Post by blackcrowheart on Nov 12, 2005 19:59:25 GMT -5
Bureau of Indian Affairs: No recognition for Abenaki
November 11, 2005
By LISA RATHKE The Associated Press
MONTPELIER — The Abenaki Indians have not proven they are entitled to federal recognition, the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs said Thursday.
The Abenakis did not meet four of seven criteria necessary to entitle the group to federal status as a Native American tribe, the bureau said.
The Abenaki did not show that the tribe has existed continuously since 1900; descended from a historical Indian tribe; and had been part of a continuous community.
The bureau also said the evidence shows that Abenakis' political authority was limited to only a few members and only since the mid-1970s.
The finding by the federal agency is preliminary; the bureau will take comments for 180 days and then will make its final report.
"That gives them time to focus on those four and to provide more evidence to meet the criteria," said Nedra Darling, a spokeswoman for the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs.
A group claiming to be descendants of the Missisquoi Abenaki tribe, who lived in northwestern Vermont and southern Quebec between roughly 1600 and 1800, first filed its petition seeking federal recognition in 1982. The group withdrew the petition in 1989 and re-filed it in 1995.
The Abenakis said they had 1,171 current members, but the bureau said "no evidence has been submitted for more than 90 percent of the membership to demonstrate that those individuals have applied for membership or even know they are on the membership list."
Attorney General William Sorrell, whose office had opposed the petition, said he was pleased with the 158-page report.
"This has never been about trying to discriminate against the group seeking tribal recognition," he said. "Since there are so many rights that typically flow from federal recognition, it is extremely important that the stringent legal tests for recognition be met."
April Rushlow Merrill, chief of the Swanton/St. Albans Abenaki Tribe, did not return a phone call seeking comment.
The group now has six months to revise its application.
Only three applicants have gained federal recognition after the bureau has proposed denying their petitions, she said.
Since the law was put in place in 1978, 15 tribes have been acknowledged and 19 have been denied, she said.
The status gives them the opportunity for government-to-government relationship with the federal government, she said, making them eligible for federal programs.
Opponents, including the Douglas administration, fear federal recognition could lead to land claims and casino gambling.
William Griffin, the deputy attorney general, said the bureau's conclusions matched the state's.
"Their findings were entirely consistent with the findings the attorney general's office had made in our research, that this group does not represent descendants of the historic tribe," he said.
November 11, 2005
By LISA RATHKE The Associated Press
MONTPELIER — The Abenaki Indians have not proven they are entitled to federal recognition, the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs said Thursday.
The Abenakis did not meet four of seven criteria necessary to entitle the group to federal status as a Native American tribe, the bureau said.
The Abenaki did not show that the tribe has existed continuously since 1900; descended from a historical Indian tribe; and had been part of a continuous community.
The bureau also said the evidence shows that Abenakis' political authority was limited to only a few members and only since the mid-1970s.
The finding by the federal agency is preliminary; the bureau will take comments for 180 days and then will make its final report.
"That gives them time to focus on those four and to provide more evidence to meet the criteria," said Nedra Darling, a spokeswoman for the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs.
A group claiming to be descendants of the Missisquoi Abenaki tribe, who lived in northwestern Vermont and southern Quebec between roughly 1600 and 1800, first filed its petition seeking federal recognition in 1982. The group withdrew the petition in 1989 and re-filed it in 1995.
The Abenakis said they had 1,171 current members, but the bureau said "no evidence has been submitted for more than 90 percent of the membership to demonstrate that those individuals have applied for membership or even know they are on the membership list."
Attorney General William Sorrell, whose office had opposed the petition, said he was pleased with the 158-page report.
"This has never been about trying to discriminate against the group seeking tribal recognition," he said. "Since there are so many rights that typically flow from federal recognition, it is extremely important that the stringent legal tests for recognition be met."
April Rushlow Merrill, chief of the Swanton/St. Albans Abenaki Tribe, did not return a phone call seeking comment.
The group now has six months to revise its application.
Only three applicants have gained federal recognition after the bureau has proposed denying their petitions, she said.
Since the law was put in place in 1978, 15 tribes have been acknowledged and 19 have been denied, she said.
The status gives them the opportunity for government-to-government relationship with the federal government, she said, making them eligible for federal programs.
Opponents, including the Douglas administration, fear federal recognition could lead to land claims and casino gambling.
William Griffin, the deputy attorney general, said the bureau's conclusions matched the state's.
"Their findings were entirely consistent with the findings the attorney general's office had made in our research, that this group does not represent descendants of the historic tribe," he said.