"Is Joseph Bruchac truly Abenaki?"

On September 30, 2023 the Times Union (a newspaper in New York), published a commentary titled "Is Joseph Bruchac truly Abenaki?" 

It is the latest in many items about him and the groups in Vermont who claim to be Abenaki. This is the first one I know of in which he was asked directly. His answer, "Am I not a black belt because I wasn't born as one?" is deeply troubling. He is suggesting that anyone can be Native. That is not true!

In March of 2022, I attended (virtually) the Unsettling Genealogies Conference organized by Professor Gordon Henry (enrolled citizen of the White Earth Anishinaabe Nation in Minnesota), and hosted by Michigan State University. The online conference addressed race-shifting, pretendians, and other ways in which people appropriate a Native identity. You can view the presentations here.

Jacques Watso (Councillor, Odanak) spoke about groups in Vermont that claim to be Abenaki. One of them is the group that Joseph Bruchac claims. Watso's remarks begin at the 57 minute mark in this video. 

I found Mr. Watso's remarks compelling. In February of 2021 I had begun compiling a list of reading materials and videos about claims to Native identity. I added the conference to that list and continue to add to it. 

Some quick background: I grew up on Nambé Pueblo's reservation. Throughout elementary and junior high school, I knew kids from other pueblos. In high school when I started visiting colleges, I met people from other tribal nations. During undergraduate years at the University of New Mexico, I met even more people, primarily from Oklahoma. Their ways were different from ours but nothing about them made me doubt who they said they were. 

That sense of doubt changed when I went to Illinois in the 1990s, to work on my PhD. I started to meet people who said they were Native, but in some cases, what they said about who they are seemed off. That was my initial feeling about Joseph Bruchac but some people in Native circles worked with him, so I pushed those feelings aside. Since then I've gone through several painful episodes of having trusted someone's claim to Native identity, only to learn they are not. 

Prior to the Unsettling Genealogies conference, I had studied other writings about the groups in Vermont. Through Mr. Watso's presentation, I learned of an event that was scheduled to take place at the University of Vermont on April 29 from 8-11:00 AM ET, titled "Beyond Borders: Unheard Abenaki Voices from the Odanak First Nation." I registered and attended that event. Vermont Public Radio subsequently did a segment about it. I strongly encourage you to listen to/read it: Odanak First Nation denounces Vt. state-recognized Abenaki tribes as 'Pretendian.'

Based on what I've learned over the last several years, I no longer feel confident saying that Joseph Bruchac, his sister Marge, or his sons are Native. All of them have written books for children. For decades--teachers have used Bruchac's books believing he is Native. In the past--believing he is Native--I have recommended his books.

I can no longer recommend books by Joseph Bruchac, his sister Marge Bruchac, or his sons. 

I will be revisiting AICL pages on which I've written about them or their books or articles, and I plan to insert a link to this post and a brief note about my decision. 

For convenience I am pasting the items from the Native or Not resource here. I recommend you read them. I'm updating the list as I can. 

Reports, Statements and Articles about the four groups in 

Vermont that claim to be Abenaki, 

including the "Nulhegan Abenaki Tribe" that 

Joseph Bruchac, Margaret Bruchac, and James Bruchac claim:]

[Last update: Oct 20, 2023]

State of Vermont's Response to Petition for Federal Acknowledgement of the St. Francis/Sokoki Band of the Abenaki Nation of Vermont in December 2002. [Added on Oct 10, 2023]

Executive Summary and Background: Response to the Vermont Abenaki Petition for Acknowledgement as an Indian Tribe, from the State of Vermont, on December 2002. [Added on Oct 10, 2023]

Odanak Band Resolution, September 29, 2003 stating the Conseil de Bande d'Odanak "does not recognize at this time any organizations claiming to be Abenaki First Nations in the United States or Canada, with the exceptions of our brothers and sisters at Wolinak and Penobscot. Signed by Chief Gilles O'Bomsawin, and four Conseiller's. [Added on Oct 8, 2023].

Final Determination against Federal Acknowledgement of the St. Francis/Sokoki Band of Abenakis of Vermont published in the Federal Register on July 2, 2007. Below is the summary; I encourage you to read the entire document. 

