Post by blackcrowheart on Aug 14, 2006 11:04:13 GMT -5
New Native affairs commission to meet in Swanton & Montpelier
New appointees include five Abenaki
Written by Jedd Kettler
Thursday, 10 August 2006
Don Stevens of Enosburg Falls, one of the new members of the Vermont Comm-ission on Native American Affairs.
MONTPELIER: With appointments announced late last week by Gov. Jim Douglas’ office, the new seven-member Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs already appears ready to embrace its new work with its first meeting later this month.
The new commission will be made up of all Native American members, including five who are of Abenaki descent.
The commission is also set to hold its first three-hour meeting two weeks from today in Swanton, said newly appointed Chairman Mark Mitchell. Speaking with the County Courier on Tuesday, Mitchell also laid out plans to continue meeting in Swanton throughout the fall before moving meetings to Montpelier in January for the legislative session.
For some 15 years, the previous Governor’s Advisory Commission on Native American Affairs met in Swanton, home of the St. Francis/Sokoki Band’s Tribal Council. The new commission was created by the May passage of S.117, granting state recognition to Vermont’s Abenaki.
Jeff Benay, former chairman of the previous commission, praised the decision to hold meetings in Swanton and for the active schedule.
“It’s a healthy sign that they they’re ready to get down to work,” Benay said. “You’ve got a chair that certainly knows history. The fight was fought here.”
Mitchell, 52, of Barnet, said he also hopes to give the new commission a strong voice in the state capital, moving meetings to Montpelier from January-May.
“I think it’s vital that we have a presence in Montpelier during the legislative session,” he said. Mitchell, an Abenaki, served on the earlier commission in the 1990s and was Executive Director of the Abenaki Self-Help Association Inc. He said he hopes to continue the previous group’s role as an “activist commission.”
Though only required by statute to meet three times a year, Mitchell said such a schedule would make the new commission “meaningless and unacceptable.”
A new Native Commission
Aside from Mitchell, new all-volunteer appointees also include one Franklin County resident, Don Stevens, 40, of Enosburg Falls, an Abenaki currently serving on the ASHAI Board of Directors, who also maintains the Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi website, www.abenakination.org/. He is a graduate of Champlain College and works as a systems analyst for A.N. Deringer.
Stevens said he is dedicated to making the new commission work and believes the focus will be on helping bring Native people to educational and arts opportunities.
“We all have to work together to preserve the spirit of the bill, not just the words, but the spirit of the bill, S.117. That’s what motivated me,” Stevens said.
Western Abenaki basketmaker and advocate Jeanne Brink, 61, of Barre, will also serve on the new commission. Brink holds a Masters of Arts degree in Native American Studies and has been active in preserving the language, arts, dance and culture of Vermont’s Abenaki.
Judy Dow, an Abenaki from Essex Junction, whose baskets are currently on a three-year national museum tour, is also recognized for educating teachers and student about Native Americans. She received the 2004 Governor’s Heritage Award for Outstanding Educator for that work. She is a past director of the former Dawnland Indian Center.
Timothy de la Bruere, of Newport, is of Odanak descent and is also they youngest member of the new board at 24. He studied interaction between Native and non-Native governments, including an internship on the Akwesasne reservation. He was president of the Native American Student Organization at St. Lawrence University and works as an apprentice electrician.
The commission also includes two Vermont residents who are members of other Native tribes. Charlene McMan-is, 53, of Worces-ter, originally hails from Oregon, where her family was among those relocated from the Grande Ronde reservation in the 1950s. It took another 30 years before the attempt to “Americanize” the tribes was reversed and the Grande Ronde returned to their land. For the past 21 years, McManis has lived in Vermont and has been active teaching theater, bead work, dance and other activities. “Whatever was needed,” McManis said this week. She also served four years on the Dawnland Indian Center’s Board of Directors.
Also among commission appointees is Howard Lyons, of Randolph. Lyons, 41, is a Mohawk-Wolfclan-Haudenosaunee folk singer-songwriter known throughout North America. He has been active in educating people about Native American culture and traditions, substance abuse, music and art.
A new direction
Having all Native members on the commission is a departure from the previous commission’s 15-year history. Prior to last week’s appointments, no Vermont Governor had ever appointed an Abenaki person to the original commission, with Native members consistently being appointed only by Swanton’s Tribal Council.
Some, including the old commission’s long-time chairman, Benay, had expressed the hope that there be a strong Abenaki and Native American presence on the new Native affairs commission. They appeared to get their wish with Douglas’ appointments, which include five Abenaki from across the northern portion of the state and two other Vermonters with other Native American roots.
