Mascots that depict and symbolize Native figures and heritage do not honor the culture of Indigenous peoples but rather objectify and dehumanize them. Native American mascots often reduce the rich and diverse cultures of Indigenous peoples to inaccurate and degrading caricatures that perpetuate harmful stereotypes. In addition to being culturally insensitive, they often don't seek approval or input from Indigenous communities contributing to a lack of accurate representation in these cultures.

Indigenous Peoples Day is about more than a name change; it’s a refusal to allow the genocide of millions of Indigenous peoples to go unnoticed, and a demand for recognition of Indigenous humanity. Recognizing this day in place of what’s currently known as “Columbus Day” is a way to correct false histories, honor Indigenous peoples, and begin to correct some of the countless wrongs committed against Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island (what’s now known as the Americas).

Words have meanings; words control who and what we think about, and this has implications on our actions. If we continue to erase Indigenous peoples, and celebrate a colonizer (Christopher Columbus) instead, that will have a direct impact on the ways Indigenous peoples are treated. If we can’t even so much as celebrate the first peoples of this land, and not the person responsible for the largest genocide ever committed, then how can we expect good public policy or day to day treatment for Native Americans?

[Excerpted from Indigenous Peoples Day MA]

All of what we know today as Massachusetts is built upon land stolen from Indigenous people. 

• Find whose land your reside on at: https://native-land.ca/
• So-called Massachusetts includes land historically belonging to the following tribes (among others):
• • Agawam
  • Massachusett
  • Mohican
  • Nahaganset
  • Naumkeag
  • Nipmuc
  • Nonotuck
  • Pawtucket
  • Pocumtuc
  • Pokanoket
  • Sakonnet
  • Wabanaki
  • Wampanoag
• Tribes active in MA:
• • Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe
  • ​Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribe 
  • Mashantuckett Pequot Tribal Nation
  • Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe
  • Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut
  • Narragansett Indian Tribe
  • Nipmuc Indian Association of Connecticut
  • Nipmuc Nation Tribal Council
  • Nipmuck Council of Chaubunagungamaug
  • Passamaquoddy Tribe
  • Pocasset Wampanoag Tribe

In light of inaction at the state and federal levels, some towns and cities in MA have already passed their own local ordinances to formally recognize the second Monday of October as Indigenous People’s Day.

Towns that have adopted Indigenous Peoples Day: Amherst, Aquinnah, Arlington, Bedford, Belmont, Boston,  Brookline, Cambridge, Easthampton, Falmouth, Grafton, Great Barrington, Harvard, Holyoke, Marblehead, Mashpee, Maynard, Melrose, Newton, Northampton, Provincetown, Salem, Somerville, Stow, and Wellesley

The terminology used to describe American Indian people has changed over the years, as have the people that are recognized by state and federal governments as being American Indian. The terms that are often used today include American Indian, Native American, Indigenous, Indian, First Peoples, Aboriginal, and First Nations. Typically, First Nations is used to describe American Indian people in Canada and Aboriginal is used to describe the Native people of Australia. The Native people of Alaska have been recognized as Alaska Native by the federal government since 1971. Native Hawaiians, are the most recent Native population to be included in federal programs made available to American Indians although they are not federally recognized as a tribe. On this website, you will find the various terms that describe Indigenous peoples used interchangeably or used together. We do this to respect the terminology that different tribes and people use to describe themselves.

We honor Indigenous people who may or may not be part of a federally recognized or state recognized tribe, as well as the peoples whose tribes have been split by the U.S.-Canada border and the U.S.-Mexico border. All Indigenous people are welcome at the North American Indian Center of Boston.

[Excerpted from the North American Indian Center of Boston]