History Space: Celebrating Abenaki culture

VERGENNES - In 2011 and 2012, the state of Vermont officially recognized four Abenaki tribes: Elnu, Nulhegan, Koasek and Missisquoi.

“History books, museums, and schools in New England often present Native culture as if the Abenaki disappeared in the 18th century,” says Vera Longtoe Sheehan, director of the Vermont Abenaki Artists Association. “After we received Vermont state recognition the Abenaki people created the Vermont Abenaki Artists Association as a forum to showcase our artists and our vibrant culture. Now we are trying to bridge the gap between the Native and Non-Native communities through the “Wearing Our Heritage” project. Our goals are to reclaim our place in New England history, to make connections between our shared past and the present, and for our art to be accepted on the same terms as art from other cultures of the world.”

Although there is little mention of the Abenaki in 19th century history books, Abenaki people continued to live in their homelands, and maintain strong oral histories and traditions from earlier times. In the latter half of the twentieth century, Abenaki people undertook a systematic cultural revitalization that involves a return to traditional lifeways and skills. Ironically, for many years they were not recognized by federal or state government because they had never entered into a treaty that surrendered their territory to the United States.

Lacking federal or state recognition, Abenaki artists were unable to sell their work as Native American art under the Indian Arts and Crafts Law of 1990. To aid in the economic development of Abenaki artists, the leaders of four tribes (Elnu, Koasek, Nulhegan and Missisquoi) applied to be recognized by the state of Vermont. Applications to the State Legislature provided family oral histories spanning hundreds of years and traditions that can be traced back through several millennia to prove the continuity of the Abenaki community in their homelands in Vermont. The applications also included military muster rolls, maps, newspaper articles and historic accounts.

Birth of ‘Wearing Our Heritage’ project

Many of the family photographs show that Abenaki families continued wearing traditional clothing and accessories in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. These photographs, together with the outstanding workmanship of clothing and regalia worn during family celebrations and community events helped to inspire the multi-year project called “Alnobak: Wearing Our Heritage.”

The presenters in the project “Alnobak: Wearing Our Heritage” draw on recent scholarship combined with cultural traditions and personal experience to provide a Native perspective on the history and cultural traditions of Vermont and New England. Many participants in the resurgence of making and wearing clothing and regalia like those of earlier generations, often with a new creative twist, have generously shared their photographs, regalia and recollections. We are grateful for their help in assembling and sharing this tribute to the resilience and resistance of the Abenaki people, and proof that we are still here.

Since the late 1980s and early 1990s many Abenaki people have chosen to make and wear 18th century styles of Abenaki clothing and regalia at living history events.

Larrabee and the birch canoe

George Larrabee is regarded by many as the Abenaki Grandfather of Living History, in which participants wear the clothing of an earlier era to form a deeper connection with their own ancestors, for both spiritual andS educational purposes.

In 1999, Larrabee took part in a demonstration class making a birch bark canoe with instructor Bart Howe at Lake Champlain Maritime Museum.

The canoe was completed and launched at the Museum’s Rabble in Arms Weekend, in which replica vessels are used to recreate historical events of the Revolutionary War era. Larrabee wore 18th century style work clothes during construction of the canoe, and more elaborate regalia for the launching.

Wabanaki Confederacy Conference

Among the most significant recent developments for Vermont’s Abenaki tribes was the invitation to host the 2015 Wabanaki Confederacy Conference.

The Wabanaki Confederacy is an ancient alliance of First Nations and Native American nations consisting of five principal allies: the Mi'kmaq, Maliseet, Passamaquoddy, Abenaki, and Penobscot. Tribal leaders and delegates from all over New England and Canada met to discuss issues like the environment, international trade relations, and other important topics and to strengthen old tribal relationships.

This was first time in over 200 years that the Wabanaki Confederacy Conference was hosted by Western Abenaki people. The Wabanaki Confederacy has been in existence since before European contact and included Algonquin tribes in territories that are now in both the United States and Canada. The last conference held below the Canadian border was hosted in 2008 by the Penobscot Nation in Maine.

Vera Longtoe Sheehan, director of the Vermont Abenaki Artists Association, and Eloise Beil, director of Collections and Exhibits at Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, have worked together with members of the Abenaki community to develop exhibits, events, and educational programs about Abenaki culture in the Champlain Valley for more than a decade.

