Dear ABCD Community,
We would like you to join us in acknowledging Native American Heritage Month and Native American Heritage Day, on November 29, a day of reflection, respect, and renewal. It is an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of U.S. history, and the Indigenous Peoples who were stewards of the land when Western Europeans arrived on these shores and who – importantly – continue to live their traditions and contribute to society in remarkable ways.
Accountability for this country’s brutal conduct and policies toward Indigenous Peoples partially began being rectified in 1975 through the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, Public Law 93-638 that restored some sovereignty to tribal governments. More recently, on October 24, 2024 – last month – the U.S. apologized for the government’s role in operating abusive boarding schools for 150 years. President Joe Biden, who issued the apology, also named Debra Haaland, a citizen of the Laguna Pueblo Tribe, as U.S. Secretary of the Interior – the first Native American cabinet secretary in U.S. history. On November 15, 2024, Brown University announced that it would return 225 acres – a portion of ancestral land back to a “preservation trust established by the Pokanoket Indian Tribe, ensuring that access to the land and waters extends to tribes and Native peoples of the region for whom the land has significance.” Yet, there is still more work to be done.
The beautiful and resilient history of Indigenous Peoples on this continent from pre-Columbian times to today is on display from a variety of perspectives such as Indigenous Continent written by Pekka Hamalainen; the poetry of former U.S. Poet Laureate and citizen of Muscogee Nation Joy Harjo; the music of Chloe Star, who spent much of her youth on the San Miguel Reservation, and the hit TV show Reservation Dogs, the first to feature all-indigenous writers and directors. As for local and regional resources, visit wlrp.org to learn about Jesse Little Doe Baird’s quest to reclaim the Wopanaak language; explore UMass Boston’s Native American & Indigenous Studies program; read about our region in The Common Pot: The Recovery of Native Space in the Northeast by Lisa Brooks, or visit MassachusettTribe.org to learn how, against all odds, descendants of these First Peoples practice their traditions while charting a new path every day.
As an organization whose mission centers people and communities that have been marginalized, ABCD acknowledges both the oppression behind the glaring inequities that exist today, and celebrates the resilient and dynamic indigenous community here in Boston and elsewhere as we continue to fulfill our mission to provide pathways out of poverty so that everyone can thrive.
Sincerely,
Sharon Scott-Chandler, Esq.
President and CEO
