late to redact information that is already out in the public spectrum!

2:00PM – PUBLIC HEARING re: Missisquoi St. Francis/Sokoki Application

Luke welcomed all present, provided a reminder that there was no quorum, announced the purpose of the hearing, and welcomed testimony from anyone present. Missisquoi Chief, April Merrill, was recognized. Chief Merrill thanked the Commission for its work and the opportunity to speak on behalf of Missisquoi. She spoke briefly about the significance of recognition and the history of Missisquoi’s struggle for it.

Luke referenced Criterion 1 of Act 107 and asked April if he understood correctly that Missisquoi’s ‘specific geographic location within Vermont’ is roughly Franklin and Grand Isle counties which April confirmed.

Luke asked Professor Peter Thomas, who reviewed Missisquoi’s application as an expert panelist to brief the Commission on his review which he did. Referencing Criterion 1 again, Luke asked Professor Thomas what method he used to verify that a majority of Missisquoi’s members reside in a specific geographic location within Vermont. Professor Thomas referenced the application’s response to the criterion. Luke asked Professor Thomas if he considered the historic chief, Louis Gill (whose parents were white captives), to be Abenaki. This created much discussion.

Jim McCahey, a member of Missisquoi, was recognized and gave testimony in favor of recognition of the tribe. John Churchill, a member of Missisquoi, was recognized and gave testimony in favor of recognition of the tribe.

David Vanslette, a member of Missisquoi, who recused himself from all Commission action in regards to Missisquoi, provided a brief testimony regarding Missisquoi.

Just typical fluff. No mention of the duplicate/triplicate names, dead people or non-members on the tribal rolls that were submitted as part of Missisquoi’s application. No mention of the people who protested such a thing. Nothing. Just typical baseline fluff.

Native people in Vermont should know by now that the VCNAA cannot be trusted to be fair, transparent and respectful of others. It exists solely for the purpose of recognizing the Alliance frauds. Despite the fact that she’s under investigation, April Merrill couldn’t resist a chance to cheerlead for her cause.

That’s the VCNAA in a nutshell.

By the way, they’re meeting in Swanton tomorrow at 12pm at the Village Complex. This meeting was on their website at least 2 months ago but they waited until very recently to announce it.

Were they trying to discourage the opposition from attending, knowing that most people would be working and/or unable to attend?

More Information on the April Merrill Situation

For those wondering just what is going on with the April Merrill situation, here are images of documents that are available to anyone who requests them (public record). There are 20 images in all of these records.

All I can say is that this is a case that is worth watching as it will impact the recognition for the Vermont Indigenous Alliance. Hopefully, the state and federal governments will see through their lies.

Is White Guilt A Factor In The Push For Recognition?

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the psychological reasoning behind the push for recognition by the Vermont Indigenous Alliance. As records show,the Abenaki lineage of these folks is suspect and their claims of having been “hiding in plain sight” all of these years are suspect as well.

One has to wonder, is this push for recognition by these folks all part of their “white guilt”?

Are they truly ashamed of who they really are to the point where they are manufacturing these identities for themselves?

Just look at the attitudes and false claims from these people.  Nancy Millette-Doucet recently went on the WGDR program, “Moccasin Tracks” to complain about what she calls “lateral violence” in Vermont’s re-animated Native community.

Need one remind Mrs.Doucet that her husband, Mark E. Doucet, has committed acts of lateral violence against their opposition.  Nancy herself has screamed and thrown temper tantrums on property belonging to the citizens of the Republic of Vermont (of which she is not a citizen, currently residing in the state of New Hampshire).

The Vermont Indigenous Alliance is on it’s last legs. Mrs.Doucet, Mr.Willard and Mrs.Merrill are all trying to save this failing recognition effort. Expect to see more dirty tricks  by these folks in the next few weeks.

WGDR hasn’t been presenting both sides of this conflict. It’s no wonder the Alliance loves to take advantage of this bias.

A Teaser of the Missisquoi Application

It seems that April Merrill has some nerve, including the names and addresses of people who are no longer associated with the St.Francis-Sokoki Band. I’m also sure that there are people who aren’t even aware that they’re on these tribal rolls.

I received the full Missisquoi application in the mail today.

I do not approve of the St.Francis-Sokoki band using the names of my family members  when they know very well that none of us have been active members for years.

If I’m not mistaken, this is a dishonest method of “proving” that you have the members in order to gain state recognition.

More to come regarding this application, which most certainly smelled like shit the minute I pulled it out of the envelope. I see redactions as well. Can’t be good.

Edit: Attached is an image that shows what I’m talking about. The information isn’t quite up to date and we have not been active members of the St.Francis/Sokoki band for several years now. I am not sure how April can legitimately use such information in her case for recognition when it’s not up-to-date. I am sure that other names/addresses are out of date as well.