Abenaki Heritage Weekend Saturday and Sunday

Join the Abenaki community at Lake Champlain Maritime Museum for a weekend of family fun and cultural sharing that is deeply rooted in local Native American heritage. Organized by the Vermont Abenaki Artists Association with members of the Elnu Abenaki Tribe, the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk, Koasek Traditional Band of the Koas Abenaki Nation, Missisquoi Abenaki Tribe and guest artists, the event includes drumming, storytelling, craft and cooking demonstrations, an Arts Marketplace, children’s activities, and presentations by guest artists including Black Hawk Singers Drum Group, and musician/storyteller Jesse Bruchac.

On Saturday, Abenaki scholar Frederick M. Wiseman introduces his new book “Seven Sisters: Wabanaki Seeds and Food Systems” at an afternoon book signing. On Sunday, Wiseman discusses new directions in the consideration of Indigenous art by collectors, investors, museums and galleries, in “Who Owns the Past?” Activities included with Museum admission. Ticket good for two days. www.Abenakiart.org ; www.lcmm.org

2007: First Navigators Project and Champlain Quadricentennial Canoe

Lake Champlain’s First Navigators was a special program at the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum developed with the Abenaki community in anticipation of the 2009 Champlain Quadricentennial that commemorated the 400th anniversary of Samuel de Champlain's arrival at the lake that now bears his name.

Demonstrating the construction and operation of a replica birch bark canoe in the style used in 1609 provided a focus on the region’s Native American heritage. The launching of the canoe in August at the culmination of the First Navigators project was planned and attended by representatives of Abenaki communities all over Vermont.

Aaron York, the Abenaki artist who constructed the Quadricentennial bark canoe for the First Navigators project, has traveled extensively learning the arts and skills of the Wabanaki nations, and makes fine regalia, however he preferred everyday work clothes during the month that he demonstrated canoe construction.

Special exhibit on view through Aug. 19

Alnobak: Wearing Our Heritage is a special project of the Vermont Abenaki Artists Association in partnership with Lake Champlain Maritime Museum. The exhibit, which has traveled to venues in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Connecticut, brings together garments and accessories made by contemporary Abenaki artists with rare images of previous generations. Includes examples of historic and contemporary beadwork on loan from members of the Vermont Abenaki Artists Association. On view through Aug. 19 at the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum. Meet the artists at Abenaki Heritage Weekend June 23-24.

Educators can learn about Abenaki life

Presenting Abenaki Culture in the Classroom.Aug. 2-4.Professional Development for Teachers & Workshop for Adults. Members of the Vermont Abenaki Artists Association serve as faculty for this 2 1/2day seminar at Lake Champlain Maritime Museum. Through a combination of lectures and experiential learning, this seminar offers up-to-date information to prepare educators of all levels to present Abenaki culture in their classrooms and better support Abenaki and other Native American students. Registration fee includes lunch, program materials, and certification for 20 hours of professional time. Graduate credit from Castleton University available.

Examples of original Abenaki outfits

Abenaki scholar and activist Frederick M. Wiseman gathered original garments and accessories to assemble representative outfits like those worn by Abenaki men and women before 1850, as well as outfits for a man and a woman in the 1900s through 1920s. The items in his collection were brought together through a decades-long process of research and discovery, and they reveal a fascinating combination of local and international origins.

For example, a necklace from a Central Vermont estate has a beaver pendant with the hallmark of Montreal silversmith Robert Cruickshank, suspended from a necklace of early 19th-century trade beads that probably came from Africa. These items were exhibited at Lake Champlain Maritime Museum in 2016.

Very few examples of work clothes are found in collections because they were worn out due to heavy use, then handed down, and even the rags were re-used. Little remained to be discarded, much less preserved. The man’s outfit from 1780-1850 (at right in the photo) included a long, tunic-like linen shirt from Central New Hampshire with brass buttons dating from the War of 1812 era; eighteenth-century moose hide leggings converted into trousers ca. 1810 from a farm at Eden Notch in Lamoille County, Vermont; a striped wool trade blanket from Stowe; and an Assumption sash of finger-woven linen in an “arrow sash” pattern popular in the Eastern Townships of Quebec. The woman’s outfit of this early era includes a hand-stitched linen chemise; an “arrow sash” of finger-woven wool from Machias, ME; an early/mid 19th century mirror case of deer hide with porcupine quill and bead decoration; and an 18th/early 19th century “Montreal Cross” pendant necklace.

The outfits at left in the photo include a man’s jacket and leggings of cotton cloth and velvet ribbon-work with Niagara style glass bead decoration, used by a family of Abenaki basket makers who lived in Essex Junction, and a woman’s dress from White River Junction made of cotton cloth and ribbon-work with geometric applique and cut-cloth fringe decoration. Both outfits date from the late nineteenth to early twentieth century. These rare examples of actual garments and accessories help us to better understand the outfits that can be seen in paintings, prints and photographs of earlier times.