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Donna Ruth Laurent Caruso is a freelance writer and editor of Abenaki descent. She received her BS in English and Journalism from Suffolk University and an MS in Communications from Boston University.

Since 2004, Caruso has written frequently for the award-winning newspaper Indian Country Today. She covers topics ranging from language preservation to pow wows to Abenaki culture. Caruso was editor and marketing assistant of The Whispering Basket  by Larry Spotted Crow Mann. In addition, Caruso has published a book of short stories, To Soldier the Birch Bark .

To Soldier the Birch Bark and other Stories features short stories along with a haiku that shows the reader cultural understandings of the Abenaki community, along with ways and hardships of indigenous life: "People think our enslavement, the taking of children, the stealing of our property and language, happened a long time ago in New England, but that is not true. A little Indian girl from Peskeompscut was placed in an orphanage by attorneys from Portsmouth, NH, in 1928.  That little girl's mother, who had died, had an inherited English fortune, but because her father (George) was Indian, the little two year-old was stolen from him and put away in an orphanage," an excerpt from "Ogawata (sits out of site; in the shadows, Abenaki)" (22).

=Publications= To Soldier the Birch Bark and other Stories. Fitchburg, MA: Nashaway Publications, 2011. ISBN: 0-9753132-0-7
 * Short Stories


 * Articles Featured in Indian Country Today
 * "The Wandering Bull Charges After Pow Wow" March 2011


 * "Language Preservation Vision Shared for all Tribes" March 2011


 * "Thirteen Year Old Boxer Fighting for Junior Olympics Slot" May 2011


 * "The Chaubunagungamaug Nipmuck Indian Council Holds Their 31st Annual Pau Wau" September 2011


 * "The Red Road is the Right Path"


 * "One Woman's Determination to Become a Traditional Pow Wow Dancer" October 2011


 * "Plymouth State Hosts Veterans Pow Wow" February 2011


 * "Abenaki Filmmaker Earns Luminaria Award" January 2008


 * "Abenaki Hold Week of Nawihla Celebrations" June 2007


 * "Land Return Enables Nipmuc Celebration" July 2007


 * "Environmental Activist Presents Summer Workshop in Vermont" August 2007


 * "Robbins Museum is Dedicated to New England's Native Cultures" August 2007


 * "Traditional Ceremonies Included in Candlelight Vigil" August 2007


 * "Program Trains Veterans for Civilian Workskills" August 2007


 * "Pow Wow Honors Penobscot Activist"October 2007


 * "New Abenaki-Owned Maple Sugarhouse Opens in Vermont"November 2007


 * "Abenaki Filmmaker Earns Luminaria Award" January 2008


 * "Annual Event Uses Traditions to Commit to Sobriety" June 2008


 * "Reading History in Regalia: Three Stories of History and Culture Through Pow Wow" March 2012


 * "Proud to Bead Abenaki: Conversation with Abenaki Beadworker Rhonda Besaw"March 2012


 * "Fulfilling the Legacy of Abenaki Chiefs, a Q&A with Brian Chenevert"June 2012


 * "Twenty-Year-Old Veteran Takes Command of Her Local VFW"July 2011


 * "Mid-Winter Social and Pow Wow Draws Crowd" February 2011


 * "Pow Wows in Literatures: Books that Offer a Look Inside the World of Pow Wow"December 2011