Residents of Newburyport are reportedly pushing for the change of the Massachusetts seal and flag, claiming that it is “problematic and helps promote the state’s racist history”.
This comes after a number of towns in the state managed to have Columbus Day changed to Indigenous People Day.
Residents in Newburyport rallying for the change of flag and seal of Massachusetts have argued that the current picture of a Native American represents a racist history, thus not shedding enough light on the real culture.
Meaning of Massachusetts state seal and motto
The Massachusetts state seal and flag consist of a picture of a Native American with a hand grasping a Colonial sword over his head.
Meanwhile, the motto, which is in Latin, reads, “Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem”, which means: “She seeks by the sword a quiet place under liberty.”
The current state seal is said to date back to 1898, and the hand is believed to represent colonial military leader Myles Standish while signifying the philosophy that one would rather lose the right arm than live under tyranny.
The Native American figure is seen to be holding a bow and arrow in one hand and the face of the man is remodeled on a photo of Thomas Little Shell, a Chippewa leader who apparently never resided in Massachusetts.
One resident of Newburyport, Linda Lu Burciaga, told the New York Post that the belt seen on the figure of the native American was “patterned by the illustrator after the red flannel belt of (Wampanoag leader) Metacomet, who was the leader of the first native war of resistance against English colonization.”
Picture on the flag viewed as problematic
Newburyport council reportedly received a resolution, seeking support for the work of the Special Commission Relative to the Seal and Motto of the Commonwealth in replacing the state flag to be more inclusive and represent diversity.
Read Related Also: Baltimore: not one student at these 23 schools can do math at grade level
They are of the opinion that the image of a Native American man with a “white hand” over his head is problematic and promotes “white supremacy”.
Pushing the agenda of focusing on Native American culture in schools, Linda said: “This is not just a symbolic ‘Get rid of the state seal and flag’ or ‘Change Columbus Day to Indigenous People’s Day’ thing.
“This also includes something that we should be doing for the rest of our lives, including education.”
The current flag of Massachusetts was adopted by the state in 1971.
When is Indigenous People’s Day in 2023?
Indigenous People’s Day is observed annually on the second Monday of October, and in 2023, it falls on October 9. It was proclaimed in the U.S. in 2021.
Columbus Day, on the other hand, marks the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the Americas in October 1492 and was first observed in 1792.
Before Indigenous People’s Day was officially proclaimed by Joe Biden as an official holiday, it was first celebrated in South Dakota in 1989.
A number of states have replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day, including Arizona, California, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Washington.
In other news, Three Indiana Jones 2023 lego sets leak online ahead of new film release
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)
{if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};
if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;
n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,script’,
‘
fbq(‘init’, ‘677672980820926’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);
