Splashes of red, green and blue dance around long tables adorned with exquisite beads and intricate crafts. Activists speak loudly and confidently, their voices echoing throughout the room while attendees listen. Connecting the distinct colors and powerful speeches were their messages: celebrating Indigenous culture.
Brookline residents gathered at Town Hall to celebrate Brookline’s sixth Indigenous Peoples Day on Monday, Oct. 9, as part of a celebration organized by the Indigenous Peoples Celebration Committee (IPCC) and the Brookline Office of Inclusion, Diversity and Community Relations.
Outside of the building, attendees explored vibrant tables selling Indigenous art and crafts—handmade candles, dreamcatchers and beadwork—or offering information about Indigenous culture, history and politics. The Brookline Booksmith, for instance, assembled an assortment of books by Indigenous authors or spotlighting Indigenous heritage.
IPCC and First Parish members Paul McLean and Jody Leader presented the Massachusetts Indigenous Legislative Agenda developed by a coalition of Massachusetts residents and organizations working to pass Indigenous-centered legislation in the state. The legislative agenda sought to establish a statewide Indigenous Peoples Day, prohibit the use of Native American mascots by public schools and develop a more expansive curriculum on Native American culture and history.
The event included a speaking program with two presentations, both of which were accompanied by American Sign Language interpreter Gabrielle Weiler. The speaking program was followed by a vibrational chant in the Indigenous language Tsalagi by town residents Crystal and Aspen Johnson. IPCC member Kailey Bennett began the event by reading a Land Acknowledgement which recognized the town’s history of Native American and African oppression and subjugation.
“We acknowledge the theft of land, culture and lives and the ensuing enslavement of Indigenous and African peoples that occurred here… These early policies set the stage for centuries of systemic racism,” Bennett said. “Although we as individuals were not perpetrators of these atrocities, we benefit from these systems. Thus, we dedicate ourselves to addressing them today.”
Felina Silver Robinson, the IPCC Chair and Town Meeting Member, followed with an original poem exploring the impacts of past oppression, emphasizing the loss of culture Indigenous peoples have experienced since Europeans arrived on the North and South American continents.
Rev. Dr. Clyde Grubbs, a Unitarian Universalist minister who has served congregations around the country, was the first of two presenters during the event’s speaking program. He discussed the history of Native American colonization in the Americas, referencing the Doctrine of Discovery, a document that gave Europeans the right to conquer all “discovered” lands in the Americas.
Grubbs also pushed back on the misconceptions surrounding Indigenous Peoples Day, emphasizing that the celebration of Indigenous history should not be relegated to a single day.
“The movement for Indigenous Peoples Day is not simply about heritage. It isn’t simply to say ‘this is the time to appreciate Indigenous heritage or culture,’” Grubbs said. “The movement for Indigenous Peoples Day is about overcoming racism, as Columbus is a symbol of violence and conquest.”
The final speaker of the event was artist Nayana LaFond, who spoke of the origins and impact of her internationally acclaimed “Portraits in Red,” a series of 110 black, red and white portraits depicting missing or murdered Indigenous people and their loved ones. Initially becoming involved in this work while under quarantine during the Covid-19 pandemic, LaFond said although Brookline and Massachusetts may seem separated from the crisis, it actually hits close to home.
“Human trafficking is a huge problem in Indigenous communities, specifically because it is known that people don’t come looking for us when we go missing. We’re an easy target, especially in Nebraska and Montana where this is a huge issue,” LaFond said. “But it also happens here. In Boston, there has been an investigation for the last seven years of a human trafficking ring. So it’s everywhere, and it’s affecting all of our communities, but especially the Indigenous community.”
LaFond also said despite the difficulties and pain attached to her work, she finds it necessary to spotlight and raise awareness of the stories of missing or killed Indigenous women.
“Every time I want to quit, I hear somebody tell me what an impact I’ve made. A couple of weeks ago, I got word that one of the missing women I painted was found as a result of the awareness-raising I was doing,” LaFond said. “It’s like the Creator telling me, ‘You cannot quit. You must go on.’ That’s what keeps me coming back.”
