Warrant Article Title:
RESOLUTION/ACKNOWLEDGING NATIVE LANDS

Warrant Article Text:

To see if the Town will vote to celebrate and recognize the heritage of the peoples indigenous to Massachusetts and Arlington by resolving to encourage the reading of this land acknowledgement statement at the beginning of all public meetings of the Town; or to take any action related thereto.

 

Accordingly, the text of such a land acknowledgement statement would read:

“We acknowledge that the Town of Arlington is located on the ancestral lands of the Massachusett Tribe, the tribe of Indigenous peoples from whom the Colony, Province, and Commonwealth have taken their names. We pay our respects to the ancestral bloodline of the Massachusett Tribe and their descendants who still inhabit historic Massachusett territories today.”

Requested by:
(Inserted at the request of the Arlington Human Rights Commission)

Report Excerpt:
The Select Board respectfully recommends positive action on this non-binding resolution to encourage, but not require recitation of a land acknowledgment prior to commencing public meetings in a form substantially similar to the language recommended to the Board by the Arlington Human Rights Commission. The purpose of the acknowledgments in whatever form and on whatever schedule any given public body utilizes them, is to recognize and respect peoples indigenous to Massachusetts and Arlington as historical stewards of the land we live upon and the relationship that exists between indigenous peoples in modern American and their traditional territories. Some members of the Board noted some concern with choosing which historic and present matters bear reflecting upon prior to commencing public meetings. Similarly, Board members also noted that committee and commission chairs have substantial discretion to determine how to structure and operate their meetings. However, on balance, the Select Board unanimously agreed that a non-binding recommendation that boards and bodies provide opportunity for land acknowledgments tailored to their work is important, and that Town Meetings endorsement of same is valuable.

Vote Language:

That Town Meeting hereby Adopts the following resolution previously adopted by the Select Board on January 25, 2020:

 

RESOLVED that all Town entities are encouraged to celebrate and recognize the heritage of the peoples indigenous to Massachusetts and Arlington by including the following land acknowledgement at the beginning of all of the Town’s public meetings in a substantially similar form to the following:

 

“We acknowledge that the Town of Arlington is located on the ancestral lands of the Massachusett Tribe, the tribe of Indigenous peoples from whom the Colony, Province, and Commonwealth have taken their names. We pay our respects to the ancestral bloodline of the Massachusett Tribe and their descendants who still inhabit historic Massachusett territories today.” 

 

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Additional Materials:

Select Board Report

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