The summary:

Pursuant to 25 CFR 83.10(l)(2), notice is hereby given that the Department of the Interior (Department) declines to acknowledge the group known as the St. Francis/Sokoki Band of Abenakis of Vermont (SSA), P.O. Box 276, Swanton, Vermont 05488, c/o Ms. April Merrill, as an Indian tribe within the meaning of Federal law. This notice is based on a determination that the petitioner does not satisfy four of the seven mandatory criteria for acknowledgment, specifically 83.7(a), 83.7(b), 83.7(c), and 83.7(e), as defined in 25 CFR part 83. Consequently, the SSA petitioner does not meet the requirements for a government-to-government relationship with the United States.

Odanak First Nation denounces VT-state recognized Abenaki tribes as 'Pretendian' by Elodie Reed, Mitch Wertlieb, and Karen Anderson at Vermont Public Radio on May 5, 2022 is good summary of "Beyond Borders: Unheard Abenaki Voices from the Odanak First Nation" [Added on May 11, 2022]

Beyond Borders: Unheard Abenaki Voices from the Odanak First Nation - full video (approximately 4 hours) of event posted to Youtube on May 12, 2022 includes Opening Songs, Welcomes, "The Past" panel, "The Present" panel, Closing Comments, and an Honor Song. [Added on May 12, 2022]

Letter from Rick O'Bomsawin, Chief of the Abenaki Council of Odanak, to Phil Scott, Governor of Vermont, requesting a meeting to discuss Vermont recognition of groups that Vermont recognizes as being nations. Letter is dated September 6, 2022. [Added on October 3, 2022]

Odanak First Nation's Mali Obomsawin tells Indigenous stories through music by David Hess at Vermont Public Radio includes conversation with Obomsawin about groups in Vermont that claim to be Native. Broadcast is dated September 8, 2022. [Added on October 3, 2022]

Abenaki Nation in Quebec says tribes bearing its names in Vermont should not be recognized by Tom Fennario at APTN National News on September 12, 2022. [Added on October 3, 2022]

Declaration: The Abenakis are the sole guardians of their language, culture, and tradition at Abenaki Heritage. [Added to resource list on May 31, 2023] 

Amid legitimacy dispute, Odanak Abenaki chief invited Vt. state-recognized tribes to visit by Elodie Reed and David Littlefield of Vermont Public Radio on March 10, 2023. [Added to resource list on May 31, 2023] 

As VT Truth & Reconciliation Commission begins, Odanak chief repeats request for inclusion by Elodie Reed of Vermont Public Radio on April 14, 2023. [Added to resource list on May 31, 2023]  

Controversy surrounding the Abenaki identity of four groups in Vermont by David Savoy of Radio-Canada on April 30, 2023. [Added to resource list on May 31, 2023] 

Odanak First Nation requests Burlington museum remove photo of ancestors from exhibit, by Elodie Reed of Vermont Public Radio on May 20, 2023. [Added to resource list on May 31, 2023] 

The real ethnocide is self-Indigenization: The Abenakis of Odanak and W8linak respond to self-proclaimed 'Abenaki' groups of Vermont, press release on May 8, 2023. [Added to resource list on May 31, 2023] 

Review of genealogies, other records fails to support local leaders' claims of Abenaki ancestry by Julia Furukawa of New Hampshire Public Radio on May 22, 2023. [Added to resource list on May 31, 2023]  

The editorial note accompanying Furukawa's article is compelling:

In reporting this piece, NHPR independently fact-checked claims of Indigenous ancestry using professional genealogies; requested verification from tribal nation records; and asked sources to share what evidence they have to support their claims of Indigenous ancestry. NHPR also consulted with members of the Native American Journalists Association (NAJA) and multiple experts on Indigenous identity, including this NAJA training on “Understanding Indigenous Claims and Connections.”

