Elnu Abenaki Tribe

A few of us have been lurking, and been flushed out by these thoughts
Many good things have been said, but we have some concerns...

First is the expectation of appearance:

• A quarter of the worlds population has the look - Jim Northrup (Anishnaabe), in his column 'Fond-du-lac follies' describes being mistaken for a local in many countries he has visited.
  

• 'The Look' is not an assurance of ancestry - Many Western Abenakis, Lorette Hurons and Akwesasne Mohawks accepted by their people do not have the 'Robert Griffing Look' - no insult is meant, this is the result of a population that is one of the fastest marrying out, and after 400 years, may have the traditions, but not the expected look - we are not the people our ancestors were 400 years ago.
  

• Look through a copy of 'Akwesasne Times', Modern Indians pictured appear anywhere from straight off the boat at Ellis Island, to straight off the set of 'Dances With Wolves'. The same can be said about Odanak and the Narragansettcommunities in Rhode Island
  

• Ever since the release of 'Last of the Mohicans' and the Ohio woodland
  Conferences, there has been a drive toward the perfect 'Magua' look. Are we returning to stereotypes we have tried so hard to dislodge? Period accounts often ignored because they do not represent 'The Ideal' and describe a great variance in color.
  

Historical Accounts:

• Peter Kalm, 1750,1751 - Almost all the Indians have straight black hair, However, I have met with a few whose hair is quite curly. But it is to be observed that it is difficult to judge the true complexion of the Canada Indian, their blood being mixed with the European, either by the adopted prisoners of both sexes, or by the Frenchmen who travel in the country often contribute their share towards the increase if the Indian families, to which the women, it is said, have no serious
  objection.
  

• Cadillac, on the Miami, "They are not as swarthy as the others, and if they did not grease themselves, would be whiter then the French"
  

• Pouchot, on the late war in North America, pg 439 - "their skin is normally copper colored though they usually seem darker then that because they are brought up
  naked & because of their habit of rubbing grease, clay or brown dye into their skin"...."There are certain nations in the area of the Chaouanons who have a lighter
  skin; some of them are even as fair as Germans. that is very rare, however"
  

• Isaac Weld, "Travels through the states of North America", pg 224 - "In general their skin is of a copper cast; but a most wonderful difference of colour is observable
  amongst them: some in whose veins there is no reason to think that any other then Indian blood flows, not having dark complexions then natives of the south of France
  or Spain, whilst others, on the contrary, are nearly as black as negros"
  

• William Biggs, "Narrative of the captivity among the Kikapoo Indians", pg 27 - "She was a very handsome girl about 18 years of age, a beautiful full figure and
  handsome featured, and very white for a squaw. She was almost as white as dark complexioned white women generally are. Her father and mother were very white skinned Indians."
  

• Journal of captain John Knox, 1757, "The old garrison embarked to-day for Halifax, and with them two Indian captives, a brother and sister, who passed by the names of Claire and Anselm Thomas; they are of the Mic-mac nation; she is comely and
  not disagreeable; her complexion was not so fair as the British, nor yet so dark as the French in general are"
  

• Andrian Van Der Donck, 1641 - "We see some of them with fine skin and they are mostly born with good complexions, otherwise they have a yellowish color like the tartans or heathen we see in Holland, or like the outlanders, who keep in the fields and go uncovered as they do"... "Although the yellowness of the skin of the skin appears more or less on all this race, still we find many fair men and women among
  them"
  

• Many coastal New England Indians, including Wampanoags, Nipmucs,
  Narragansetts, Pequots, Shinnacocks, Lumbees, Scatacooks and Ramapoes have
  African and European traits.
  

• Period portraits often back this as well, Joseph Brant is pictured as light skinned, with reddish hair visible under his Gustawah, and Corn Planter is pictured as light
  skinned as well. His father was white.
  

Living History Today:

• Is there is an expectation of hair dye, colored contact lenses and skin darkening? Try telling a Wampanoag applicant to Plimouth he was rejected over a Hopi as an Interpreter because he 'didn't’t have the right look' Should a modern Indian interpreter be denied an opportunity to explain his appearance as well?
  

• Natives portraying their own ancestors seem to be a rarity in the Ohio Valley; This is not so much the case in the northeast.
  

• 250 years ago, an individual would not have been shunned because of light skin, hair or blue eyes, they would have fit in as best as they could through dress and
  adornment, why does it make a difference now?
  

• Then there is the 'R' word...
  

• European culture went out of its way to separate religion to its own time and place, Native culture was not so regimented.
  

• This is not talking about doing private ceremony at public events, rather that there is often meaning behind patterns and procedures, and even a simple greeting often
  translates to 'god bless' or other recognition of the spirit of a person.
  

• Material culture types often avoid having to deal with the fact many accoutrement patterns and body adornment has religious significance as well as tribal identity.
  

• Many non-natives focusing on the material culture are feeling threatened by natives who portray their own ancestors as a part of reclaiming their heritage

• And then there is the word  're-enactor' - Many natives view this as a red flag for a 'wannabe' or other non-native. Convincing other abenakis on this has been an uphill battle, but we have been making progress.



Joseph Brant
Mohawk Chief
painted by Gilbert Stuart,1786.

Cornplanter
Seneca Chief
Portrait by F. Bartoli, 1796.
This painting is part of the Henry Luce III Collection at the New York Historical Society