Week 2

https://www.britannica.com/topic/flag-of-Massachusetts

The Massachusetts state flag depicts the form of a Native American standing within a blue shield accompanied by a silver star. The silver star represents statehood as well as the arm with the sword pictured above the shield. The Latin saying around the edge of the blue shield means, “by the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty”. This flag serves as an interesting memorial of the history of the Massachusett tribes as they fought, for well over a century, for their rights and liberties. Although during some periods of time they were accepted into the statehood, tribes, such as the Mashpees, had to revolt numerous times in order to obtain the things necessary for survival, such as land and hunting rights. 

The Massachusett tribes believed in, what I would refer to, as raw liberty. They believed that, not only themselves, but also animals, had an innate liberty which demanded respect. Anglo-Saxon colonists believed in an earned liberty; although they preached the opposite. Humans had to earn the right to survival and animals were considered property. This is represented in the section of the Latin motto on the flag of “by the sword we seek peace”. 

Some issues the Massachusett tribe faced were withstanding foreign diseases brought over by the colonists, maintaining trade treaties between tribes and neighboring colonists as well as limiting the violence between the two when misunderstandings occurred. All of these issues are very important as they directly impacted the population size and well-being of the tribesmen and women. 

I would choose to memorialize the first occupants, the Native American tribes of the Neponset and others, by creating a monument somewhere in Harvard Square that represents the connection of the tribes with the land. I would want to statue to focus particularly on the intricate relationship between the tribesmen and the animals of the land because these connections were too difficult to translate into the English language but perhaps they could be represented through art. 



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