For generations, Abenaki families in the Northeast have left, remained in, and returned to Ndakinna (Our Land). Those who remained remained silent about their Indigenous family roots as a practical survival strategy, given the overt racism of the region from the French and Indian War forward—when Indigenous people were treated as enemies of the state and, in some periods, faced scalp bounties and other forms of sanctioned violence. In the decades that followed, additional local and national social pressures continued to discourage public acknowledgment of Indigenous ancestry—ancestry that was nonetheless deeply honored, respected, and lived through daily practice. Many families raised their children to know the way, without having to name it as Indigenous. As a result, these communities have until recently been excluded from regional and national coverage and support, or discussed without accuracy, context, or accountability.
Our families share deep and interconnected history and ancestry, including mostly undocumented Abenaki roots—often with varying degrees of both pre- and post-contact Algonquian ancestry (commonly Wabanaki, Mahican, and Munsee), as well as Iroquoian ancestry—often Mohawk, Oneida, or Seneca—and Iroquoian Huron ancestry, frequently connected to Wendake (Huron-Wendat)—alongside often rich English, French, and Dutch lineages.
Our blog centers Indigenous news, and reports on the issues shaping Native life in the Northeast today. Askwa nd'aolidibna.
We will remain completely advertisement free, brought to you by the Greenfield Review Press—offering decades of multicultural journalism, literature and lessons learned from elders and our land—obliged only to our land and all our relations past, present, and future. Nikônkôgoagik ni waji ôlemôwziakw.
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