Abenaki in Quebec take identity fraud concerns to the United Nations – CBC

Apr 24, 2024

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A digital billboard lit up New York City’s Times Square last week with a message from two Abenaki communities in Quebec: that they are the “sole guardians of Abenaki identity.”

A delegation of the Abenaki Council of Odanak, Wôlinak and the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador brought the same message to the 23rd session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, as part of ongoing efforts to denounce Abenaki groups recognized in the United States.

“Our nation faces a great injustice,” Rick O’Bomsawin, chief of the Abenaki of Odanak, told the United Nations floor last week.

“Who has the right to say who your people are? My nation is strong. We know who our people are but yet we have no voice because of this border that was created.”

Read More: https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/abenaki-in-quebec-take-identity-fraud-concerns-to-the-united-nations-1.7182692