Editing Abenaki (section)

==History==
There is archaeological evidence of indigenous people in what is today New Hampshire for at least 12,000 years.<ref>{{Cite web |title=12,000 Years Ago in the Granite State |url=https://www.nhhumanities.org/programs/1258/12000-years-ago-in-the-granite-state |access-date=October 4, 2023 |website=New Hampshire Humanities }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|first=Michael |last=Harris|year= 2021 |title=N'dakinna: Our Homeland...Still – Additional Examples of Abenaki Presence in New Hampshire |url = https://scholars.unh.edu/spectrum/vol10/iss1/1 |journal=Spectrum|volume=10|issue=1|page=1|access-date= October 5, 2023}}</ref>

In ''[[Reflections in Bullough's Pond]]'', historian [[Diana Muir]] argues that the Abenakis' neighbors, pre-contact Iroquois, were an imperialist, expansionist culture whose cultivation of the [[Three Sisters (agriculture)|corn/beans/squash agricultural complex]] enabled them to support a large population. They made war primarily against neighboring [[Algonquian peoples]], including the Abenaki. Muir uses archaeological data to argue that the Iroquois expansion onto Algonquian lands was checked by the Algonquian adoption of agriculture. This enabled them to support their own populations large enough to have sufficient warriors to defend against the threat of Iroquois conquest.<ref>{{cite book|last=Muir|first=Diana|title=Reflections in Bullough's Pond|publisher=University Press of New England|year=2000|isbn=0-87451-909-8}}</ref>{{page needed|date=September 2013}}

In 1614, Thomas Hunt captured 24 Abenaki people, including [[Squanto]] (Tisquantum) and took them to Spain, where they were sold into [[Slavery in Spain|slavery]].<ref>{{cite book| last1=Bourne | first1=Russell | title= The Red King's Rebellion, Racial Politics in New England 1675–1678 | year= 1990 | isbn= 0-689-12000-1 |page=214| publisher=Atheneum }}</ref> During the European colonization of North America, the land occupied by the Abenaki was in the area between the new colonies of England in Massachusetts and the French in Quebec. Since no party agreed to territorial boundaries, there was regular conflict among them. The Abenaki were traditionally allied with the French; during the reign of [[Louis XIV]], Chief [[Nescambious|Assacumbuit]] was designated a member of the French nobility for his service.

Around 1669, the Abenaki started to emigrate to Quebec due to conflicts with English colonists and [[epidemic]]s of new infectious diseases. The governor of [[New France]] allocated two [[Seigneurial system of New France|seigneuries]] (large self-administered areas similar to [[Fief|feudal fiefs]]). The first, of what was later to become [[Indian reserve]]s, was on the [[Saint-François River|Saint Francis River]] and is now known as the ''[[Odanak]]'' Indian Reserve; the second was founded near [[Bécancour, Quebec|Bécancour]] and is called the ''[[Wôlinak]]'' Indian Reserve.

===Abenaki wars===
{{Main|French and Indian Wars}}

When the [[Wampanoag]] under King Philip ([[Metacomet]]) fought the English colonists in New England in 1675 in [[King Philip's War]], the Abenaki joined the Wampanoag. For three years they fought along the Maine frontier in the [[First Abenaki War]]. The Abenaki pushed back the line of white settlement through devastating raids on scattered farmhouses and small villages. The war was settled by a peace treaty in 1678, with the Wampanoag more than decimated and many native survivors having been sold into slavery in Bermuda.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Peters |first=Paula |date=July 14, 2002 |title=Worlds rejoined |url=https://www.capecodtimes.com/story/news/2002/07/14/worlds-rejoined/50967035007/ |access-date=July 12, 2024 |website=[[Cape Cod Times]] }}</ref>