NHPR acknowledges that our newsroom has not sought to verify claims of Indigenous ancestry before, relying on sources to self-identify. We now understand that verifying such claims – especially when it comes to people who claim leadership or speak on behalf of an Indigenous community and are not members of a federally recognized tribal nation – is part of our basic responsibility as journalists. Going forward, we pledge to take steps to better ensure the accuracy of our coverage of Indigenous communities and issues. 

State Recognition and the Dangers of Race Shifting: The Case of Vermont by Darryl Leroux, published in American Indian Culture and Research Journal Volume 46, Issue 2, on July 14, 2023. [Added to resource list on July 17, 2023]

"Abenaki" Group of Missisquoi: Research Findings Reveal Troubling Irregularities in the State of Vermont's Recognition Process is a press release issued by Abenaki Heritage on July 31, 2023. [Added to resource list on August 19, 2023]

Why Vermont tribes, New Hampshire groups might claim to be Abenaki without even proving ancestry by Julie Furukawa and Elodie Reed at Vermont Public Radio on August 8, 2023. [Added to resource list on August 19, 2023]

Odanak Musician Mali Obomsawin Talks Music, Community and Vermont's 'Pretendian Problem' by Ken Picard at Seven Days on September 27 2023. [Added to resource list on September 30, 2023]

Is Joseph Bruchac truly Abenaki? by Chris Churchill at Times Union on September 30 2023. [Added to resource list on September 30, 2023]

Why are Abenaki Nations challenging legitimacy of Vermont's state-recognized tribes? by Elodie Reed, Josh Crane, and Sabine Poux on October 20, 2023. [Added to resource list on October 20, 2023]

"Never fear," said Gramps. "My great, great grandmother was one quarter Native Bear and I am ready to share."

This morning on Twitter, I saw a tweet that included a photo of a page from a Berenstain Bears book. The person who shared it characterized it as 'yikes' and most of the people who commented about it agreed. Because a lot of what we see online is satire or parody, I wondered if someone was playing around with the Berenstain Bears books. 

Some of the books have stereotypical content and are cringeworthy. In Berenstain Bears Go to Camp (published in 1982 by Random House) shows Grizzly Bob in a feathered headdress and fringed buckskin. In Berenstain Bears Give Thanks (published in 2009 by Zonderkids, a Christian publishing house) the bear family has a turkey named Squanto. This is supposed to be their dinner on Thanksgiving Day but Sister Bear objects and they decide to keep Squanto as a pet. 

I looked for the book where Gramps says his great, great grandmother was "one quarter Native Bear" and found it right away. It is in The Berenstain Bears Thanksgiving Blessings. Like Berenstain Bears Give Thanks, it is from Zonderkids, the Christian publishing house. It came out in 2013.

Thanksgiving Blessings is one of the too-many books that puts forth the feel-good Thanksgiving story (in this one, the "Native Bears" gave the "Pilgrim Bears" food and they all shared in a great feast), but it is also one of those that goes a step further by having a character claim to be Native. That character talks about what they will "share" with others. Some readers will see "share" and think it is a good moral lesson, but some of us read that and see it as an attempt to depict harmony that looks away from the facts of history.

Here, it is Gramps saying that his great, great Grandmother was "one quarter Native Bear." Here's a screencap of the page (I put the red arrow there to draw your attention to Gramps and this bogus claim):

And here's the text on that page:

The whole family helped set the table. It was, indeed, a magnificent Thanksgiving feast. 

"It's a shame there aren't any Native Bears here to share it with us," said Brother. 

"Never fear," said Gramps, seating himself at the head of the table. "My great, great grandmother was one quarter Native Bear an I am ready to share. Let's eat!"

If you follow Native people on social media, you know that there are many conversations about people who claim they are Native. Social media makes it possible for this topic to be more visible than ever before. 

I ran into these claims a lot in the 1990s when I was a student at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). It had a stereotypical mascot they called "Chief Illiniwek." Before I arrived there, Native students, staff and faculty had been asking the university to get rid of it. 

Without fail, we encountered fans who claimed that they are part Native and--with that claim to Native identity--said that the mascot was a good thing. Some of them may have had an ancestor, but some of them were simply recounting family lore, and were using that family lore to dismiss Native people who resist being stereotyped and misrepresented via mascots, children's books, television shows, and movies. 

