By David Detmold, Massachusetts Indigenous Legislative Agenda
On Monday, May 12, 2025, supporters of the five bills promoted by the Massachusetts Indigenous Legislative Agenda (MILA) converged on the State House in Boston to lobby senators and representatives to pass the entire slate of long-stalled Indigenous-backed legislation.
The five MILA bills include a bill to ban the use of Native sports mascots in Massachusetts public schools and a bill to change Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day, statewide. This session, a bill to track and improve educational outcomes for Native students, a bill to protect sacred Indigenous artifacts from for-profit sale on the open market, and a bill to provide for inclusion of Native history and the teaching of contemporary Indigenous cultures in our public schools comprise the rest of the Mass Indigenous Legislative Agenda.
If you don’t have time to read the full report on the inspiring MILA launch, you could go directly to the link to lobby your state legislators to support these five crucial Indigenous-backed bills.
Highlights of the MILA Forum at the State House on May 12, during which Indigenous leaders from across the Commonwealth spoke out in support of the five bills.
Faries Gray, Sagamore of the Massachusett Tribe at Ponkapoag, delivered powerful opening remarks. Here, in full, is his speech at the launch of the Mass Indigenous Legislative Agenda, transcribed from the recording provide by state senator Jo Comerford (D-Northampton) :
Faries Gray opened the May 12 forum saying: “The Colony of Massachusetts was named after my tribe. The Indigenous Legislative Agenda is important not only to the Indigenous people of Massachusetts but also to Indigenous people who come here from elsewhere (to study or work). You would think by the difficulty we‘ve had in getting bills passed that we’re trying to do something crazy, something that can’t be done. We’re not asking for a large thing. We’re asking to be treated like every other race is treated.
“And so – I have to ask myself a question. My whole adult life I’ve tried to bridge this gap between Indigenous people and the colonists, because my teachings tell me we all have to work together. What happened 400 years ago can’t be undone, so we have to move forward. But then I see the same differences that my ancestors had with the colonists are still here.
“We are still asking the same thing – to be treated as human beings. So I have to ask myself: ‘What is it about the Indigenous people that brings out the worst in the colonists? What is it about us? Is it because everything was taken from us? We were murdered. Our land was stolen. Everything. Our culture was taken….
“What is it about us? Are we that threatening? What is it about us that brings out the absolute worst in your humanity? No other race has to deal with this, just the Indigenous people.
“When we ask for something, we are given reasons why it can’t happen. Even in the school systems with their discriminatory mascots, they are breaking their own laws by allowing those mascots to continue. But still it continues.
“This should be something easily done: “Oh, wow, I wasn’t even thinking right. We’re going to change it. Absolutely. Should be unanimous. But it doesn’t change because, for whatever reason, Indigenous people bring out the worst in their humanity.
“I work toward that goal (of eliminating racist mascots in public schools), and I know we have to work together. But I also know that me standing here is threatening, because I am Indigenous. Not because of anything we do, but because: We are Still Here.
“The plan all along was to get rid of us, to take everything from us. The laws that were written – the very laws that govern us today – were written to take everything from us. And it’s not right. It’s wrong. And so – we are threatening to them because of what they did.
“But that was 400 years ago. So – it’s like I am in two worlds here. I’m in the world of my ancestors, but I am in the world of today, here and now. And there’s this massive energy inside of me that wants to bring everyone together and let all of that go and move forward.
“But then – it’s not allowed to happen because we are still fighting for some basic rights: to be treated like a human being. I mean, honestly, is that too much to ask: to be treated equally? Not special. Equally. Like you treat the people that you respect, that you honor.
“So I have to think: They still don’t look at us as human beings. Even though they say they do, they can’t. How could they not act on this agenda if they looked at us as human beings? They can’t. They can’t look at us as human beings. I have to realize that. The same differences remain, even if I don’t want them to. By not acting, and not doing what should be done, it is proof, to all the Indigenous people: ‘That’s how they view us.’
