What The Abenaki Say About Dogs

How This Book Came To Be: Some Years Ago, The Abenaki Of Northwestern Vermont Staged ADemonstration Against The Practices Of Certain Contractors Who Were Building Homes On Sites The Abenaki Had Identified As Ancient Burial Grounds Of Their PeopleAbout AMonth After That Demonstration, IHappened To Travel Near The Area In QuestionAlong The Way, INoticed ASmall Group Of People Standing Around ABig Yellow Loader On ABuilding Lot That Had Been Ripped Up To Dig ACellar HoleThe Loader's Scoop, Filled With Sand, Had Been Lifted To Table Height And People Stood Around It, Not The Usual Work CrewFour Of Them: Two Men And Two WomenThey Looked At Me With More Than Usual Interest As IPassed ByOne Of The Women Came Over To My Car And Introduced Herself As Donna Moody, The Repatriations Coordinator Of The Western Abenaki'this Is Where ABuilder Started To Dig Up AGraveyard,' She Said, 'until We Got ACourt Order To Stop Him.' They Were Now Scooping Up The Disturbed Soil And Sifting Through It, Looking For The Bones Of Their AncestorsITold Her That IDid Not Wish To Intrude, But That IFelt IHad To Stop And Let Them Know What IWas Doing ThereDonna Immediately Put Me At Ease And Said That It Was Good That IWas There, It Was Good That ICould See What They Were DoingMeanwhile, My Little Cocker Spaniel, Buffie, Climbed Onto My Lap And Stuck Her Head Out The Window To Say Hello To DonnaIt Was Love At First SightAfter ALong Meeting And Greeting, Donna Looked At Me Smiling And Said, 'do You Know What The Abenaki Say About Dogs?' She Told Me The StoryIDrove Off Down The Road And Pulled Off To The Side And Wrote This Poem: What The Abenaki Say About DogsWrote It Right OutISent ACopy Of It To Donna, Along With Another Poem ICalled SiftersThese Poems Led To Others Over The Years, And This Book Is The Result Of My Regard For The Abenaki Their Culture, Their History, Their Place In Contemporary Society, And Their Traditional Dwelling Places In The Mountains And Especially Along The Shores Of This Great Lake Called ChamplainOr As The Abenakis Call It, The Sea BetweenIDo Not Pretend To Speak For The People Of The DawnThey Speak For Themselves, With AGreat Tradition Of Poets And Singers And Storytellers You Can Go To For Their WorkThis Book Speaks Of Their Interaction With The Land And This Great Inland SeaISimply Hope That Here In This Small Volume IHave Done Them JusticeDan Close, Underhill,vermont,
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