VCNAA Meeting Minutes 2/15/11 (with added commentary)

It’s that time of the month where I critique yet another set of minutes from the biased, fraudulent VCNAA. Original minutes are in the link below with commentary below that as well:

vcnaa_minutes_021511

Commentary starts here:

2. Update on current recognition legislation

Luke gave a briefing on the status of the bills regarding the State Recognition of the Elnu and Nulhegan tribes. The two House bills have passed and crossedover to the Senate.

This was done by a voice vote after the House claimed that they had poured over all of the documentation. I don’t believe it. Neither application should have passed.

Peter Thomas was recognized by the chair. He asked if scholars from the Review Panel would be testifying in regards to pending applications (ie Missisquoi). Luke explained that the legislative committees had taken testimony from Review Panel scholars during the Elnu and Nulhegan committee hearings. Presumably, the committee will do the same with future recommendations.

I assume that both David Lacy and Dave Skinas will not be able to give any more testimony, which makes sense considering what they did.

3. Public records redaction process

After requesting clarity on the process of redacting information that is exempt from the public record (ie Archeological site locations, Genealogy) from recognition applications and reports from the Commission and Scholar Review Panels, legal counsel from the Division for Historic Preservation is helping to develop a process.

When was genealogy made exempt from the public record? These people just do not want anyone pouring over their genealogy because it does not line up with what they are trying to do!

Luke has made it clear to legislators and Historic Preservation that the Commission does not have the resources to perform legal redactions. Luke suggested that the Commission consider adopting a policy that instructs applicants that this information can’t come to us.

He could ask his pal, Mr.Illuzzi, to pull a few strings. Illuzzi’s already at it, helping these people to obscure the truth about themselves.

Dawn mentioned that it would be difficult for us to establish the kinship criteria in our reports without the genealogical references. Luke noted that the Scholar Panels would still be able to access the information and we can reference their responses in our reports.

Fred moved to make it policy from this point on that applications may not include genealogical information that identifies specific living individuals or archaeological site locations. This information may be included in the Expert Review Panel packets.

Only these “review experts” will have access to this information. And, if they are connected to the members of this commission? You can bet your bottom dollar that the public will not hear or see this information.

Nathan suggested that we use the word “must”, rather than “may” in the last sentence. Fred amended his motion to replace “may” with “must”. Takara seconded Fred’s motion. Luke stated the motion with the exact wording, “Applications may not include genealogical information that identifies specific living
individuals or archaeological site locations. This information must be included in a separate packet that only goes to the expert review panelists.” All agreed.

This whole process is comical. Only in the state of Vermont, can you invent a tribe, join a commission and make your own rules. What about transparency in government? Are these people really afraid that others are going to harm them if their genealogical information is out there?

4. Review draft Commission Report re: Koasek of the Koas

Dawn began by noting that the addendum satisfied any concerns from the initial review but voiced a concern about some names and addresses that were not included in the application. Luke mentioned that the Commission has already voted unanimously to recommend recognition of Koasek to the General Assembly. He noted that Nathan had originally brought up the fact thatthere were Koasek members whose names and street addresses were left out for privacy purposes. Luke confirmed it as 17 members and that their Band ID numbers and town/state of residence were listed in the roster to document their existence. This is detailed in the Commission’s draft report to the legislature. Luke asked how we interpret Criterion 4.

Despite the fact that some of the scholars expressed doubt as to the legitimacy of this incorporation (mainly Lacy & Skinas), they approved the application.

This is totally not a surprise at all. Anyone who thought that these people were going to do the right thing, obviously had no clue about their true purpose on this commission.

He mentioned that, fundamentally, the criterion is to establish the existence of the applicant’s “organizational structure” and how the fact that a tribe keeps a detailed census of its members
supports that. He said that although some names were left out for privacy purposes, the Commission was still able to confirm that the applicant maintains a census of its members. Fred mentioned that the criterion did not specify that ‘all’ names and addresses be included. Discussion continued around the purpose and intent of the names and addresses. Nathan voiced
that his concern is that we will set a precedent. Luke mentioned again that we must look at the criteria. We use the names and addresses for two purposes: To establish that a majority of the
applicant’s members currently reside in a specific geographic location within Vermont; and to support that the applicant maintains an organizational structure that exerts influence and
authority over its members. We’ve seen this.

It seems to me like Nathan was right to ask questions. It’s too bad that Luke and Fred aren’t interested in listening. Nope, can’t have Nathan rocking the apple cart.

Chief Nancy Millette-Doucet was recognized. She explained that this particular family would not permit the publishing of their personally identifiable information for reasons of privacy. She
said that Koasek is a tribe, not a dictatorship, and she cannot force them to be public or expelthem from the tribe for exercising their own right to privacy.

