Formation | 2020 (Elnu Abenaki Incorporated) [1] |
---|---|
Founded at | Brattleboro, Vermont [1] |
Type | state-recognized tribe, nonprofit organizations |
EIN 84-3882521 [1] | |
Legal status | arts, culture, and humanities nonprofit; charity [1] |
Purpose | A23: Cultural, Ethnic Awareness [1] |
Headquarters | Jamaica, Vermont |
Location | |
Membership (2016) | 60 [2] |
Official language | English |
Website |
elnuabenakitribe |
The Elnu Abenaki Tribe is a state-recognized tribe in Vermont, [3] who claim descent from Abenaki people. They are not federally recognized as a Native American tribe. [3] Vermont has no federally recognized tribes. [3] They are the smallest of Vermont's four state-recognized tribes with 60 members in 2016. [2]
Roger Longtoe Sheehan served as chief since at least 2016. [2]
Vermont recognized the Elnu Abenaki Tribe as a state-recognized tribe in 2011. [4] The other state-recognized tribes in Vermont are the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation, Koasek Abenaki Tribe, and the Mississquoi Abenaki Tribe. [3]
In 2020, the group created 'Elnu Abenaki Incorporated, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, based in Brattleboro, Vermont. [1] Their registered agent is Rich Holshuh. [5]
St. Mary's University associate professor Darryl Leroux's genealogical and historical research found that the members of this and the other three state-recognized tribes in Vermont were composed primarily of "French descendants who have used long-ago ancestry in New France to shift into an 'Abenaki' identity." [4]
The State of Vermont reported in 2002 that the Abenaki people migrated north to Quebec at the end of the 18th century. [6]
They participate in Abenaki Heritage Weekend, held at the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum in Vergennes, Vermont. [7]
Vermont H.556, "An act relating to exempting property owned by Vermont-recognized Native American tribes from property tax," passed on April 20, 2022. [8]