| Missisquoi Abenaki Tribe, Maquam Bay of Missisquoi, Inc. | |
| Named After: | Missisquoi people, Abenaki people |
| Formation: | 2015 |
| Founders: | --> |
| Defunct: | --> |
| Type: | state-recognized tribe, nonprofit organizations |
| Tax Id: | EIN 47-3962858 |
| Status: | mental health organization, substance abuse program, charity |
| Purpose: | F20: Alcohol, Drug, and Substance Abuse, Dependency Prevention and Treatment |
| Location City: | Swanton, Vermont |
| Location Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Owners: | --> |
| Leader Title: | Chief |
| Leader Name: | Brenda Gagne |
| Publication: | --> |
| Parent Organisation: | --> |
| Revenue: | $116,856 |
| Revenue Year: | 2018 |
| Expenses: | $126,720 |
| Expenses Year: | 2018 |
| Funding: | grants, contributions, program services |
| Formerly: | St. Francis/Sokoki Band of the Sovereign Republic of the Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi |
The Missisquoi Abenaki Tribe is one of four state-recognized tribes in Vermont,[1] who claim descent from Abenaki people. The Missisquoi Abenaki Tribe specifically claims descent from the Missiquoi people.
They are not federally recognized as a Native American tribe.[1] Vermont has no federally recognized tribes.[1]
The chief of the Missisquoi Abenaki Tribe is Brenda Gagne.[2]
The Missisquoi Abenaki Tribe is also known as the Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi. They have also gone by the name St. Francis-Sokoki Band of the Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi, the Abenaki Tribal Council of Missisquoi, and the St. Francis/Sokoki Band of the Sovereign Republic of the Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi.[3]
Vermont recognized the Missisquoi Abenaki Tribe as 2012.[4] [5] The other state-recognized tribes in Vermont are the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation, Elnu Abenaki Tribe, and the Koasek Abenaki Tribe.[1]
In 2015, the group created Maquam Bay of Missisquoi, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, based in Swanton, Vermont.[6] [7] Their registered agent is Richard Mendard.
Their mission is "To promote wellness in the Abenaki community through holistic approaches that integrate health, education, and the environment."[7]
The Maquam Bay of Missisquoi board of directors are:
The Missisquoi Abenaki Tribe is the only Vermont state-recognized tribe to have petitioned for federal recognition.
Under the name St. Francis/Sokoki Band of Abenakis of Vermont, the group applied for federal recognition first in 1980, then 1992, and finally in 2007.[9] Two of them were denied and one of them was withdrawn due to legal issues with the State of Vermont. The group applied for but was denied federal recognition as a Native American tribe in 2007.[10] The summary of the proposed finding (PF) stated that "The SSA petitioner claims to have descended as a group mainly from a Western Abenaki Indian tribe, most specifically, the Missisquoi Indians" and went on to state: "However, the available evidence does not demonstrate that the petitioner or its claimed ancestors descended from the St. Francis Indians of Quebec, a Missiquoi Abenaki entity in Vermont, any other Western Abenaki group, or an Indian entity from New England or Canada. Instead, the PF concluded that the petitioner is a collection of individuals of claimed but undemonstrated Indian ancestry 'with little or no social or historical connection with each other before the early 1970's'...."[11]
The Missisquoi Abenaki Tribe is one of four state-recognized tribes in Vermont. It had 60 members in 2016.[12]
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]
In 2002, the State of Vermont reported that the Abenaki people had migrated north to Quebec by the end of the 17th century.[13]
The Missisquoi Abenaki Tribe participates in Abenaki Heritage Weekend, held at the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum in Vergennes, Vermont.[14]
The Missisquoi Abenaki Tribe maintained a USDA food shelf for the local community and held a BIPOC COVID-19 vaccine clinic in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vermont H.556, "An act relating to exempting property owned by Vermont-recognized Native American tribes from property tax," passed on April 20, 2022.[15]