INDIGENOUS EXPRESSIONS Speaker Series: Indigenous Identity in the 21st Century Green Mountain State. March 31, 2009

Join Dr. Fred Wiseman, Abenaki Historian, as he addresses key questions: Unlike any other minority, Native Americans cannot self-identify, but must have their identity bestowed upon them by the government. So who is a Vermont Indian? Why can’t Indigenous Abenaki Indians sell their arts and crafts as “made by American Indians?” What does one have to do to maintain a Native American identity in the 21st century? ECHO will be open for free public viewing of our exhibit INDIGENOUS EXPRESSIONS: Native Peoples of the Lake Champlain Basin: 4:00 – 4:30 p.m.; Speaker: 4:30 – 5:15 p.m. Questions and Light refreshments: 5:15 – 6:00 p.m.

On this 400th anniversary of the European Discovery of Lake Champlain, there is still little agreement among politicians, scholars, and Indians themselves about who the Vermont Abenakis really are. Professor Wiseman looks at the underlying issues involved with Vermont’s understanding of its indigenous peoples. Illustrating his talk with clips from his 2006 movie “Against the Darkness,” he explores the identity politics that still bedevil relations and between the larger Abenaki community and their Vermont neighbors, and offers some tentative solutions to this thorny problem in Northeastern race relations.

ECHO's Quadricentennial experience features archaeological and interactive exhibits, events, speakers, and a contemporary indigenous peoples’ Portrait Gallery, all celebrating the vibrant past and future of our Native neighbors. 1-877-ECHOFUN.