Native American chief says Ben & Jerry’s should hand back ‘stolen land’ that its HQ stands on 

A Native American chief in Vermont has scolded Ben & Jerry’s for being headquartered on Native land.

The ice cream company was widely criticized after they tweeted on July 4 calling on the United States to “give back indigenous lands.”

Now Don Stevens, head of the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation, has told the New York Post that the land the company has built their headquarters on is Native land.

Stevens said, “If you go to the [Abenaki] traditional way of being, we are local people. Before recognized tribes in the state, we were the ones who were in this place.”

Stevens also said he “looks forward to any kind of correspondence with the brand to see how they can better help Indigenous people.”

Ben & Jerry’s headquarters in South Burlington, built on former Native American land

Vermont had been home to Algonquian-speaking tribes, including the Cowasuck, Sokoki, who would later form the Abenaki Confederation

He continued, “People have a responsibility to take care of resources in places because we have the ability to destroy.”

Maps detailing the tribes occupying the northeastern U.S. show how the company’s headquarters in South Burlington, Vermont, is located in the original area.

The Abenaki are a confederacy of Native Americans who merged with other tribes in the 17th century to protect themselves.

Descendants of the Abenaki numbered about 8,000 individuals in the early 21st century, according to Britain.

Ben & Jerry’s was founded by longtime allies of Bernie Sanders, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenwood.

Founded in 1987, the company has since been sold to British multinational Unilever, the message tweeted to his 494,000 followers.

The 4th of July tweet read: “This 4th of July it is high time we recognize the US existing on stolen Indigenous land and commit to returning it.”

The ice company also proposed returning Mount Rushmore to its original owners.

The company is headquartered in South Burlington, east of Lake Champlain, in Native American territory

The company has been under fire since they asked via Twitter on July 4 to return land to the Indians

The ice cream brand, which has long attracted a progressive audience, called on the United States to return ‘stolen Indigenous lands’

One commenter compared the statement to Bud Light’s partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney – which resulted in the beer giant losing more than $20 billion in market value.

The tweet then linked to a post on the company’s website explaining why America should “start with Mount Rushmore” and how they hope to support a movement that would dismantle “white supremacy and systems of oppression.”

‘Ah, the Fourth of July. Who doesn’t like a good parade, a tasty barbecue and a rousing fireworks display? The only problem with all that, though, is that it can distract from an essential truth about the birth of this nation: the US was founded on stolen indigenous lands,” they wrote.

The tweet sparked immediate outrage on social media, with many disgusted shoppers using the hashtag #boycottbenandjerrys to label the post as anti-American sentiment on a day meant to celebrate the United States.

Ben & Jerry’s has been an advocate of far-left causes throughout its history and has partnered with various social justice movements.

Yesterday, co-founder Ben Cohen was arrested outside the Justice Department for protesting the prosecution of WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange.

The 72-year-old businessman and left-wing activist was part of a group denouncing charges against the WikiLeaks founder.

Cohen was held for about three hours and released shortly before 6 p.m. Thursday

He is taken away in handcuffs for processing by the DC Police Department

Cohen told his 25,000 Twitter followers on Wednesday that he expected to be arrested.

Assange has been held in Belmarsh Prison in London since April 2019 for leaking state secrets and may soon be extradited to the US.

Cohen said Assange’s imprisonment violated free speech.