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Native America Calling: Vermont tribes defend their identity against scrutiny from across the Canadian border
Monday, November 10, 2025
Vermont tribes defend their identity against scrutiny from across the Canadian border
Four Abenaki bands in Vermont face ongoing pushback as they work to assert their Native American identity.
With state recognition, the tribes enjoy certain hunting and fishing rights and the ability to list artwork as Native made. But the Odanak First Nation in neighboring Canada is speaking out on social media and at press conferences, public events, and even at the United Nations, saying the people in Vermont claiming Abenaki blood have no connection to the Abenaki name and are only exploiting a legitimate and respected culture.
It’s one of the remaining battlegrounds in the often-contentious discussions over identity.
Guests on Native America Calling
Rick O’Bomsawin (Odanak First Nation), Chief of the Abenaki Council of Odanak in Quebec, Canada
Don Stevens (Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation), Chief of the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation in Vermont
Margaret Bruchac (Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation), professor emerita of anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania
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