Indigenous Matters

Although the European invaders attempted a complete indigenous genocide they failed, and although many indigenous cultures, traditions, languages, and much wisdom has been lost, the fact is there are currently 574 federally “Recognized” tribes in the US as of 2024 as well as over 400 “unrecognized” tribes including the Herring Pond Tribe of southeastern MA. There are also approximately six million Indigenous tribal citizens now alive in the US. How odd that the best concise summary of the American Genocide of the Indigenous Peoples is to be found at The Ministry of Foreign Affairs website of the People’s Republic of China.

… and all other political prisoners who are unjustly held captive!

History of the Winged Free Leonard Peltier Spirit Mask and Puppet

The Winged Free Leonard Peltier Spirit Mask was created in 1992 for a cultural festival and parade in Jamaica Plain, Boston, at a time when many people were celebrating 500 years of Indigenous survival and trying to call attention to the ongoing oppression of Indigenous People and Indigenous leadership on Turtle Island. The actual puppet/mask was constructed and brought to life by creative artists and cultural revolutionaries associated with “Spontaneous Celebrations” a community empowerment through art organization in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston after Dennis Banks – who lived in Boston during the 1990s – visited the home of Spontaneous Celebrations and spoke about Leonard’s unjust incarceration and the history of the Massachusett People who lived around Jamaica Plain, which was named after a Massachusett sachem, Kuchamakin. In 1995, Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council President, Russell M.Peters, wrote of Spontaneous Celebrations that he was “particularly impressed with the attention paid to Native American issues … and to the Leonard Peltier puppet…”

The Free Leonard Peltier mask has been to big Climate March demonstrations in New York and Massachusetts. Dennis Moynihan – then of NPR- took Leonard to the White House where he was photographed on the front lawn. For many years Leonard was carried during the Wake Up the Earth Festival in Boston and at Boston’s First Night Parade. Leonard’s Winged Spirit has traveled over 20,000 miles and has been to Pine Ridge, Wounded Knee, and Oak Flat. The mask also spent a week encamped at Standing Rock in 2016. Many repairs have been made to Leonard’s mask over the years. Most recently his face was repainted by the famed Uruguayan artist, Roberto Ciao.

Leonard’s allies in Massachusetts – including Spontaneous Celebrations and the Massachusetts Peace and Justice Community – hope at this time in Leonard’s life – Fall 2023 – to gift the Free Leonard Peltier mask/puppet/winged spirit to the Lakota People.

In 2023 I attended my first powwow on Noepe, held by the Aquinnah Tribe of the Wampanoag Nation, occupants of Noepe probably for 1000’s of years before the Pilgrim’s occupation and conquest. And inasmuch as I haven’t gone yet, and I’m only hoping that the Great Spirit will grant my wish to attend, I will write about this subsequently.

Pssst – Did you know I could see the future?

It is important to the rebalancing that I imagine is possible that we acknowledge that we live on lands loved for millennia before us by people of the Massachusett, Mohican, Nauset, Nipmuc, Pawtucket, Pocumtuc, Seaconke, Pokanoket, Pocumtuk, Nipmuc, Abenaki, Wabanaki Confederacy and Wampanoag tribes and nations. I give thanks to the indigenous people who stewarded the land and waters of Massachusetts for more than 15,000 years. I acknowledge that I inhabit land seized and stolen from these indigenous people, whose descendants still live among us. I am committed to honoring their wishes for respect, restoration, and independence and invite you to join me.

The 2022 Massachusetts Legislative Agenda

You may think you know all about why to support the MA Indigenous Legislative Agenda but there is still much to learn if you … WATCH THIS POWERFUL ONE-HOUR VIDEO OF THE JANUARY 11 INDIGENOUS PANEL SPEAKING ABOUT THE NEED TO SUPPORT INDIGENOUS-CENTERED BILLS IN MASSACHUSETTS!

And if you don’t have the time to be further re-educated and inspired …THEN JUST TAKE THIS ACTION STEP:-Go to https://bit.ly/SupportIndigenousBills and send an automated letter to the members of the legislative committees where the bills are currently sitting, asking that the bills be reported out of committee favorably. You can customize the letter if you want. Please share and get your friends and organizations to write, too!-Learn more about the bills and get updates via http://maindigenousagenda.org/-Email for more information: info@MAIndigenousAgenda.org or info@uaine.org

Move our bills out of committee before the deadline!

The 2021-2022 Indigenous Legislative Agenda includes 5 priorities: Remove Racist Mascots, Honor Indigenous People’s Day, Celebrate and Teach Native American Culture & History, Protect Native American Heritage, and Support the Education and Futures of Native Youth.

Join us in calling for each of these bills to move out of committee!

An Act prohibiting the use of Native American mascots by public schools in the Commonwealth. (S.2493/H.581) Currently about 30 public high schools in the state use Native American mascots. This bill would task the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education with establishing regulations to prohibit Native American mascots in MA public schools.

An Act establishing an Indigenous Peoples Day. (S.2027/H.3191 ) This bill replaces Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day in the Massachusetts General Laws.

An act relative to celebrating Native American culture and history. (S.382/H.651) This bill addresses the lack of Indigenous curriculum in Massachusetts public schools.

An Act providing for the creation of a permanent commission relative to the education of American Indian and Alaska Native residents of the Commonwealth. (H.582) As a State Education Agency, the MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education must engage in timely and meaningful consultation with stakeholders. Representatives of Indian tribes located in the state are explicitly identified as stakeholders.

An Act to protect Native American Heritage. (S.2239/H.3377 & S.2240/H.3385) This would ensure that Native American funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony (those of cultural, traditional or historical importance to their heritage) held in governmental, municipal or non-profit collections are not sold for profit.