During [[Queen Anne's War]] in 1702, the Abenaki were allied with the French; they raided numerous English colonial settlements in Maine, from [[Wells, Maine|Wells]] to [[Portland, Maine|Casco]], killing about 300 settlers over ten years. They also occasionally raided into Massachusetts, for instance in [[Groton, Massachusetts|Groton]] and [[Deerfield, Massachusetts|Deerfield]] in 1704. The raids stopped when the war ended. Some [[Captives in American Indian Wars|captives]] were adopted into the [[Mohawk people|Mohawk]] and Abenaki tribes; older captives were generally ransomed, and the colonies carried on a brisk trade.<ref>Kenneth Morrison, ''The Embattled Northeast: the Elusive Ideal of Alliance in Abenaki-Euramerican Relations'' (1984)</ref>

The Third Abenaki War (1722–25), called the [[Dummer's War]] or Father Rale's War, erupted when the French [[Jesuits|Jesuit]] missionary [[Sébastien Rale]] (or Rasles, ~1657?-1724) encouraged the Abenaki to halt the spread of Yankee settlements. When the Massachusetts militia tried to seize Rale, the Abenaki raided the settlements at [[Brunswick, Maine|Brunswick]], [[Arrowsic, Maine|Arrowsick]], and [[Merrymeeting Bay|Merry-Meeting Bay]]. The Massachusetts government then declared war and bloody battles were fought at [[Norridgewock]] (1724), where Rale was killed, and at [[Battle of Pequawket|a daylong battle]] at the Indian village near present-day [[Fryeburg, Maine]], on the upper [[Saco River]] (1725). [[Peace conference]]s at Boston and [[Casco Bay]] brought an end to the war. After Rale died, the Abenaki moved to a settlement on the [[Saint Francis River (Canada–United States)|St. Francis River]].<ref>{{cite book|editor=Spencer C. Tucker |display-editors=et al. |title=The Encyclopedia of North American Indian Wars, 1607–1890: A Political, Social, and Military History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JsM4A0GSO34C&pg=PA249|year=2011|publisher=ABC-CLIO|page=249|isbn=9781851096978}}</ref>

The Abenaki from St. Francois continued to raid British settlements in their former homelands along the New England frontier during [[Father Le Loutre's War]] (see [[Northeast Coast campaign (1750)]]) and the [[French and Indian War]].

===Canada===
The development of tourism projects has allowed the Canadian Abenaki to develop a modern economy, while preserving their culture and traditions. For example, since 1960, the Odanak Historical Society has managed the first and one of the largest aboriginal museums in Quebec, a few miles from the Quebec-Montreal axis. Over 5,000 people visit the Abenaki Museum annually.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} Several Abenaki companies include: in Wôlinak, General Fiberglass Engineering employs a dozen natives, with annual sales exceeding C$3 million.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} Odanak is now active in transportation and distribution.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} Notable Abenaki from this area include the documentary filmmaker [[Alanis Obomsawin]] ([[National Film Board of Canada]]).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cbodanak.com/anglais/page_/accueil_agl.htm |title=Administration |publisher=Cbodanak.com |access-date=October 30, 2012  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120720010730/http://www.cbodanak.com/anglais/page_/accueil_agl.htm |archive-date=July 20, 2012 }}</ref>

===United States===

====Maine: federally recognized tribes====
The [[Penobscot|Penobscot Indian Nation]], [[Passamaquoddy]] people, and [[Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians]] have been [[List of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States|federally recognized]] as tribes in the United States.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.bia.gov/WhoWeAre/BIA/OIS/TribalGovernmentServices/TribalDirectory/index.htm#m| title=Tribal Directory| publisher=U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs| access-date=December 26, 2012| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121223043510/http://bia.gov/WhoWeAre/BIA/OIS/TribalGovernmentServices/TribalDirectory/index.htm#m| archive-date=December 23, 2012}}</ref>

====Vermont: state-recognized tribes====
[[Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation]], [[Koasek Abenaki Tribe]], [[Elnu Abenaki Tribe]], and the [[Missisquoi Abenaki Tribe]] are, as of 2011, all [[state-recognized tribes in the United States]].