That dismissal is precisely what I see in Thanksgiving Blessings. Obviously, Mike Berenstain (his parents launched the Berenstain Bears books in the 1960s), uses Gramps and his "one quarter Native Bear" as an attempt to validate the bogus Thanksgiving story. 

If you have a family story that tells us an ancestor was Native and you have no idea what that ancestor's nation was, and you speak from that space of not-knowing, I urge you to stop doing that, especially if you're doing it to counter Native people who speak up about stereotypes, and/or biased and inaccurate information. You are harming the very people you claim to be. You are undermining us. Please stop! 

To learn more about fabricated or unsupported claims to Native identity, you can read through resources I've compiled: Native or Not? And if you see that sort of thing in a children's book, please let me know!

Native? Or, not? -- A Resource List

Dear AICL Reader,

Some of you are aware of the ongoing conversations about claims to being Native. A high profile case right now is Michelle Latimer, who said she was Native. People believed her. But then it turned out the people she claimed did not and do not, know her. 

Starting with this post on Feb 24, 2021, I am building a resource list of articles, books, and podcasts that I think others should be aware of--especially if you are editing, reviewing, or teaching material that is presented as being created by someone who says they are Native. The items are presented chronologically because some refer to previous ones. For many of you, this conversation is new. To Native people, it is not. You'll see several phrases used--like "playing Indian" and "pretendian" and you'll see that I include items about DNA testing.  

If you know of a resource I could add, please let me know by email or by using the comment form, below. And please share this page with your family, friends, and colleagues. 

Thanks,

Debbie

****

Playing Indian by Philip J. Deloria, published in 1999 by Yale University Press. [Added on Feb 24 2021]

The Boston Tea Party, the Order of Red Men, Camp Fire Girls, Boy Scouts, Grateful Dead concerts are just a few examples of the American tendency to appropriate Indian dress and act out Indian roles. This provocative book explores how white Americans have used their ideas about Indians to shape national identity in different eras—and how Indian people have reacted to these imitations of their native dress, language, and ritual.

At the Boston Tea Party, colonial rebels played Indian in order to claim an aboriginal American identity. In the nineteenth century, Indian fraternal orders allowed men to rethink the idea of revolution, consolidate national power, and write nationalist literary epics. By the twentieth century, playing Indian helped nervous city dwellers deal with modernist concerns about nature, authenticity, Cold War anxiety, and various forms of relativism. Deloria points out, however, that throughout American history the creative uses of Indianness have been interwoven with conquest and dispossession of the Indians. Indian play has thus been fraught with ambivalence—for white Americans who idealized and villainized the Indian, and for Indians who were both humiliated and empowered by these cultural exercises.

Deloria suggests that imagining Indians has helped generations of white Americans define, mask, and evade paradoxes stemming from simultaneous construction and destruction of these native peoples. In the process, Americans have created powerful identities that have never been fully secure.

Becoming Indian: The Struggle over Cherokee Identity in the Twenty-first Century by Circe Sturm, published in 2011 by the School for Advanced Research Press. [Added on Feb 24 2021]

In Becoming Indian, author Circe Sturm examines Cherokee identity politics and the phenomenon of racial shifting. Racial shifters, as described by Sturm, are people who have changed their racial self-identification from non-Indian to Indian on the US Census. Many racial shifters are people who, while looking for their roots, have recently discovered their Native American ancestry. Others have family stories of an Indian great-great-grandmother or -grandfather they have not been able to document. Still others have long known they were of Native American descent, including their tribal affiliation, but only recently have become interested in reclaiming this aspect of their family history. Despite their differences, racial shifters share a conviction that they have Indian blood when asserting claims of indigeneity. Becoming Indian explores the social and cultural values that lie behind this phenomenon and delves into the motivations of these Americans—from so many different walks of life—to reinscribe their autobiographies and find deep personal and collective meaning in reclaiming their Indianness. Sturm points out that “becoming Indian” was not something people were quite as willing to do forty years ago—the willingness to do so now reveals much about the shifting politics of race and indigeneity in the United States.

