PHOTO: Nippauush Boisvert of the Narragansett Tribe performs a dance for the audience at Newton’s Indigenous Peoples Day celebration on Oct. 9, 2023. Photo by Bryan McGonigle
Newton will have its fourth annual Indigenous Peoples Day Ceremonial Celebration on Oct. 14 at Albemarle Field.
The festival will run from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and attendance is free and open to the public.
This year, the theme is “Honoring Our Mothers” and the celebration will recognize “the vital role of both the matriarchs who nurture our communities and Mother Earth who sustains us all,” Christa Rose, Indigenous Peoples Day Newton communications manager, said. “Our Celebration welcomes people of all ages and features an exciting array of activities, including engaging speakers, traditional dancers, activities for youth, live art demonstrations, and cultural presenters.”
Bring your appetite and your sense of wonder. There will be more than 70 local Indigenous vendors offering food, art and other products.
As with years past, the Indigenous Peoples Day Celebration will have accommodations for people with disabilities, including wheelchair access, ALS interpreters and a sensory-friendly area.
Newton’s City Council voted in November 2020 to change Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day, in honor of Native American peoples and cultures. The next year, the Indigenous Peoples Day Newton held its first celebration.
Native Americans have occupied what is now New England for thousands of years. Much of eastern Massachusetts and the land Newton stands on was inhabited by Wampanoag and Massachusett tribes.
European settlers of the 17th century lived alongside Native Americans and worked out land sales and treaties with them, but the Europeans also brought illnesses that the natives had no immunity to, like smallpox and cattle-borne viruses, and pandemics ravaged indigenous communities. Then more settlers arrived from Europe and eventually displaced native families and tribes to reservations.
In recent years, communities across the country have been adding Indigenous Peoples Day to their calendars, many in place of Columbus Day.
For more information on Newton’s festival, visit the Indigenous Peoples Day Newton website.