“I have to tell you I’m very pleased that the Governor did in fact take our concerns very seriously,” Benay said. “I think that says a lot.”
At least one legislator who pushed for recognition also praised Douglas’ appointments.
Rep. Carolyn Branagan (R-Fairfax, Georgia, Franklin-1), who was a strong advocate for the Abenaki recognition bill in the House, called the new commission “an exceptional group of people.”
Branagan said not only is it important that the candidates are all well qualified and obviously involved in Native issues in the state, but the inclusion of Native people from varied areas of the state will help the new commission be successful.
“I’m delighted with the structure of the commission. I think this is going to benefit the Native people, and this is exactly what we wanted in the legislation,” Branagan said.
Stevens said his greatest hope is that Abenaki and Native people throughout the state will have a similar reaction.
“I’m hoping the Native community will embrace it,” he said.
Remembering those
who came before
All of the new commissioners who spoke with the Courier this week acknowledged the hard work of the group they are replacing.
“It’s impossible to fill Jeff Benay’s shoes,” Mitchell said of the former chairman.
Stevens agreed. “Without the work of the old commission I don’t think we’d be where we are today,” he said.
Mitchell said the newly-formed commission’s goals are well outlined in the language of S.117, and their focus will most likely be on social services, education, employment, arts and crafts and youth programs.
“That’s kind of the statute,” he said. Asked whether commissioners will also be involved in efforts by their predecessors in ongoing issues of unearthed Native remains and re-interment in Northwestern Vermont, Mitchell said though they may not be directly involved in such issues, they will not have blinders on about them either.
“The commission is certainly going to monitor the Alburgh situation and certainly will assist the community in any way it can,” Mitchell said. “We certainly are very interested in it.”
Stevens said he hopes the newly granted recognition and the commission itself will also help to bring greater understanding to the non-Native public about the importance of such issues.
“I’m hoping it will help people understand what our culture is, our beliefs,” he said. Through that he hopes will come an understanding that, “They’re not just bones. They’re our ancestors.”
Mitchell said the commission will likely work with legislators in the coming session to clarify unmarked burial policies.
The new commission’s first meeting is Thursday, Aug. 24, from 1-4 p.m. in the Title VI Indian Education Offices on 49 Church Street in Swanton.
New appointees include five Abenaki
Written by Jedd Kettler
Thursday, 10 August 2006
Don Stevens of Enosburg Falls, one of the new members of the Vermont Comm-ission on Native American Affairs.
MONTPELIER: With appointments announced late last week by Gov. Jim Douglas’ office, the new seven-member Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs already appears ready to embrace its new work with its first meeting later this month.
The new commission will be made up of all Native American members, including five who are of Abenaki descent.
The commission is also set to hold its first three-hour meeting two weeks from today in Swanton, said newly appointed Chairman Mark Mitchell. Speaking with the County Courier on Tuesday, Mitchell also laid out plans to continue meeting in Swanton throughout the fall before moving meetings to Montpelier in January for the legislative session.
For some 15 years, the previous Governor’s Advisory Commission on Native American Affairs met in Swanton, home of the St. Francis/Sokoki Band’s Tribal Council. The new commission was created by the May passage of S.117, granting state recognition to Vermont’s Abenaki.
Jeff Benay, former chairman of the previous commission, praised the decision to hold meetings in Swanton and for the active schedule.
“It’s a healthy sign that they they’re ready to get down to work,” Benay said. “You’ve got a chair that certainly knows history. The fight was fought here.”
Mitchell, 52, of Barnet, said he also hopes to give the new commission a strong voice in the state capital, moving meetings to Montpelier from January-May.
“I think it’s vital that we have a presence in Montpelier during the legislative session,” he said. Mitchell, an Abenaki, served on the earlier commission in the 1990s and was Executive Director of the Abenaki Self-Help Association Inc. He said he hopes to continue the previous group’s role as an “activist commission.”
Though only required by statute to meet three times a year, Mitchell said such a schedule would make the new commission “meaningless and unacceptable.”
A new Native Commission
Aside from Mitchell, new all-volunteer appointees also include one Franklin County resident, Don Stevens, 40, of Enosburg Falls, an Abenaki currently serving on the ASHAI Board of Directors, who also maintains the Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi website, www.abenakination.org/. He is a graduate of Champlain College and works as a systems analyst for A.N. Deringer.
Stevens said he is dedicated to making the new commission work and believes the focus will be on helping bring Native people to educational and arts opportunities.