It’s not a tribe, it’s an incorporation. The “Queen Bee” makes yet another appearance. The funny thing is, no one has said just who this “family” is.

Nathan said that the law needs to be changed.Luke said that there is definitely a gray area in the law, however, we already voted to unanimously to recommend Koasek for recognition. No one brought this up at the public hearing or any of the other meetings we have had since Koasek’s application was submitted on November 16th of last year. We need to provide a report to the legislature and that is the item at hand. It can be amended to say anything we want but we need to provide the legislature with a report.

Just because no one brought it up, doesn’t mean that there wasn’t opposition to it. Also, who writes these minutes?

Nathan moved to not approve the draft report. No one seconded.

See what I mean? They were going to approve it regardless of what Nathan and others said. This is why this commission should be disbanded.

Fred noted that he is fine with the report because we noted in it that the 17 names were redacted for privacy purposes. We are up front about it in the report and we explain our decision.
Nathan brought up how Chief Roger Longtoe asked about the names and addresses in Newport and we told him that they have to be included. Everyone should have to do the same thing.
Luke said that Koasek did provide names and addresses and that he told Chief Nancy the same thing that he told Chief Roger. Luke said we may be forgetting that Eloise Beil, Bill Haviland,
and David Skinas all provided detailed reports of approval, that include the fourth criterion.

Everyone should do the same thing, unless their name is Nancy Millette-Doucet. See what I mean? I figure, if you’re going to hold one of these groups to a standard, you might as well hold all of them to the same standard.

Nathan brought up that he hadn’t received the tribal rolls until recently. Luke brought up that it is up to Historic Preservation to provide you with handouts if you are absent from a meeting.

Actually, Luke should have copies of these handouts on him at all times. He is the Chair after all.

Takara said that we each have the personal responsibility to request the handout if we don’t have it. All handouts are recorded in the agendas and minutes. Fred said that we drafted this report based upon what we were given. We’ve done our job. Takara said we need to get back to the report and moved to approve the draft report and forward to the legislative committees. Fred seconded. Motion passed by unanimous vote.

After they finish brow-beating Nathan, they decide that it’s more important to get a crock report to the Legislature instead of fleshing out all of the details.

What’s the hurry? You’ll find out below.

5. Missisquoi Application Review

The Commission looked at reports from the Scholar Review Panel (Peter Thomas, Kevin Dann,and Bill Haviland). All were positive. Nathan mentioned that he did not have a copy of the
Missisquoi application because he was absent from the January 19th meeting when they were passed out. Melody has excused herself from the Missiquoi review because she is a former
member and because she is mentioned in the application, so she offered her copy to Nathan.

Dawn had positive remarks about the Missisquoi application but has an issue with the names and addresses because there are people listed who are not members of the tribe anymore. Dave
mentioned that the tribe has procedures that members must file to be removed from the tribe’s rolls. Luke noted that he understands that but having Don Stevens, who is Chief of the Nulhegan Tribe listed, is a conflict. It is common knowledge that Chief Don is no longer a member of Missisquoi. These names conflict with other applications that have already been checked for accuracy. It looks like an older list that just needs some updating. No harm done. We can work with Chief April when she returns from vacation to amend the list. We must do this so that wecan accurately determine the percentage for the first criterion.

Do the Feds know about April’s little vacation? Also, if your family tree is held at the Missisquoi Building on Grand Ave. in Swanton, you may be on the list for Missisquoi. Unless you specifically request to have your records removed, they WILL use it to try and get recognition.

Also, it’s true that Donald Stevens should no longer be on the Missisquoi list. I’ve heard rumblings about how these people “jump” from one incorporation to another in order to try and get recognition.

Nathan said we should look over all information first to make sure it is correct before it is sent to the scholars. Luke said that we can’t do that. The scholars examine information that we’re not even allowed to see. Addenda are forwarded to scholars. Dave said it’s up to the applicants to provide correct information. We can ask for clarity and additional information and send it along to the scholars but our job is to facilitate, review, decide, and report. More discussion followed.

I’m not sure if Nathan is truly ignorant of the processes but I will concede that they seem to be giving him hell just for asking uncomfortable (but very legit) questions.

6. Status of Active Scholar’s List

David Lacy and David Skinas were both given ethics violations by the USDA for using Forest Service and USDA letterhead on their reviews. Luke found this interesting since Mr. Lacy was given permission to conduct his review during work hours and Mr. Skinas has worked with Native American tribes for a long time. He found it even more interesting that chain of
communication in regards to these “violations” originated from the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Identical reviews (minus the letterhead) were provided for our files so that the record would reflect that the federal government does not share the views of their employees. The Commission was less than impressed and even less surprised.

