Vermont Organizations that Provide Access to Abenaki Culture

1. Vermont Abenaki Artists Association https://abenakiart.org

Vermont Abenaki Artists Association presents public programs, cultural events, and museum exhibitions that educate the public in understanding Abenaki art and culture and carry the message that the Abenaki People are still here. By clicking on the website, you can register for interesting lectures held on zoom and there are links to other presentations that have been recorded.

2. Lake Champlain Maritime Museum  https://www.lcmm.org

Abenaki Heritage Weekend, June 17-18, 2023

3. Ethan Allen Homestead Museum (EAHM) https://ethanallenhomestead.org

Dedicated to Indigenous cultural renewal. They partner with the Vermont Indigenous Heritage Center and the Winooski Valley Park District to provide a physical home for the Vermont Indigenous Heritage Center. There are Abenaki exhibits within the Ethan Allan Homestead Museum (new exhibit “Inconvenient History” opens in June) Open 5/2 – 10/31 from 10-4 daily

4. Vermont Indigenous Heritage Center (VIHC) www.alnobaiwi.org

The Vermont Indigenous Heritage Center, located in the Burlington Intervale, includes a unique Abenaki village styled to the 1850s, the period when Vermonters thought that the Abenakis had disappeared. The VIHC partners with the Ethan Allen Homestead Museum, the Winooski Valley Park District and the Alnobaiwi (In the Abenaki Way), an inter-tribal organization that serves as the VIHC’s Board of Directors. This unique combination has developed into an important focus of Indigenous Vermont activity and programming. Together they sponsor the week-long Abenaki Recognition and Heritage Celebration in early May, followed by the ”Field Blessing” ceremony and planting activity, the “Shooting Fire” ritual on the Summer Solstice, the Green Corn Ceremony in August/September, and ending with the Harvest Celebration in October. Many of these ceremonies are open to the public.

Recommended reading: The Voice of the Dawn: An Autohistory of the Abenaki Nation. 2001. Frederick Matthew Wiseman