The Missisquoi Abenaki applied for federal recognition as an Indian tribe in the 1980s but failed to meet four of the seven criteria.<ref name="State-Recognized Tribes">{{cite web |title=State-Recognized Tribes |url=https://www.ncsl.org/legislators-staff/legislators/quad-caucus/list-of-federal-and-state-recognized-tribes.aspx#State |website=National Conference of State Legislatures |access-date=March 20, 2022 |archive-date=October 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221025051136/https://www.ncsl.org/legislators-staff/legislators/quad-caucus/list-of-federal-and-state-recognized-tribes.aspx#State  }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Bureau of Indian Affairs |date=July 2, 2007 |title=Final Determination against Federal Acknowledgment of the St. Francis / Sokoki Band of Abenakis of Vermont |url=https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2007/07/02/E7-12727/final-determination-against-federal-acknowledgment-of-the-st-francis-sokoki-band-of-abenakis-of |journal=Federal Register}}</ref> The [[Bureau of Indian Affairs]] found that less than 1 percent of the Missisquoi's 1,171 members could show descent from an Abenaki ancestor. The bureau's report concluded that the petitioner is "a collection of individuals of claimed but mostly [[Blood quantum laws|undemonstrated Indian ancestry]] with little or no social or historical connection with each other before the early 1970s."<ref name=":0">{{cite web |last=Robinson |first=Shaun |date=November 14, 2023 |title='A false narrative': Abenaki leaders dispute the legitimacy of Vermont's state-recognized tribes |url=http://vtdigger.org/2023/11/14/a-false-narrative-abenaki-leaders-dispute-the-legitimacy-of-vermonts-state-recognized-tribes/ |access-date=March 26, 2024 |website=VTDigger }}</ref>

State recognition allows applicants to seek certain scholarship funds reserved for American Indians and to for members to market artwork as American Indian or Native American-made under the 1990 [[Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990|Indian Arts and Crafts Act]].<ref name="Abenaki Turn to Vermont Legislature for Recognition">Hallenbeck, Terri. [http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20110120/NEWS02/110119025/Abenaki-turn-to-Vermont-Legislature-for-recognition Abenaki Turn to Vermont Legislature for Recognition ''Burlington Free Press'']{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} January 20, 2011. Retrieved January 20, 2011</ref>

In 2002, the State of Vermont reported that the Abenaki people have not had a "continuous presence" in the state and had migrated north to [[Quebec]] by the end of the 17th century.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dillon |first1=John |title=State Says Abenaki Do Not Have "Continuous Presence" |url=https://archive.vpr.org/vpr-news/state-says-abenaki-do-not-have-continuous-presence/ |website=Vermont Public Radio |date=March 20, 2002 |access-date=January 30, 2022 |archive-date=January 31, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220131015556/https://archive.vpr.org/vpr-news/state-says-abenaki-do-not-have-continuous-presence/  }}</ref> Facing annihilation, many Abenaki had begun emigrating to Canada, then under French control, around 1669.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pritzker |first=Barry |title=A native American encyclopedia: history, culture, and peoples |date=2000 |publisher=Oxford Univ. Press |isbn=978-0-19-513877-1 |edition=3. [print.] |location=Oxford}}</ref>

====="Race-shifting" controversy=====
The Abenaki Nation, based in Quebec, claim that those self-identifying as Abenaki in Vermont are settlers making false claims to Indigenous ancestry.<ref>{{cite news |last=Abenakis of Odanak |date=June 2, 2023 |title=Letter to Vermont conservation groups |url=https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24164298-letter-to-vermont-conservation-groups?responsive=1&title=1}}</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite news |last=Fennario |first=Tom |date=September 12, 2022 |title=Abenaki Nation in Quebec says tribes bearing its name in Vermont should not be recognized |url=https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/abenanki-nation-in-quebec-says-tribes-bearing-its-name-in-vermont-should-not-be-recognized/ |work=APTN News}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Rancourt |first=Joanie |date=November 25, 2019 |title=DÉNONCIATION DE GROUPES AUTOPROCLAMÉS ACTIFS SUR LE NDAKINA |url=https://caodanak.com/denonciation-de-groupes-autoproclames-actifs-sur-le-ndakina/}}</ref> While the Odanak and Wolinak Abenaki First Nations in Quebec initially believed claims from residents of Vermont who said they were Abenaki, the Odanak reversed their position in 2003, calling on the groups in Vermont to provide them with genealogical evidence of Indigenous ancestry.<ref name=":0" />

