Dear Friends and Supporters of Indigenous Rights,
Now that Indigenous Peoples Month has come and gone, it seems that our hopes have been dashed that Governor Maura Healey would adhere to the timeline of the law she signed into effect in July to dutifully appoint an advisory commission to design a new flag and seal for Massachusetts.
Governor Healey was supposed to have made those appointments by September. In the middle of that month, we heard positive words from her team that the Governor was moving ahead to make those appointments.
But two more months have passed, and still there is no news.
It would be a good way to acknowledge the passing of Indigenous Peoples Month if all of us who support changing the flag and seal sent a brief email or called Governor Healey’s office now, urging her to swiftly appoint the advisory commission to design a new flag and seal.
We have waited decades for the legislative process to bring us this far. It is way past time for the flag and seal to be changed.
The sight of our state symbol – a settler’s hand holding a sword over the head of an Indigenous figure, with a Latin motto, “She Seeks a Quiet Peace Under the Sword” – has been a longstanding offense to all of us in Massachusetts who care about justice for Native people. Native leaders have been steadfastly calling for our flag and seal to be changed for more than 50 years. Today, Massachusetts is the last state in the country still flying a flag of overt white supremacy. Eighty two cities and towns in Massachusetts have taken formal votes in support of a new state flag and seal.
Please urge the governor to do what she has promised. She campaigned on pledges to remove barriers of systemic racism and promote the ideals of justice and equity. She has promised to move ahead with creation of a new state flag and seal.
In this moment of national reckoning, Massachusetts needs to take a clear and unambiguous stand for Indigenous rights, racial justice, and harmony between all the people who now share this land. Please take a moment today to email or call Governor Maura Healey with this message.
Governor’s Office, Boards and Commissions
Massachusetts State House, 24 Beacon St. Room 271-M; Boston, MA 02133
617-725-4010 / appointments.governor@mass.gov
Appoint the advisory committee to design a new flag and seal for Massachusetts. A settler’s hand holding a sword over the head of an Indigenous figure is not a symbol we should be teaching to our grade school children. Please see this work through to completion, so that the Commonwealth may have a new state flag and seal that stands for true peace, justice, harmony and equity between all people who now call Massachusetts home.