TRIBAL VISION OF THE ABENAKI NATION OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
The Abenaki Nation of New Hampshire is dedicated to preserving our spirituality, homelands, freedom, traditions, and culture for present and future generations.
We will remain firmly rooted in our Abenaki spirituality and heritage, this is the seed from which all of our conduct, resolutions and self-awareness shall grow. We will strive to learn, practice and teach all aspects of our culture to present and future generations. This will assure that we give a worthy legacy to the seven generations.
We will continue to gather knowledge of Abenaki spirituality, culture and traditions, grow into them in the present, and pass them on enriched to the seven generations that follow.
As an extended family of Native peoples with a common vision, we will not let our self-image be compromised by concerns of "recognition" by the dominant society as a Native American people. We remain secure in our knowledge of who we are based on the legacy passed on to us by our ancestors.
We strive to remain neutral in conflicts between Native American nations. Our dream is that we will in the near future participate in a general council of all the tribal families of the Abenaki Nation, united by the pipe, with all our tribal drums speaking together in honor of our common destiny.
Acceptance of membership in the Abenaki Nation of New Hampshire will not be based on documents produced within the social and governmental traditions of the dominant culture. The Abenaki Nation of New Hampshire believes that using blood quantum as a determining factor in deciding who is a "real" Native American ignores the demographic realities of the Abenaki people. This is a characteristic of the dominant Eurocentric society, in which a people's ethnic and spiritual inheritance can be reduced to numbers on statistical charts. The continued reliance on the above two factors to determine who is "Abenaki" will only bring us closer to a time when we could lose remembrance of who we are. Tribal membership requirements based on these factors will lock out the vast majority of Abenakis today, and deprives them of an important means to celebrate their heritage.
The Abenaki Nation of New Hampshire is steadfastly opposed to the sponsorship of gambling. Our fund raising activities will be conducted in such a way as to reflect positively on the public image of the Abenaki and other Native American people.
The Abenaki Nation of New Hampshire is mindful of our responsibility to Mother Earth. We remain vigilant for acts of environmental damage, desecration and other forms of disrespect to our Mother Earth. We will make our voices known, by the most effective means possible, against these acts.
We believe that the health and general welfare of our people is directly related to how diligently we carry out our responsibility to the ancestral remains that have been taken from Mother Earth, as well as those that are in imminent danger of being disturbed from their resting places. We will apply whatever individual and collective resources we have to their timely and appropriate reburial and assume a protective and caretaking role over these known sites.
We are committed to identifying and fulfilling the needs of our elders, and to helping them to the best of our abilities. We seek to find the elders living in our area who are not now known to us, so that we may assist them in meeting their basic needs. We understand that our elders have knowledge to pass on to us, and that we have a responsibility to seek that knowledge so that it may be passed on to future generations.
The tribal leadership of the Abenaki Nation of New Hampshire will be based upon consensus among the people in open discussion during tribal gatherings. Tribal leaders will not take any actions without prior discussion with, and agreement of, the council or a representative gathering of the people. It is recognized that unusual circumstances may occur where emergency action is unavoidable. We will seek people in leadership roles who demonstrate characteristic Native humility in assuming the honor, and carrying out the responsibilities of tribal leadership of the Abenaki Nation of New Hampshire. Any conduct on the part of a leader which is clearly self-serving or dictatorial will not be tolerated and will be dealt with by the people.
The Abenaki Nation of New Hampshire is dedicated to preserving our spirituality, homelands, freedom, traditions, and culture for present and future generations.
We will remain firmly rooted in our Abenaki spirituality and heritage, this is the seed from which all of our conduct, resolutions and self-awareness shall grow. We will strive to learn, practice and teach all aspects of our culture to present and future generations. This will assure that we give a worthy legacy to the seven generations.
We will continue to gather knowledge of Abenaki spirituality, culture and traditions, grow into them in the present, and pass them on enriched to the seven generations that follow.
As an extended family of Native peoples with a common vision, we will not let our self-image be compromised by concerns of "recognition" by the dominant society as a Native American people. We remain secure in our knowledge of who we are based on the legacy passed on to us by our ancestors.
We strive to remain neutral in conflicts between Native American nations. Our dream is that we will in the near future participate in a general council of all the tribal families of the Abenaki Nation, united by the pipe, with all our tribal drums speaking together in honor of our common destiny.
Acceptance of membership in the Abenaki Nation of New Hampshire will not be based on documents produced within the social and governmental traditions of the dominant culture. The Abenaki Nation of New Hampshire believes that using blood quantum as a determining factor in deciding who is a "real" Native American ignores the demographic realities of the Abenaki people. This is a characteristic of the dominant Eurocentric society, in which a people's ethnic and spiritual inheritance can be reduced to numbers on statistical charts. The continued reliance on the above two factors to determine who is "Abenaki" will only bring us closer to a time when we could lose remembrance of who we are. Tribal membership requirements based on these factors will lock out the vast majority of Abenakis today, and deprives them of an important means to celebrate their heritage.
The Abenaki Nation of New Hampshire is steadfastly opposed to the sponsorship of gambling. Our fund raising activities will be conducted in such a way as to reflect positively on the public image of the Abenaki and other Native American people.
The Abenaki Nation of New Hampshire is mindful of our responsibility to Mother Earth. We remain vigilant for acts of environmental damage, desecration and other forms of disrespect to our Mother Earth. We will make our voices known, by the most effective means possible, against these acts.
We believe that the health and general welfare of our people is directly related to how diligently we carry out our responsibility to the ancestral remains that have been taken from Mother Earth, as well as those that are in imminent danger of being disturbed from their resting places. We will apply whatever individual and collective resources we have to their timely and appropriate reburial and assume a protective and caretaking role over these known sites.
We are committed to identifying and fulfilling the needs of our elders, and to helping them to the best of our abilities. We seek to find the elders living in our area who are not now known to us, so that we may assist them in meeting their basic needs. We understand that our elders have knowledge to pass on to us, and that we have a responsibility to seek that knowledge so that it may be passed on to future generations.
The tribal leadership of the Abenaki Nation of New Hampshire will be based upon consensus among the people in open discussion during tribal gatherings. Tribal leaders will not take any actions without prior discussion with, and agreement of, the council or a representative gathering of the people. It is recognized that unusual circumstances may occur where emergency action is unavoidable. We will seek people in leadership roles who demonstrate characteristic Native humility in assuming the honor, and carrying out the responsibilities of tribal leadership of the Abenaki Nation of New Hampshire. Any conduct on the part of a leader which is clearly self-serving or dictatorial will not be tolerated and will be dealt with by the people.
