'Someone's starting to listen,' says Abenaki chief, applauding defeat of New Hampshire bill

The chief of the Abenaki of Odanak is celebrating a victory in his nation's campaign against state-recognized tribes in New England, many of which he says are illegitimate.

In a news release, Rick O'Bomsawin says a New Hampshire bill — which lawmakers killed last month — would have given too much power to what he calls "self-proclaimed" Abenaki groups in Vermont.

"I think someone's starting to listen," he said.

The Abenaki of Odanak and W8linak say four Abenaki tribes recognized in Vermont are among those that are not really Abenaki, yet state law permits them to sell artwork, access funding for social programs and receive free hunting and fishing licences.

Leaders in Quebec took identity fraud concerns to the United Nations last year.

But more recently, Bill 161, titled "Changing the membership of the New Hampshire commission on Native American affairs," would have extended the groups' influence in New Hampshire, says O'Bomsawin.

"I think New Hampshire was watching what's going on and saying, 'oh, before we get into this mess, let's stop this right in the beginning,'" he said.

Odanak and W8linak, located near Trois-Rivières, Que., have historically clashed with groups in the U.S. regarding legitimacy. O'Bomsawin and some researchers contend that many of the Vermont-recognized Abenaki groups aren't Indigenous at all.

Darryl Leroux says these New England groups have refused to do verification "that they're well able to do."

An associate professor in the school of political studies at the University of Ottawa who has studied transformations in white identities and settler colonialism, Leroux found that the majority of members of the tribes had no Abenaki ancestry, but rather are descendants from French-Canadian immigrants.

He published his findings in a peer-reviewed article "State Recognition and the Dangers of Race Shifting" in the American Indian Culture and Research Journal in 2023. The genealogy has not been independently verified by CBC News.

"They've chosen to believe the family lore," said Leroux. "One's responsibility when it makes these types of claims is [at] the very least to verify the claims."

He says states can establish their own process to recognize tribes, often for "political reasons." Currently, New Hampshire has no state recognition process.

"This bill was trying to put [one] in place," said Leroux.