Supreme Court. The Vermont court's decision not only breaks with the rule that a tribe must consent to extinguishment of its aboriginal title, but also rejects the requirement that the dominant sovereign must express its intent to extinguish title with a "plain and unambiguous action." The Vermont Supreme Court's holding that the "increasing weight of history" alone can terminate Indian title disposes of the rule of law, and replaces it with a selective reading of the conqueror's history. Aftermath State recognition Vermont extended state-recognition to the Abenaki in 2006. The original recognition act provided: This chapter shall not be construed to recognize, create, extend, or form the basis of any right or claim to land or real estate in Vermont for the Abenaki people or any Abenaki individual and shall be construed to confer only those rights specifically described in this chapter. The language was amended and re-codified in 2010: Recognition of a Native American Indian tribe shall not be construed to create, extend, or form the basis of any right or claim to land or real estate in Vermont or right to conduct any gambling activities prohibited by law, but confers only those rights specifically described in this chapter. The amendment bill also added the following language: State-recognized Native American Indian tribes and their members will continue to be subject to all laws of the state, and recognition shall not be construed to create any basis or authority for tribes to establish or promote any form of prohibited gambling activity or to claim any interest in land or real estate in Vermont. Federal recognition The St. Francis/Sokoki Band of Abenakis of Vermont were denied federal recognition on July 2, 2007. The Department of Interior determined that the Abenaki failed to satisfy four of the seven criteria for federal recognition: that external observers identify the group as an American Indian entity on a substantially continuous basis since 1900, that a predominant portion of the group comprises a distinct community and has existed as a community from historical times until the present, that the group has maintained political influence or authority over its members as an autonomous entity from historical times until the present, and that the group's membership consist of individuals who descend from a historical Indian tribe or from historical Indian tribes that combined and functioned as a single autonomous political entity. Notes References Gene Bergman, Defying Precedent: Can