The Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation is a state-recognized tribe and nonprofit organization, called AHA "Abenaki Helping Abenaki", whose headquarters and land are based in Vermont. They are often referred to as the Nulhegan Abenaki Tribe or simply, Nulhegan. The Nulhegan Band has approximately 1,400 members, most of whom reside in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. Vermont recognized the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation in 2011. The Nulhegan are one of four state-recognized tribes in Vermont. They participate at the state level in many ways, including in the Vermont Commission of Native American Affairs. They are not federally recognized as a Native American tribe. Vermont has no federally recognized tribes. Etymology The Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation draws its name the Nulhegan River, a tributary to the Connecticut River and Nulhegan Basin near Brighton, Vermont. Its name means "the place of log traps." The band is also named for the Cowasuck people and Abenaki people, one of the tribes that inhabited a large portion of eastern Vermont and western New Hampshire. Leadership The Nulhegan Abenaki government is made up of a Chief (Sogomo), who is nominated by the councils and decided by election. The current chief of the Nulhegan is Chief Don Stevens. The legislative branch includes an elected Tribal Council of 5 to 13 members, all from within the tribe. The judicial branch is represented by an Elders Council. The government manages the tribe's land, activities, gatherings, and interacts with the state of Vermont in official matters. Nonprofit organization The Nulhegan Band founded a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization called AHA "Abenaki Helping Abenaki" in 2006. In 2019, the Tides Foundation provided it with a grant of $50,000. Lucy Neel, based in Barton and Derby Line, Vermont, is the organization's registered agent. The current officers are: Chief Donald Stevens, president Nicole St. Ogle, treasurer Lucy Cannon-Neel, secretary. Land In 2012, the Nulhegan Abenaki Tribe acquired some of the first tribal-owned and controlled land in Vermont for nearly 200 years. The 65 acres located in Barton, VT, where the tribal headquarters are, "will be an economic, educational and cultural resource for the tribe, which worked with the Vermont Land Trust and the Sierra Club to acquire the forestland." History In June 1812, white settlers recorded that a band of Abenaki lived at Owls Head Mountain on Lake Memphremagog in Potton, Quebec, in the Memphremagog Region Abenaki.