Native American DNA: Tribal Belonging and the False Promise of Genetic Science by Kim TallBear, published in 2013 by University of Minnesota Press. [Added on Feb 24 2021]

Because today’s DNA testing seems so compelling and powerful, increasing numbers of Native Americans have begun to believe their own metaphors: “in our blood” is giving way to “in our DNA.” In Native American DNA, Kim TallBear shows how Native American claims to land, resources, and sovereignty that have taken generations to ratify may be seriously—and permanently—undermined.

 

'There is no DNA test to prove you're Native American' by Linda Geddes, is an interview with Kim TallBear in New Scientist on Feb 4, 2014. [Added on Feb 24 2021]

Joseph Boyden exploits mythical Native identity by Doug George-Kanentiio at Indianz is an Opinion piece subtitled "Joseph Boyden: An Imposter Under Native Law" on Jan 6, 2017. [Added on Feb 24 2021]

Exposing false Native heritage at Native America Calling on Feb 10, 2021. [Added on Feb 24 2021]

After a CBC investigation called her claimed Indigenous heritage into question, Canadian filmmaker Michelle Latimer resigned as director of the CBC-TV series “Trickster,” a show she co-created. The National Film Board also dropped its intention to distribute her film “Inconvenient Indian” and pulled it from a Sundance Film Festival screening. It’s the latest in a continuing series of prominent people who initially benefitted from their Indigenous identity but were forced to backtrack when those claims couldn’t be documented. We’ll hear about the latest incident and an effort to expose those who improperly cash in on Native heritage. 

 

Distorted Descent: White Claims to Indigenous Identity by Darryl Leroux, published in 2019 by University of Manitoba Press. [Added on Feb 24 2021]

Distorted Descent examines a social phenomenon that has taken off in the twenty-first century: otherwise white, French descendant settlers in Canada shifting into a self-defined “Indigenous” identity. This study is not about individuals who have been dispossessed by colonial policies, or the multi-generational efforts to reconnect that occur in response. Rather, it is about white, French-descendant people discovering an Indigenous ancestor born 300 to 375 years ago through genealogy and using that ancestor as the sole basis for an eventual shift into an “Indigenous” identity today.

After setting out the most common genealogical practices that facilitate race shifting, Leroux examines two of the most prominent self-identified “Indigenous” organizations currently operating in Quebec. Both organizations have their origins in committed opposition to Indigenous land and territorial negotiations, and both encourage the use of suspect genealogical practices. Distorted Descent brings to light to how these claims to an “Indigenous” identity are then used politically to oppose actual, living Indigenous peoples, exposing along the way the shifting politics of whiteness, white settler colonialism, and white supremacy.  

For more information on the rise of the so-called ‘Eastern Metis’ in the eastern provinces and in New England, including a storymap, court documents, and research materials, visit the Raceshifting website, created by Unwritten Histories Digital Consulting.

How 'pretendians' undermine the rights of Indigenous people by Rebecca Nagle, published on April 2, 2019 at High Country News. [Added on Feb 24 2021]

Fraud in Native American Communities, a Special Issue of American Indian Culture and Research Journal, in honor of Suzan Shown Harjo. Edited by Nancy Marie Mithlo, Volume 43, Issue 4, 2019. [Added on Feb 24 2021]

• Fauxskins, by Heid E. Erdrich
• At the Center of the Controversy: Confronting Ethnic Fraud in the Arts, by Ashley Holland
• Decentering Durham, by Nancy Marie Mithlo
• Not Jimmie Durham's Cherokee, by Roy Boney, Jr.
• Walk-Through at the Hammer, by James Lunda
• A Chapter Closed? by America Meredith
• What Shall We Do with the Bodies? Reconsidering the Archive in the Aftermath of Fraud, by Mario A. Caro.
• Living in a (Shrodinger's) Box: Jimmie Durham's Strategic Use of Ambiguity, by Suzanne Newman Fricke
• The Artist Knows Best: The De-Professionalism of a Profession, by Nancy Marie Mithlo
• Hustling and Hoaxing: Institutions, Modern Styles, and Yeffe Kimball's "Native" Art, by Sarah Anne Stolte
• Aspirational Descent and the Creation of Family Lore: Race Shifting in the Northeast, by Darryl Leroux
• Closing the Gap: Ethics and the Law in the Exhibition of Contemporary Native Art, by Tahnee M. Ahtoneharjo-Growingthunder
• Claims to Native Identity in Children's Literature, by Debbie Reese
• Playing Indian, between Idealization and Vilification: Seems You have to Play Indian to be Indian, by Rosy Simas and Sam Aros Mitchell

