Vermont Abenaki Heritage Days
By Donna Laurent Caruso, Today correspondent
Story Published: May 28, 2010

SWANTON, Vt. – The Abenaki people will celebrate their culture, promote their crafts, and honor Vermont state legislators who helped pass new legislation affecting the livelihood and education of the people, at the 18th Annual Abenaki Heritage Celebration on the Village Green in Swanton May 29 – 30.

“Circle of Courage will be here, which is very exciting, because this year represents the first in many when our band has had a youth drum,” said Chief April St. Francis-Merrill, of the Abenaki Self-Help and Tribal Headquarters in Swanton.

Abenaki will honor state legislators “who worked diligently to pass S222, which was recently signed by the governor, and that corrects the many flaws of the first state bill so that we can earn a livelihood with our crafts as well as educate our children,” she said.