Scholars have not been able to find credible evidence of the Vermont Abenaki's claims of Indigenous ancestry.<ref name=":0" /> Anthropological research from the first half of the 20th century indicates that no Abenaki community actively existed in Vermont during that time period.<ref name=":1">{{cite journal |last=Leroux |first=Darryl |date=July 14, 2023 |title=State Recognition and the Dangers of Race Shifting |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5gr0t78t |journal=American Indian Culture and Research Journal  |volume=46 |issue=2 |doi=10.17953/aicrj.46.2.leroux |issn=0161-6463}}</ref>

Researcher Darryl Leroux characterizes the Vermont Abenaki's claims of Abenaki ancestry as "[[Pretendian|race-shifting]]", arguing that genealogical and archival evidence shows that most members of the state-recognized tribes are descended from white [[French Canadians]].<ref name=":1" /> Leroux found that only 2.2 percent of the Missisquoi Abenaki membership has Abenaki ancestry, with the rest of the organization's root ancestors being primarily French Canadian and migrating to Vermont in the mid-19th century.<ref name=":1" /> The Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi's shifting claims about its root ancestors as well as loose membership criteria are consistent with race-shifting patterns.<ref name=":1" />

Leroux's research prompted renewed calls by the Abenaki First Nations to reassess Vermont's state recognition process.<ref>{{cite journal|date=July 31, 2023 |title=Press release: ''ABENAKI'' GROUP OF MISSISQUOI: RESEARCH FINDINGS REVEAL TROUBLING IRREGULARITIES IN THE STATE OF VERMONT'S RECOGNITION PROCESS|url=https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/0e/a2/d9a3e53b4964bbf1dbf002349f08/abenaki-heritage-press-release-dleroux-research.pdf|journal=Abenaki Heritage}}</ref>

====New Hampshire and minority recognition====
[[File:Keewakwa Abenaki Keenahbeh Oblique 20160911.jpg|thumb|A {{cvt|36|ft}} statue of ''Keewakwa Abenaki Keenahbeh'' in Opechee Park in [[Laconia, New Hampshire]]]]

New Hampshire does not recognize any Abenaki tribes.<ref name="State-Recognized Tribes"/> It has no federally recognized tribes or state-recognized tribes; however, it established the New Hampshire Commission on Native American Affairs in 2010.<ref>{{cite web |title=Commission on Native American Affairs |url=https://www.dncr.nh.gov/commission-native-american-affairs
|website=New Hampshire Department of Natural & Cultural Resources |access-date=March 20, 2022}}</ref> The various [[Cowasuck]], Abenaki and other Native and heritage groups are represented to the commission.

In 2021, a bill was introduced to the New Hampshire legislature to allow New Hampshire communities to rename locations in the Abenaki language.<ref name="lac">{{cite news |last1=Ramer |first1=Holly |title=Bill promotes Native American history through NH place names| url=https://apnews.com/article/new-hampshire-native-americans-language-concord-87c9e43b7247f677b38077fa13a4c2fe |work=Associated Press |issue=161 |date=January 21, 2021}}</ref> This bill did not pass.<ref>{{cite web |title=New Hampshire Senate Bill 33 (Prior Session Legislation) |url=https://legiscan.com/NH/votes/SB33/2021 |website=LegiScan |access-date=March 20, 2022}}</ref>