On colonization, racial supremacy and playing Indian: A response to 'Statement of Global Indigenous Identity and Solidarity' by Rhiana Yazzie at Indianz on Oct 14, 2021.

The Pretendian Problem at Indian Country Today's newscast on Jan 28, 2021. [Added on Feb 24 2021]

First Nation filmmakers are now pushing for new legislation in Canada to penalize people who pretend to be Indigenous in order to access grants, awards and jobs intended for Indigenous people. There’s a long history of non-Natives assuming a tribal identity...everything from using red face in a Hollywood film, to the antics of the Boston Tea Party. Jeff Bear is a seasoned journalist who makes documentary films. He’s Maliseet and one of his most recent films is, “Samaqan: Water Stories.” It’s about the power of rivers. He also has produced a new series "Petroglyphs to Pixels." Jeff Bear joins us today to discuss Indian Country's pretend Indian problem.

 

A growing number of "Pretendian" artists and the potential repercussions at APTN's "InFocus" on Jan 28, 2021. [Added on Feb 24 2021]

It's a bizarre phenomenon - people pretending to be Indigenous to get jobs or grants or even just attention, because it's cool to be us.

What's not funny is they are taking highly lucrative work from Indigenous people. They're teaching our histories. They're telling our stories.

On this episode, we are putting Indigenous identity fraud InFocus.

The Convenient "Pretendian" at Canadaland on Feb 14, 2021. [Added on Feb 24 2021]

Latimer’s documentary Inconvenient Indian premiered at TIFF and reaped plaudits and awards. It’s now been pulled from distribution. Her series Trickster, based on a novel by Eden Robinson, debuted on the CBC and was slated for a second season. It’s been cancelled. Why does the Canadian cultural establishment make darlings of figures like Latimer? Ryan McMahon joins Jesse to discuss. Then documentary filmmaker Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, who is featured in Inconvenient Indian, considers the ethics and responsibility of storytelling, and why this controversy has been hurtful to so many Indigenous people. And Steven Lonsdale, whose seal hunt Latimer filmed for Inconvenient Indian, explains what he’d like to see done with that footage.

Contemplating the Consequences of Colonial Cosplay at Media Indigena on Feb 24, 2021. [Added on Feb 24 2021]

With issues of identity reaching a fever pitch of late, we thought we’d take its temperature. From Michelle Latimer’s contested claims to Indigeneity, to an ever-growing, quasi-underground list of Alleged Pretendians, not to mention a Twitter tempest over light-skin privilege, we’ll break down what’s at play, what’s at stake and—in part two—what might be ways out of this messy business.

Joining host/producer Rick Harp at the roundtable are Kim TallBear, associate professor in the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta and Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Peoples, Technoscience & Environment, as well as Candis Callison, Associate Professor in the Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies and the Graduate School of Journalism at UBC.

Creating Culpability for Colonial Cosplay: Punishment for Pretendians at Media Indigena on Feb 27, 2021. [Added on Mar 1 2021]

Punishment for Pretendians: the back half of our extended look at colonial cosplay. And if part one was all about the problem, this part’s all about solutions. Just what is to be done about all these faux First Nations actors, authors and academics? What mechanisms might we use, and by whose authority? Does it make sense to target all the players, or would it be better to re-write the rules of the game?

Back with host/producer Rick Harp to assess what's been put forth as ways to sift through the grift are Candis Callison, Associate Professor in the Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies and the Graduate School of Journalism at UBC, and Kim TallBear, associate professor in the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta as well as Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Peoples, Technoscience & Environment.