Ben & Jerry’s has called on the US to return “stolen indigenous land” including Mount Rushmore – and now a Native American chief in Vermont has said he’d wish to talk concerning the land that sits beneath the ice cream maker’s headquarters.
‘Chunky Monkey’ creator – who previously got into controversy surrounding Israel and Palestine – divided customers this week on July 4 tweet who said, “The USA was founded on stolen indigenous land. On the Fourth of July, let’s pledge to return it.”
Ben & Jerry’s added that the US should “start with Mount Rushmore”, writing, “The faces on Mount Rushmore are the faces of people that have actively worked to destroy indigenous cultures and ways of life.”
On Friday, Don Stevens – head of the Nulhegan Band of The Coosuk Abenaki Nation, one in all 4 Abenaki tribes recognized in Vermont – told The Post that he “looks forward to any correspondence with the brand to see what how they’ll higher profit indigenous peoples.
![The head of the Nulhegan Band of The Coosuk Abenaki Nation, Don Stevens, called Ben & Jerry's hypocritical move, noting that the company's headquarters is also on](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000013725168.jpg?w=610)
Stevens added that if the ice cream maker is “honest”, he should contact him because the corporate’s headquarters – positioned at 30 Community Dr.
“In case you take a look at [Abenaki] traditional way of being, we’re people connected with the place. Before the recognized tribes within the state, we were those who were on this place,” Stevens said, adding that the Abenaki see themselves as “stewards of the land.”
“People have a responsibility to take care of resources in places because we’ve the flexibility to destroy,” he added.
Representatives for Ben & Jerry’s didn’t immediately reply to The Post’s request for comment.
Ben & Jerry’s this week also included a call to motion with a link to sign a petition to return Mount Rushmore to the Lakota people.
Stevens declined to take a position on how the Lakota might react to Ben and Jerry’s comments about Mount Rushmore.
“I have never talked to them [Ben & Jerry’s]so I am unable to judge that,” he said.
The Abanaki are an Algonquian Native American confederation that joined with other tribes within the seventeenth century to guard themselves from other tribes, in accordance with the Encyclopedia Britannica.
Historians have estimated that around 10,000 Abenaki lived in what is now Vermont within the early seventeenth century.
There are actually roughly 2,500 members left within the state.
Despite the controversy Ben & Jerry’s got into, Stevens said he enjoyed Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, even though it didn’t seem to be anything special.
“I like ice cream. I attempted them [Ben & Jerry’s] and I’ve tried many others,” he told The Post. “It is a product like several other.”
![On July 4, Ben & Jerry's posted a controversial message on its social media and website in which ice cream fans called for a boycott.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000013725167.jpg?w=800)
![Stevens said the Vermont ice cream maker has not yet contacted him and has not discussed returning his lot to the Abenaki people.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000013725202.jpg?w=1024)
Ben & Jerry’s Fourth of July callout received mixed reactions, with many calling for a boycott of the brand in a move that echoes the aftermath of Bud Light’s recent collaboration with trans model Dylan Mulvaney.
Ben & Jerry’s corporate parent Unilever tasted backlash as $2 billion was faraway from market capitalization within the aftermath of the July 4 post.
Shares of Unilever, an Anglo-Dutch multinational, fell 0.8% on Thursday after closing down 0.5% the day before today.
On Friday – three days after Ben & Jerry’s shared its unpatriotic tweet – Unilever’s share price fell one other 0.5%.