“They think they are honoring us (with mascots). If that’s their honor, then don’t show us honor. Just give us this basic right. You know – this is a battle that I battle with every day – these two worlds.
“We’re asking: Just pass these bills. Give us the same human right you give everybody else.
“I’ve been coming to the State House for a while. I watched Holocaust bills get passed, which is awesome. They get passed through the legislature, no problem. But what about us?
“I’ve watched the bill about living standards for chickens. I love chickens. It passed – no problem. But what about us?
“There’s a pattern here. It is the Indigenous people that seem to always have to suffer and wait. What do I say to the children, my children, who are growing up with this? What do I say to the children that go to these schools that have mascots? They are not learning the Indigenous history here. They learn about other places, but not about what happened here.
“Still, I battle with these two worlds. I really do. I battle with these two worlds because the part of me that is saying, ‘We all have to work together….’ It’s true. We do have to work together, not just in this, but in everything.
“But then I come to the State House, and there’s a mural here. Everyone’s sorry. A huge mural of the Tea Party, something that happened long ago, but it’s still here today. A mural of when colonists dressed up like us to commit a crime. I have to realize that although physically the colonists aren’t here today, that same mentality is alive and well: that they are honoring us. They killed the Indigenous people, ran them off, took their land, but then they dressed up like us to throw tea off a boat. Sounds like a made-up story, but it isn’t.
“There’s a mural, a beautiful mural, depicting this act, here in the State House. Be we couldn’t be Indigenous. We couldn’t exist. We’re not treated the same. We’re not treated equally.
“I came to the realization that they must not view us as human beings. Still, today. That same mentality is alive and well. That’s not what I want; that’s what I see.
I’ve been doing this for a long time and we have awesome allies. Allies who stand with us. They don’t have to. The stretch their necks out for us. Hopefully, this (recording) will be shared so those that make the decisions here can reflect on why these bills have not passed. Because we need this to happen. We need it. We are just asking them to follow their own laws and treat us like human beings.”
-Faries Gray, Sagamore, Massachusett Tribe at Ponkapoag, May 12, 2025
Melissa Harding Ferretti, Chairwoman of the Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribe, spoke next, in support of An Act prohibiting the use of Native American Mascots by public schools in the Commonwealth. H.575/S.312 (
She said, “For centuries, we know, Indigenous people have faced systemic erasure, misrepresentation, and discrimination. Native American mascots are a modern extension of this historical injustice, reducing our vibrant cultures to stereotypes and reinforcing harmful misconceptions. Mascots do not honor Indigenous communities. They perpetuate outdated and offensive portrayals that contribute to discrimination and exclusion. The persistence of these symbols reflects a deeper issue: the failure to recognize and respect Indigenous identities in educational spaces.”
Brittney Walley, Hassanamisco Nipmuc representative to the Mass Mascot Steering Committee, spoke next, in support of changing the state holiday on the second Monday of October from Columbus to Indigenous Peoples Day, which would be accomplished by passage of An Act establishing an Indigenous Peoples Day in Massachusetts. H.3292/ S.2113
She said, “We’ve been having this discussion since at least the 1970s, so I hope we are able to finally see it through. There are many reasons why Columbus Day should be eliminated from our Commonwealth. Columbus never even set foot in what would become Massachusetts. He did, however, spend time in the Caribbean, and while there he committed insidious acts against local Indigenous peoples.
“Columbus is the pioneer of murder, rape, bodily mutilation, slavery, theft, violent colonization and ecological damage. Columbus was the forefather of systemic racism and the genocide of Indigenous peoples of the Americas. I must add that Columbus’ actions were echoed here, on this land. And here we face a compounded issue of misunderstanding both the history of the Caribbean and local Indigenous history and presence.
