Sigwanis Lachapelle-Gill, chief of the Abenaki of Odanak, spoke at a side panel held as part of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. In 2011, the Nulhegan band of the Coosuk abenaki Nation received state recognition in Vermont. A year later, the Koasek Abenak tribe followed. As legally recognized groups, they are allowed to sell Native American artwork and repatriate human remains.