Post by blackcrowheart on Apr 2, 2006 16:39:39 GMT -5
Settlement rights an old wrong
Capital Region members of Abenaki tribe discuss proposed restitution from Canada for land grab
By CAROL DeMARE, Staff writer
Click byline for more stories by writer.
First published: Sunday, April 2, 2006
COLONIE -- Nearly 100 years after the Canadian government sold an Abenaki reservation without the tribe's full consent, the Indian nation, which includes members in the Capital Region, is due to receive several million dollars in compensation.
A gathering of about 50 Abenakis, both Capital Region residents and a group from the Odanak reservation in Quebec, Canada, heard details of the settlement Saturday.
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Chief Gilles O'Bomsawin and other tribal leaders from Odanak traveled here to discuss the proposed settlement, which was years in the making. Their visit marked the first time the tribe's governing council has visited the Capital Region.
The local Abenakis will vote with the rest of their tribe, or band, at the end of April on accepting or rejecting the compensation package of slightly less than $4 million ($4.5 million in Canadian dollars).
In the middle of the last century, Abenakis left their homes in Canada to look for work in New York and New England. Many landed in the construction business, including working on Empire State Plaza high above the ground as ironworkers.
But their hearts remain close to their ancestral beginnings in Odanak, 50 miles northeast of Montreal. About 2,500 Abenakis live both on and off reserves.
"We are living under the radar, and people don't know we are in the area," said Denise Watso, an Albany native whose Abenaki father came to Albany to work. She said about 200 live in the Capital Region.
Watso is passionate about her people who live in the U.S. being recognized by the American government, which would give them an opportunity for educational grants and other benefits afforded Native Americans.
"We can't go to the Bureau of Indian Affairs; we're not federally recognized, nor are we state-recognized," said Watso, 44, a civil engineer with the state Department of Transportation. As liaison for the Abenakis, she helped arrange Saturday's gathering.
"No longer should we be divided between those who live on the reserve and those who live off of it," Watso told the gathering Saturday at the Airport Best Western Hotel on Wolf Road.
The U.S. government views the tribe as Canadian, even though its members trace their ancestors as living in what became the Northeast U.S.
During the Indian Wars in the mid-18th century, the Abenakis supported the French. For a number of reasons -- wars, famine, European settlement -- they were pushed north into Canada.
"There's no documents that shows that we were here," said Jacques Theriault Watso, 31, a new member of the tribal council in Odanak and a cousin of Denise Watso.
On Saturday, Montreal lawyer Paul Dionne, who negotiated the settlement for the tribe, began his presentation with a history of the reservation land, given to the Abenakis by the king of France in the 1850s.
The Crespieul Reserve -- the Canadian term for a reservation -- initially consisted of a rugged 25 square miles in undeveloped northeastern Quebec. It was never used by the tribe.
"It was not located in the Abenakis' traditional territory" near Montreal, Dionne explained. "It was a long and arduous trip to access the territory."
Capital Region members of Abenaki tribe discuss proposed restitution from Canada for land grab
By CAROL DeMARE, Staff writer
Click byline for more stories by writer.
First published: Sunday, April 2, 2006
COLONIE -- Nearly 100 years after the Canadian government sold an Abenaki reservation without the tribe's full consent, the Indian nation, which includes members in the Capital Region, is due to receive several million dollars in compensation.
A gathering of about 50 Abenakis, both Capital Region residents and a group from the Odanak reservation in Quebec, Canada, heard details of the settlement Saturday.
Advertisement
Chief Gilles O'Bomsawin and other tribal leaders from Odanak traveled here to discuss the proposed settlement, which was years in the making. Their visit marked the first time the tribe's governing council has visited the Capital Region.
The local Abenakis will vote with the rest of their tribe, or band, at the end of April on accepting or rejecting the compensation package of slightly less than $4 million ($4.5 million in Canadian dollars).
In the middle of the last century, Abenakis left their homes in Canada to look for work in New York and New England. Many landed in the construction business, including working on Empire State Plaza high above the ground as ironworkers.
But their hearts remain close to their ancestral beginnings in Odanak, 50 miles northeast of Montreal. About 2,500 Abenakis live both on and off reserves.
"We are living under the radar, and people don't know we are in the area," said Denise Watso, an Albany native whose Abenaki father came to Albany to work. She said about 200 live in the Capital Region.
Watso is passionate about her people who live in the U.S. being recognized by the American government, which would give them an opportunity for educational grants and other benefits afforded Native Americans.
"We can't go to the Bureau of Indian Affairs; we're not federally recognized, nor are we state-recognized," said Watso, 44, a civil engineer with the state Department of Transportation. As liaison for the Abenakis, she helped arrange Saturday's gathering.
"No longer should we be divided between those who live on the reserve and those who live off of it," Watso told the gathering Saturday at the Airport Best Western Hotel on Wolf Road.
The U.S. government views the tribe as Canadian, even though its members trace their ancestors as living in what became the Northeast U.S.
During the Indian Wars in the mid-18th century, the Abenakis supported the French. For a number of reasons -- wars, famine, European settlement -- they were pushed north into Canada.
"There's no documents that shows that we were here," said Jacques Theriault Watso, 31, a new member of the tribal council in Odanak and a cousin of Denise Watso.
On Saturday, Montreal lawyer Paul Dionne, who negotiated the settlement for the tribe, began his presentation with a history of the reservation land, given to the Abenakis by the king of France in the 1850s.
The Crespieul Reserve -- the Canadian term for a reservation -- initially consisted of a rugged 25 square miles in undeveloped northeastern Quebec. It was never used by the tribe.
"It was not located in the Abenakis' traditional territory" near Montreal, Dionne explained. "It was a long and arduous trip to access the territory."