By VDC staff

WCAX reports that a Vermont legislator who has been outspoken in the dispute over Abenaki identity was allegedly assaulted Thursday while intervening in a confrontation at a private event, according to the Abenaki Council of Odanak.

Rep. Troy Headrick, an independent from Burlington representing the Chittenden-15 district, was attending an invitation-only event made up primarily of college and graduate students when the incident occurred. Headrick has made Vermont’s recognition of Abenaki groups a legislative and campaign issue.

According to the Abenaki Council of Odanak, four people who sought entry to the event were turned away. The Council described them as people falsely claiming Abenaki identity.

The Council said the situation escalated when Headrick intervened and one of the four allegedly pushed and struck him.

Police responded and escorted the four people from the property, according to the Council. The Council also said one person was arrested and later released. WCAX reported that police had not confirmed the arrest.

“Violence must never become a means of silencing those who defend the truth and sovereignty of our Nation,” Councilor Jacques Watso of the Abenaki Council of Odanak said in a letter about the incident.

The alleged confrontation comes amid a long-running dispute over Abenaki identity and Vermont’s recognition of four groups as tribes in 2011 and 2012. The Abenaki First Nations of Odanak and Wôlinak in Quebec have challenged the ancestry claims of Vermont’s state-recognized groups, while leaders of the Vermont groups have defended their identities and state recognition.

Headrick has sided with Odanak and Wôlinak in that dispute. Earlier this month, he called Vermont’s recognition process “deeply flawed” and said that, if reelected, he would continue seeking legislation giving Odanak and Wôlinak a greater role in state policy concerning Abenaki history and culture.

Headrick is the lead sponsor of H.614, introduced in January, which would require consultation with and endorsement by the Abenaki First Nations of Odanak and Wôlinak in developing certain Indigenous history and culture curricula. The bill remains in the House Education Committee.