(First-person reportage as to what happened by one of the movers and shakers. – promoted by NanuqFC)

     Despite rain, clouds, and general bad weather, the Put People First rally turned out to in fact be  the largest  weekday rally in the long history of our capital city; Montpelier. The Vermont Workers Center conducted crowd counts during the height of the action, and estimates that the crowd peaked at approximately 2000.  As a witness, I have to concur that this estimate seems reasonable.

     Of the 30 organizations that mobilized for the event, some of the most powerful voices came from those affected by Hurricane Irene, day care providers, healthcare reform advocates, migrant farm workers, and Abenaki leaders.  In the coming days/hours, please go to the Vermont Workers Center website to see video, text, and photos concerning this day’s historic events.  Their website can be reached at:

www.workerscenter.org

    Personally, I was very impressed with the size of the crowd and the feeling of movement to movement solidarity.  When I woke up today, in Cabot, at 6:45 am and saw how hard it was raining, and felt the chill in the air, I thought we would be lucky to see 250 people march down State Street. The fact that this rally was clearly larger than other recent May Day Montpelier rallies surprised me. In a word, it was inspiring.

-David Van Deusen

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Below [the fold] is the full text of the speech given by Abenaki leader and Sierra Club organizer Luke Willard, as was delivered before the crowd facing the Statehouse:

Hello Vermont Workers, Farmers, Environmentalists, Abenaki, and Revolutionaries!!!

    My name is Luke Willard.  I’m the Chairman of the Vermont Commission on Native American Affairs, a Firefighter and Rescuer, and I’m a Conservation Organizer for the Vermont Sierra Club and the Nulhegan Abenaki Tribe in the Northeast Kingdom.  Just over a year ago, I was here to celebrate the state recognition of the Nulhegan, of which I am a member, and Elnu Abenaki tribes, and I’m very happy to report that I will be here again six days from now to celebrate the state recognition of two more tribes… the Koasek and the Missisquoi!

    As a Conservation Organizer, it is my job to work at the grassroots level to encourage communities to create their own Town and Tribal Forests.  We call it the OUR Forests OUR Future initiative… and we do not stand alone!  So I give a shout out to the Vermont Workers Center, the AFL-CIO, 350 Vermont, and many others.

    So what is Our Forests Our Future?  My people have known for centuries that the land we walk upon is a gift.  From this land, my people were able to meet their every need while maintaining the health and beauty of the land we call N’dakinna in the Abenaki language.  Today, most know it as the Green Mountain State… Vermont.  Unfortunately though, this gift has been taken for granted.  

    Greedy corporations, self interested out-of-staters, and even some Vermonters who have traded in their birthright for real or imagined swollen bank accounts, do not see the majestic mountains, and miles of forests.  They do not see the herbs of spring, the bounties of late summer, and the colors of autumn.  They do not hear the ripples of a mountain stream, the call of the loon, or the wind as it dances with leaves of a giant Vermont maple.  They do not benefit from growing organic vegetables or the blessing of a deer or moose who sacrifices itself to complete the circle of life.  They only see potential development, dollar signs, a place to put their pollution, and an investment in vacation home development for the wealthy who reside in lands far south of these green and rugged hills.  These people, the advisories of Vermont’s working families, only hear what they want to hear.  They only see the alleged benefit from the gain of elitist non-productive economic and political power, and they seek to exchange that which could serve the community, for the destruction that can only result from their personal gain. This is the challenge set before us as we, today, declare that a healthy and vibrant forest, a clean and sustainable environment, is a basic birth right of all Vermonters!

    My people, the Abenaki, also know that this planet is changing.  Our climate is changing.  But as we adapt to these changes, it is necessary for us to lend a hand to our four-legged friends so that they may adapt to our changing environment by establishing forested migration corridors particularly in the northeast so that animals have a safe route from the spine of the Green Mountains to the vast forests of northern New Hampshire, Maine, and Quebec. We propose doing so through the creation of a mosaic of new town and tribal forests!

    But let us not forget the two-legged creatures… you and me.  Moms, Dads, Grandmothers, Grandfathers, and our greatest resource… our children.  In exchange for our stewardship… yours and mine… Town forests and tribal forests can provide clean air to breath and clean water to drink. They can also provide essential food and medicines that haven’t been poisoned by synthetic fertilizers, hormones, and genetically modified organisms… Firewood for the disadvantaged and/or elderly… Cooperative maple sugaring… and a place for teachings our children the simplicity of sustainable living and stewardship!

    Last year, over 1500 people signed our petition for the creation of new town forests.  These petitions were delivered to the Governor and leaders of the Vermont General Assembly.  We are pleased to report that this year the Governor is supporting increased funding for the Vermont Housing and Conservation Fund.  This year, though, we are circulating a new petition… one that will demonstrate Vermont’s overwhelming support for Tribal Forests!  It is our intention, this summer, to deliver this petition to the Governor, and to work with the administration to secure the first true and new Abenaki forest in over 200 years!

    After 400 years of oppression, genocide, eugenics, and the near eradication of our culture and our people, it is time that the first Vermonters, the original Vermonters, the Abenaki, win back a meaningful piece of what was once all ours!  We demand tribal-communal lands that we can hunt, fish, gather wood, and medicine. We demand a return of those tools of nature which were stolen from us generations ago. We do not stand before you today asking that we be become a ward of the state. No my fellow Vermonters; we stand before you today to demand that we be allowed the resources to not only safeguard our environment, but also to take care of our own people!!  We here today to declare that the time has come to establish Abenaki Tribal Forests in the Great State of Vermont!

    Let me be as clear as I can… We do not seek acceptance or recognition from a federal government which is marred in blood, war, imperialism (both abroad and at home), corruption, inaction, and failure. We do not seek rights to gambling or other vices. We simply seek to work with the State of Vermont in setting aside lands which we can preserve in its natural state, and work according to our traditions; those which predate 1492 and 1791.  We seek a place in these Green Hills that we can, again, call our own!

    And here, we know we are not alone.  We have been working with the Vermont Sierra Club and others represented in this crowd today to achieve these goals.  We understand that our battle will only be won through a grand and united Popular Front composed of all those individuals and organizations who are gathered here today in solidarity! And in turn, we, the Nulhegan Abenaki, look forward to working with you to see that Vermont Put’s People and The Planet First!

    So, as the sun goes down over this failed empire of greed, we, the Abenaki people, the People of the Dawn, reach out our hand in friendship to all Vermonters; be they the sons and daughters of the Green Mountain Boys, the grandchildren of Quebecquoi immigrants, or more recent arrivals. Together we are Vermont Strong and together we will win!  

    When I step down from this podium, I will have one goal and that is to collect your signatures showing your solidarity and support for the Abenaki people, tribal forests, preserving our environment and all those who inhabit it.

SUPPORT THE NULHEGAN ABENAKI TRIBE!  

SUPPORT THE VERMONT SIERRA CLUB!

SUPPORT TRIBAL AND TOWN FORESTS!

SUPPORT OUR FORESTS!  

SUPPORT OUR FUTURE!

FREEDOM AND UNITY!!

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