Luke Willard, if you’re reading this blog, then you of all the people should know by now that both Dave Skinas and David Lacy illegally used those letterheads for their respective federal employers in their letters of recommendation. Federal law has established that by writing such letters, it gives the false impression that the agencies on those letterheads ENDORSE these groups, which they obviously do not.

If the part about letters minus the letterheads is correct, then why didn’t the commission submit those letters instead of the letters WITH the letterheads? Something isn’t adding up here and I think that by using the letters with those official-looking letterheads, that the Commission was trying to build “legitimacy”.

Peter Thomas added that BIA should have no interest in State Recognition review panels. Nathan asked if we would be issuing a response. Luke mentioned that our process and the individuals themselves have been harmed by this. Even on personal time, Lacy can’t participate anymore. Nathan asked if they are allowed to volunteer at the local food shelf or anywhere else. Takara said that this is a free country and it was even on their own time. Luke said we didn’t ask the USDA or the Forest Service for anything. Our interest is in the scholar’s experience and education and not their title. Nathan suggested we give the two agencies some extra paper for their time. Luke added that hostility from the feds is nothing new.

Actually, when you misuse Federal letterheads, it becomes the business of the Federal government.

The VCNAA willingly used these recommendation letters with the hopes that they would “legitimize” this whole process.

You know, I just find it funny that these people are just now claiming that the departure of Skinas and Lacy is “harming” them and this process.

Let’s see, they sit on a biased and compromised VCNAA in which each member is intimately connected. They voted to pass on bills to support recognition of their friends. They worked with scholars that have known them for years and would obviously approve their recognition.

They have it easy here. There’s no hard questions being asked. Their genealogy is not being addressed by the State of Vermont. They are practically cruising through without many speed bumps. Well, not anymore.

Who’s really being harmed by this process? Hint: It’s not the Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs!

It’s the Odanak people who reside in Vermont who are being harmed. It’s the people who aren’t part of this Alliance that are being harmed.

People who find this VCNAA to be a complete and utter joke! Right now, the VCNAA has the credibility of tyrants like Gadhafi, Ben Ali and Mubarak!

To the Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs: STOP PLAYING VICTIM HERE!

You are making victims out of people, not the other way around!

“The Fix Is In”: 2/9/11 Seven Days column mentions Abenaki recognition

Shay Totten has done a brief write-up on the continuing issue of abenaki recognition, especially where it concerns the Abenaki First Nation’s grievance:

http://www.7dvt.com/2011fix

Excerpt as follows:
Abenaki Angst

A group of Abenaki that opposes the recognition of several Vermont-based tribes won’t be allowed to testify before a key Senate committee.

The Abenaki First Nation initially got the OK to testify before the Senate Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs Committee, but that offer was partially rescinded by Sen. Vince Illuzzi (R-Essex/Orleans), the committee’s chair and a proponent of Abenaki recognition.

Illuzzi said the group’s in-state members can testify, but the out-of-state members can only provide written testimony. “We only meet for three hours a day and only have so much time to take direct testimony,” he said. “We’ve done the same for other out-of-state witnesses on bills.”

That’s not good enough for Denise Watso of the Abenaki First Nation, which has tribal members in Vermont, New York and Québec. Watso questions the authenticity of at least two tribes seeking state recognition.

“Why are lawmakers like Sen. Illuzzi afraid to hear what we have to say? Why are they scared to look us in the eye?” she asked. “These are not rhetorical questions. They are willing to take the time to hear testimony, they just refuse to hear from us. It’s just a lot easier to ignore emails and letters than it is to hear real-life Abenaki people speaking out for truth and justice in the halls of the Statehouse.”

The House General, Housing and Military Affairs Committee has not established such restrictions this year, but it has yet to receive a request from out-of-state groups.

To date, two tribes that claim Abenaki heritage are seeking recognition: the Nulhegan and the Elnu. A third, the Koasek, has been approved for recognition, but no formal bill has been introduced.

It’s unclear if other tribes or family bands will follow suit this session under a new state recognition law passed last year.

The Missisquoi Tribe was in the process of gathering up the necessary documents, but its leader — Chief April St. Francis-merrill — was arrested last week for allegedly stealing money from a vulnerable adult.

It’s about time that the Vermont media heard from people with legitimate Abenaki standing.

Mr.Illuzzi claimed that he gave Skip Bernier time to testify but it was inadequate and when compared to the hours of testimony from Alliance groups, was a pittance. Nancy Millette-Doucet, a New Hampshire resident, has had more opportunities to speak out (mainly at VCNAA meetings) than Skip Bernier. This must be rectified as the Abenaki First Nation and anyone else who opposes recognition of these fraudulent tribes, must be given equal standing to speak up on this issue.