“We all have to work together to preserve the spirit of the bill, not just the words, but the spirit of the bill, S.117. That’s what motivated me,” Stevens said.
Western Abenaki basketmaker and advocate Jeanne Brink, 61, of Barre, will also serve on the new commission. Brink holds a Masters of Arts degree in Native American Studies and has been active in preserving the language, arts, dance and culture of Vermont’s Abenaki.
Judy Dow, an Abenaki from Essex Junction, whose baskets are currently on a three-year national museum tour, is also recognized for educating teachers and student about Native Americans. She received the 2004 Governor’s Heritage Award for Outstanding Educator for that work. She is a past director of the former Dawnland Indian Center.
Timothy de la Bruere, of Newport, is of Odanak descent and is also they youngest member of the new board at 24. He studied interaction between Native and non-Native governments, including an internship on the Akwesasne reservation. He was president of the Native American Student Organization at St. Lawrence University and works as an apprentice electrician.
The commission also includes two Vermont residents who are members of other Native tribes. Charlene McMan-is, 53, of Worces-ter, originally hails from Oregon, where her family was among those relocated from the Grande Ronde reservation in the 1950s. It took another 30 years before the attempt to “Americanize” the tribes was reversed and the Grande Ronde returned to their land. For the past 21 years, McManis has lived in Vermont and has been active teaching theater, bead work, dance and other activities. “Whatever was needed,” McManis said this week. She also served four years on the Dawnland Indian Center’s Board of Directors.
Also among commission appointees is Howard Lyons, of Randolph. Lyons, 41, is a Mohawk-Wolfclan-Haudenosaunee folk singer-songwriter known throughout North America. He has been active in educating people about Native American culture and traditions, substance abuse, music and art.
A new direction
Having all Native members on the commission is a departure from the previous commission’s 15-year history. Prior to last week’s appointments, no Vermont Governor had ever appointed an Abenaki person to the original commission, with Native members consistently being appointed only by Swanton’s Tribal Council.
Some, including the old commission’s long-time chairman, Benay, had expressed the hope that there be a strong Abenaki and Native American presence on the new Native affairs commission. They appeared to get their wish with Douglas’ appointments, which include five Abenaki from across the northern portion of the state and two other Vermonters with other Native American roots.
“I have to tell you I’m very pleased that the Governor did in fact take our concerns very seriously,” Benay said. “I think that says a lot.”
At least one legislator who pushed for recognition also praised Douglas’ appointments.
Rep. Carolyn Branagan (R-Fairfax, Georgia, Franklin-1), who was a strong advocate for the Abenaki recognition bill in the House, called the new commission “an exceptional group of people.”
Branagan said not only is it important that the candidates are all well qualified and obviously involved in Native issues in the state, but the inclusion of Native people from varied areas of the state will help the new commission be successful.
“I’m delighted with the structure of the commission. I think this is going to benefit the Native people, and this is exactly what we wanted in the legislation,” Branagan said.
Stevens said his greatest hope is that Abenaki and Native people throughout the state will have a similar reaction.
“I’m hoping the Native community will embrace it,” he said.
Remembering those
who came before
All of the new commissioners who spoke with the Courier this week acknowledged the hard work of the group they are replacing.
“It’s impossible to fill Jeff Benay’s shoes,” Mitchell said of the former chairman.
Stevens agreed. “Without the work of the old commission I don’t think we’d be where we are today,” he said.
Mitchell said the newly-formed commission’s goals are well outlined in the language of S.117, and their focus will most likely be on social services, education, employment, arts and crafts and youth programs.
“That’s kind of the statute,” he said. Asked whether commissioners will also be involved in efforts by their predecessors in ongoing issues of unearthed Native remains and re-interment in Northwestern Vermont, Mitchell said though they may not be directly involved in such issues, they will not have blinders on about them either.
“The commission is certainly going to monitor the Alburgh situation and certainly will assist the community in any way it can,” Mitchell said. “We certainly are very interested in it.”
Stevens said he hopes the newly granted recognition and the commission itself will also help to bring greater understanding to the non-Native public about the importance of such issues.
“I’m hoping it will help people understand what our culture is, our beliefs,” he said. Through that he hopes will come an understanding that, “They’re not just bones. They’re our ancestors.”
Mitchell said the commission will likely work with legislators in the coming session to clarify unmarked burial policies.
The new commission’s first meeting is Thursday, Aug. 24, from 1-4 p.m. in the Title VI Indian Education Offices on 49 Church Street in Swanton.