Indigenous Outreach

To better connect people and communities to land and water, Lake Champlain Sea Grant partners with Abenaki Helping Abenaki, Inc, to support Indigenous education and to disseminate traditional knowledge. Through this partnership, we aim to amplify Indigenous voices and increase knowledge and understanding of Indigenous Peoples in the Lake Champlain basin.

We support Chief Don Stevens from the Nulhegan Abenaki Tribe to share Indigenous knowledge and cultural history through educational programming at Shelburne Farms, K-12 schools, colleges, and other non-profits and public education locations in the basin.

There are currently very few Abenaki resources in the Lake Champlain basin for cultural education and competency,” said Chief Don Stevens of the Nulhegan Abenaki Tribe. “The Abenaki have a rich oral culture, traditionally passed down from generation to generation. We don’t have a lot of written cultural history in our own words but we hope to change that moving forward.”

Resources for Community Members

Educator Activities

  • Tell the stories of Abenaki cultural history and build awareness, understanding, and knowledge of Abenaki and other Indigenous traditional ways of knowing through educational programs that include oral stories, videos, books, and other materials.
  • Build understanding of Abenaki cultural history through public events, K-12 and college education, panel discussions, and roundtables that include Abenaki and other Indigenous voices.
  • Support Lake Champlain Sea Grant, partners, and teachers as they develop education and outreach programs.
  • Advise museums on the history of Indigenous artifacts such as barrel goods, spear points, and pottery.

Shelburne Farms and the greater Lake Champlain basin is an important place for the Abenaki People both past and present,” said Chief Stevens. “Odzihozo, who created the lake, continues to watch over us as he sits off Shelburne Point as Rock Dunder. Since we now share these special places with Europeans and others, it underscores the necessity to partner, steward, and educate about this beautiful place together.”