“Establishing Indigenous Peoples Day here in Massachusetts creates a wonderful opportunity to celebrate and educate about indigeneity of the Americas. It would help us see each other in our humanity to know each other more deeply, and it allows for a chance to openly and honestly move forward together.”
Jean-Luc Pieriete, member of the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana and president of the North American Indian Center of Boston, spoke in support of the remaining three bills in the Mass Indigenous Legislative Agenda, which include:
·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.649/S.412 (
·An act to protect Native American Heritage. H.3597/S.2335 (Rogers/Biele, Miranda) to ensure that Native American funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony held in governmental, municipal or non-profit collections are not sold for profit.
·An Act relative to celebrating and teaching Native American cultures and history. H.628/ S.444 (Lewis/
Pierite said that his ancestral village in Louisiana was “grave robbed. Those sacred objects, those human remains, went on to become known as the Tunica Treasure. They were excavated from Louisiana and then they were leased to the Harvard Peabody Museum.” The Tunic-Biloxi sued successfully for their return, in a process that lasted many years, during which time the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act was passed in 1990, due in part to the work of the Tunica-Bioloxi Tribe in its battle with Harvard.
“This bill,” Pierite said, in reference to An Act to Protect Native American Heritage, “is about the legitimacy to claim you ancestors. So I am reminded of Sagamore Gray’s comments about being treated equally. Imagine how I felt in November of 2018 when the Boston Herald contacted me about their report that the Medford Public Library was de-acquisitioning sacred objects from the Pacific Northwest,” which were then sent to Skinner Auctioneers in Boston. How could this still be happening after my own family’s experience,” and the passage of federal Native American grave protection legislation? “How could it still be happening?”
Pierite worked with Massachusetts artists to craft language for the Act to Protect Native American Heritage. “The protection of our lands, the protection of our ancestors… repatriation needs to happen to restore us, to make us whole. We need to stop the theft of our children, of our women, and of our ancestors.”
Pierite also urged for passage of the two education bills in the Mass Indigenous Legislative Agenda, saying, “Our children need to have their own family stories reflected in public schools.”
Laurel Davis-Delano, Professor of Sociology, Springfield College, said: All of the bills on the Indigenous Legislative Agenda are related to one main research finding, which is that Native Americans are generally invisible in U.S.dominant culture as contemporary people and nations, and are often visible in the form of misleading stereotypes about Native Americans from the past.”
Davis-Delano said, “Research reveals that Native American students in the U.S. are below average on most educational measures. The bill on the Commission on Education of Native American students is critical.”
Rhonda Anderson, Inupiat-Athabascan, closed out the program speaking about the work of the Massachusetts Seal, Flag and Motto advisory commission, on which she serves.
Anderson remarked, “I like to use the words of Nikki Sanchez, ‘This history is not your fault, but it is your responsibility.’”
The Mass Indigenous Legislative Agenda succeeded in passing a sixth bill (to establish an advisory commission to redesign the flag, seal and motto) in 2021.
“On May 8th, the Advisory Commission launched an open call to artists, historians, educators, students and members of the public to participate in the redesign of the state seal, flag and motto. We encourage and welcome a broad range of designs that capture the full creativity of everyone who lives here – in equality – something we can all stand behind.
Take Action Today!
Now, more than ever, we need to move the remaining Indigenous Legislative Agenda bills forward with respect, honor and dignity for Native peoples, tribal nations, and even non-native people of Massachusetts. We can do this. We can be on the right side of history and we can make a difference.”
*If you live in the district of one of the following lead legislative sponsors of the Mass Indigenous Agenda bills, please contact them directly with thanks for their work, and ask them to advise you which key Senate or House leaders or committee chairs you could contact in support of the five Mass Indigenous Legislative Agenda bills:
Rep. David Biele, Rep. Brandy Fluker-Reid, Rep. Samantha Montano, Rep. David Rogers, Sen. Jo Comerford, Sen. Jason Lewis, Sen. Liz Miranda, and Sen. Rebecca Rausch.
