To see if the Town will vote a Resolution in Support of Changing the State Flag & Seal of Massachusetts:

WHEREAS the history of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is replete with instances of conflict between European Colonists and the Native Nations of the region, who first extended the hand of friendship to the Colonist on their shores in 1620, and helped them survive starvation during the settlers’ first winders on their land;

WHEREAS members of the Native Nation for whom the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in named were ambushed and killed by Myles Standish, first commander of the Plymouth Colony, at Wessagusett (now Weymouth) in April of 1623, barely two years after the Pilgrims arrived;

WHEREAS the Colonial broadsword held by a white hand above the head of the Indigenous person on the Massachusetts Flag and Seal is modeled after Myles Standish’s own broadsword, borrowed for that purpose from Pilgrim Hall in Plymouth by the illustrator Edmund Garrett in 1884;

WHEREAS the belt binding the Native’s cloak on the Flag and Seal is modeled after a belt for my Metacomet, known to the English as King Philip, who was among the Indigenous leaders that resorted to a mutually destructive war in 1675-76 in defense of Native lands against Colonial encroachment;

WHEREAS the proportions of the body of the Indigenous person on the Flag and Seal were taken from the skeleton ofan Indigenous person unearthed in Winthrop, the bow modeled after a bow taken from an Indige­ nous man shot and killed by a colonist in Sudbury in 1665, and the facial features taken from a photograph of an Ojibwe chief from Great Falls, Montana, considered by the illustrator to be a "fine specimen of an Indian," though not from Massachusetts;

WHEREAS the history of relations between Massachusetts since Colonial times and the Native Nations who continue to live within its borders includes the forced internment of thousands of so-called "praying Indians" on Deer Island, in Boston Harbor, where they died by the hundreds of exposure in the winter of 1675, the enslavement of Indigenous people in Boston , Bermuda , and the Caribbean Islands, the offering of 40 pounds sterling as bounty for the scalps of indigenous men, women and children in Massachusetts beginning in 1686 , increased to 100 pounds sterling for the scalps of Indigenous adult males by 1722, half that amount for Indigenous women and children;

WHEREAS Indigenous people were legally prohibited from even stepping foot into Boston from 1675 until 2004, when that Colonial law was finally repealed;

WHEREAS the 400^th anniversary of the landing of the Colonists at Plymouth Plantation, which gave rise to the long chain of genocidal wars and deliberate government policies of cultural destruction against Native Nations of this continent, occurred in the year 2020, affording every citizen of the Commonwealth a chance to reflect upon this history and come to an appreciation of the need for better relations between the descendants of the Colonial immigrants and the Native Nations of the Commonwealth;

WHEREAS the land area now known as the Town of Arlington, shares a rich Native history with modern tribal Nations such as the Massachusetts, who have inhabited this area long before the first colonial settlers arrived, in 1635;

(Inserted at the request of the Chadi Salamoun and ten registered voters)

(4 - 0)

Mr. Helmuth recused himself.

The Select Board urges Town Meeting’s positive action to join with a wide swath of municipalities who have resolved their support for changing the Flag and Seal of the Commonwealth to amend its depiction of an Algonquian Native American and the Myles Standish sword and motto “Ense Petit Placidam, Sub Libertate Quietem” (“By the Sword We Seek Peace, But Peace Only Under Liberty”).  The Commonwealth has already passed a resolve to change the flag and seal, appointing the Special Commission on the Official Seal and Motto of the Commonwealth to recommend alterations or alternatives.  However, such work has yet to result in recommendations for a new seal, flag, or motto and requires further financial and political support.    It is the Board’s hope that a resolution of Town Meeting can add further momentum to push the effort to completion and result in a flag and seal of the Commonwealth that does not evoke violence towards or oppression of the indigenous peoples who resided on this land before the arrival of colonists.

That Town Meeting does and hereby resolves as follows:

WHEREAS the history of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is replete with instances of conflict between European Colonists and the Native Nations of the region, who first extended the hand of friendship to the Colonist on their shores in 1620, and helped them survive starvation during the settlers’ first winters on their land; and

WHEREAS members of the Native Nation for whom the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in named were ambushed and killed by Myles Standish, first commander of the Plymouth Colony, at Wessagusett (now Weymouth) in April of 1623, barely two years after the Pilgrims arrived; and

WHEREAS the Colonial broadsword held by a white hand above the head of the Indigenous person on the Massachusetts Flag and Seal is modeled after Myles Standish’s own broadsword, borrowed for that purpose from Pilgrim Hall in Plymouth by the illustrator Edmund Garrett in 1884; and

WHEREAS the belt binding the Native’s cloak on the Flag and Seal is modeled after a belt for my Metacomet, known to the English as King Philip, who was among the Indigenous leaders that resorted to a mutually destructive war in 1675-76 in defense of Native lands against Colonial encroachment; and

WHEREAS the proportions of the body of the Indigenous person on the Flag and Seal were taken from the skeleton of an Indigenous person unearthed in Winthrop, the bow modeled after a bow taken from an Indigenous man shot and killed by a colonist in Sudbury in 1665, and the facial features taken from a photograph of an Ojibwe chief from Great Falls, Montana, considered by the illustrator to be a "fine specimen of an Indian," though not from Massachusetts; and

WHEREAS the history of relations between Massachusetts since Colonial times and the Native Nations who continue to live within its borders includes the forced internment of thousands of so13 called "praying Indians" on Deer Island, in Boston Harbor, where they died by the hundreds of exposure in the winter of 1675, the enslavement of Indigenous people in Boston , Bermuda , and the Caribbean Islands, the offering of 40 pounds sterling as bounty for the scalps of indigenous men, women and children in Massachusetts beginning in 1686 , increased to 100 pounds sterling for the scalps of Indigenous adult males by 172 2, half that amount for Indigenous women and children; and

WHEREAS Indigenous people were legally prohibited from even stepping foot into Boston from 1675 until 2004, when that Colonial law was finally repealed; and

WHEREAS the 400th anniversary of the landing of the Colonists at Plymouth Plantation, which gave rise to the long chain of genocidal wars and deliberate government policies of cultural destruction against Native Nations of this continent, occurred in the year 2020, affording every citizen of the Commonwealth a chance to reflect upon this history and come to an appreciation of the need for better relations between the descendants of the Colonial immigrants and the Native Nations of the Commonwealth; and

WHEREAS the land area now known as the Town of Arlington, shares a rich Native history with modern tribal Nations such as the Massachusetts, who have inhabited this area long before the first colonial settlers arrived, in 1635; and

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Town of Arlington hereby adopts this resolution in support of the work of the Special Commission on the Official Seal and Motto of the Commonwealth, established by a Resolve of the General Court in 2021 and appointed by the Governor to recommend changes to the current flag and seal of Massachusetts, and in support of a new flag and seal for the Commonwealth that may better reflect our aspirations for harmonious and respectful relations between all people who now call Massachusetts home. The town clerk shall forward a copy of this resolution to Sen. Cindy Friedman, Rep. Dave Rogers, and Rep. Sean Garballey, with the request that they continue their strong support of the work of the aforementioned Special Commission and advocacy for a new flag and seal for the Commonwealth;

Select Board Report

Letters from 3rd Grade Students at Peirce Elementary