Blog

Help Us Tell the Stories of Abenaki Women

February 15, 2025November 15, 2024 by Vera Sheehan

We are excited to launch a new phase of Abenaki Women Leading the Way—and we need your help!

Abenaki women have always been the heart of their communities, serving as caregivers, culture bearers, knowledge keepers, and leaders. Yet, many of their stories remain untold. We are gathering oral histories to honor and preserve these experiences, ensuring that future generations can learn from and be inspired by them. This is an opportunity to reclaim and share history in a way that reflects the strength, resilience, and leadership of Abenaki women. By sharing, you help shape a broader understanding of Abenaki women’s past and present roles.

How You Can Participate? We invite you to share your knowledge, memories, and reflections through our Abenaki Women Oral History Survey. Whether you have personal stories, family history, or insights into the many roles Abenaki women have played over time, your contribution is invaluable. Please take a moment to fill out the survey and share it with others who may have stories to tell. Click here to submit your family stories to this important oral history project!

Oral tradition is a powerful way to preserve history. Your stories may be featured in upcoming exhibits, articles, and educational materials developed by the Vermont Abenaki Artists Association and our partners.

For questions or assistance, contact us at abenaki@abenakiart.org

Wliwni (thank you) for helping us bring these stories to light!

#AbenakiWomen #OralHistory #IndigenousStories #CulturalPreservation

Grandmother Mourning Dove/Doris Minkler

February 15, 2025November 8, 2024 by Vera Sheehan

Beaded portrait on bandolier bag and statement by Rhonda Besaw. Visit Rhonda’s website for more information about her artwork.

Traditionally how would we as Abenaki people have responded to an outbreak of illness within our community? We well know and remember the sorrows of our ancestors who were decimated by disease when the Europeans arrived. With no natural immunity to diseases such as smallpox, it became apparent that we needed to isolate and distance ourselves from the carriers. It meant we had to stop accepting the “gifts” of smallpox infected blankets and become wary of those praying for our destruction. We had to depend upon each other. We depended upon the healers in our community.

Rhonda Besaw. *Grandmother Doris Minckler (Grandmother Morning Dove). Fourth in the Series “The Strength of the Nation Lies With the Women.”* Glass beads on velvet. Vermont Abenaki Artists Association Collection.

We reached out to the ones who were the dreamers, for the dreams carried messages to us. The healers were often Women of Bear and Turtle clans. Such esteemed Women were not only proficient in the physical art of healing through the use of plants and herbs, but had the gift of second sight. Their dreams could hold portent of a cure or warnings of what to avoid. Combined with ancestral knowledge, such a Woman was sought out by those suffering within the community.

Such a Woman was Grandmother Doris Minckler (1926-1997), also known as Grandmother Mourning Dove. For many years, her door was always open to those in need of physical and spiritual healing. She also had the ability to see someone’s soul and share with them their spirit name. This is the name with which we introduce ourselves to the One Who Comes to Us. It is a comfort and a source of strength to know one’s true name.

Unlike allopathic medicine, where an office visit is limited to minutes, a pill is given and the patient goes home, the medicinal care provided by someone such as Grandmother Doris encompasses the mental, spiritual and the physical. The tea is made with prayer and love. The herbs and plants were harvested with thanks and love. This changes the nature of the tea, the plant, to something otherworldly, something sacred. This is where the deep healing begins. All healers know this and humbly accept that they are but a hollow reed. We give great thanks to all such healers and the late Grandmother Doris.

About the Abenaki Women Research Project

February 15, 2025October 17, 2024 by Vera Sheehan

Welcome to the official blog for ‘Alnôbakskwak: Abenaki Women Leading the Way.’ We’re excited to have you with us as we uncover, preserve, and share some vital stories of Abenaki women. Whether you’re here for history, inspiration, or to follow our progress, we’re glad you’ve joined us!

What happens to a community when its stories are no longer passed down? And what if those stories held the key to reclaiming lost traditions and leadership?

Long before colonization reshaped Native American society, Abenaki women were healers, and storytellers who served their community in various capacities as culture bearers and leaders. Their knowledge ensured the survival of their communities. Yet somehow that changed when colonial cultures placed a higher value on men than women and forced New England Indians to follow French and English gender roles where women had little power and autonomy.

How do we rediscover and honor these roles today?

Local Native American cultural traditions suggest possibilities for change and reclaiming her lost story. Oral tradition and storytelling are traditional ways to pass information from one generation to the next.

Why does this project matter?

At a time when many Indigenous communities around the world are reclaiming traditions and leadership roles, Abenaki women’s stories offer insight into both the challenges of the past and possibilities for the future.

Stories have power—and they risk being lost if we don’t collect them now. The stories we are gathering will inform an upcoming exhibit that isn’t just a reflection of the past—it’s a call to action for the future of Abenaki culture.

What can I expect from this blog?

This blog will take you behind the scenes of our journey as we build a new exhibition that explores the vital, yet often overlooked, roles of Abenaki women as culture bearers, leaders, and mothers. You’ll notice our posts reflect the voices of everyone involved—sometimes reflective, other times informative, and always filled with passion for sharing Abenaki culture.

We will share updates on our research, insights/snippets from our first interviews, highlights on artifacts that inspired us, and reflections from the people shaping this project. You’ll also get a glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes as we develop the exhibit.

Stay with us as we explore what it means to reclaim heritage and leadership in the modern world.

Get Involved

If this story speaks to you, share it with your community. The more people who engage with these narratives, the more powerful they become. Follow VAAA on Facebook and email us to sign up to our mailing list (please mention the email list in the subject) for updates and the announcement of our opening event in 2026.

Partners and Supporters

We are grateful to our longtime partners, the Vermont Folklife Center and Lake Champlain Maritime Museum whose expertise has helped to sustain Abenaki cultural preservation activities for decades, and help make our work possible.

The Abenaki Storytelling Project, developed by the Vermont Abenaki Artists Association, Abenaki Arts and Education Center, and Waolôwzi Health and Wellness Program is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Vermont Department of Health.