Embedded Files
Steven Yazzie (Diné/Pueblo of Laguna, New Mexico/European descent), Orchestrating a Blooming Desert, 2003, oil on canvas, Collection of Christy Vezolles. Image: courtesy of the Heard Museum, photo by Craig Smith
Other Resources
Other Resources
General
Massachusetts Center for Native American Awareness
A statewide organization dedicated to the preservation of Native American traditions. MCNAA assists Native American residents of MA with basic needs and educational expenses, advances public knowledge and understanding of Native American culture, and works towards racial equality by addressing inequities across the region.
ICT is an independent, nonprofit multimedia news enterprise. Their mission is to honor their ancestors and future generations through stories that make Indigenous peoples come alive. Originally founded as the Lakota Times newspaper based in South Dakota, ICT news now covers stories nationwide.
North American Indian Center of Boston
NAICOB is the oldest urban Indian center in Massachusetts, originally established in 1969 as the Boston Indian Council. NAICOB's mission is to empower the Native American community with the goal of improving the quality of life of Indigenous peoples. They offer a myriad of services, including food assistance, youth programs, educational and employment support, and more.
Indigenous Peoples Day in Wellesley
The Committee for Indigenous Peoples Day Wellesley is a suborganization of "World of Wellesley". Their mission is to center and support Indigenous communities and initiatives through collaboration, education, policy advocacy, and resource redistribution.
United American Indians of New England
UAINE is a Native-led organization of Native people and supporters who fight back against racism and for the freedom of Leonard Peltier and other political prisoners. They currently have four main campaigns: 1. To abolish Columbus Day and establish Indigenous Peoples Day, 2. The Massachusetts Indigenous Agenda which works to support legislation that will benefit Indigenous Peoples, 3. Free Leonard Peltier, and 4. Mascots, a MA Indigenous Legislative Agenda campaign in support of legislation to prohibit Native American mascots in Massachusetts public schools.
A Title V Indian Health Services contracted Urban Indian Health Program serving the Baltimore and Boston metropolitan areas. Their mission is to promote health and social resiliency within Urban American Indian communities. They apply principles of trauma informed care to provide culturally centered behavioral health, dental, outreach, and referral services.
Nature
An Indigenous-led land conservation nonprofit with a mission to preserve and restore healthy landscapes for all living things wherever possible. Based in Mashpee, MA, the Native Land Conservancy combines their goals of land rescue and cultural preservation in a variety of initiatives across the country.
Eastern Woodlands Rematriation
A grassroots collective led entirely by indigenous two-spirits, indigequeer, womxn and tribal families of what is now known as "New England". EWR operates as a mutual support network for tribal food producers, farmers, medicine keepers, fisher folk, and hunters. Their initiatives provide capacity building, infrastrucutre, technical support, and formation spaces for coordinated political organizing which enhances and safekeeps sacred sites and land use, gardens, and more.
A non-profit organization co-founded by Wellesley alum Courtney Streett that is dedicated to celebrating Native American cultures, protecting open space, cultivating a public garden, and practicing sustainable agriculture. Based in Delaware, Native Roots Farm Foundation has a mission to reclaim, cultivate, and celebrate Native relationships with land, plants, and community for the next Seven Generations.
Based in Boulder, CO, Native Women's Wilderness has a mission to inspire and raise the voices of Native Women in the outdoor realm. They encourage a healthy lifestyle within the Wilderness and provide education of the Ancestral Lands and its People. They also support the #MMIW (Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women) project, which aims to provide a breadth of statistics related to violence inflicted on Indigenous women and girls.
Art
Native Arts and Cultures Foundation
A Native-led nonprofit dedicated exclusively to the perpetuation of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian arts and cultures nationwide. NACF advances equity and cultural knowledge, focusing on the power of arts and collaboration to strengthen Native communities and promote positive social change.
A series of cultural festivals, organized by Cultural Survival (an Indigenous-led NGO and nonprofit that supports Indigenous communities worldwide), that provide Indigenous artists, artisans, cooperatives, and their representatives from around the world the chance to sell their work directly to the public. Each event features traditional and contemporary arts, clothing, jewelry, home goods, live music, storytelling, craft-making demonstrations, and cultural presentations.
Further Reading
Indigenous Texts compilation by Megan Tipler. Find recommendations of fiction, non-fiction, picture books, graphic novels, and podcasts for all ages.
Maps
ArcGIS Map of Indigenous Land in what is now known as Wellesley.
Native Land Digital shows Indigenous land in an interactive 3D map of the world.
Wellesley College Botanic Gardens
Wellesley College Botanic Gardens
Land Acknowledgment & Relationship
Land Acknowledgment & Relationship
As a 20+ acre campus botanic garden, we affirm Wellesley College's land acknowledgment:
We recognize the many Indigenous peoples who have rich histories on this land, and we acknowledge the many Indigenous people who live, work, and study at Wellesley and in Massachusetts. Our land acknowledgement recognizes the long history of racism and oppression in the United States and strives to uplift the contemporary lives of Indigenous peoples.
We acknowledge that Wellesley College is built on ancestral and traditional land of the Massachusett people. We also recognize that the United States’ removal, termination, and assimilation policies and practices resulted in the forced settlement of Indigenous lands and the attempted erasure of Indigenous cultures and languages. We further acknowledge the oppression, injustices, and discrimination that Indigenous people have endured, and that there is much work to be done on the important journey to reconciliation. We commit to strengthen our understanding of the history and contemporary lives of Indigenous peoples and to steward this land.
We further recognize the many Indigenous people living here today - including the Massachusett, Wampanoag, and Nipmuc nations - who have rich ancestral histories in Wellesley and its surrounding communities. Today, their descendants remind us that they are still here, where they maintain a vital and visible presence. We honor and respect the enduring relationship between these peoples and this land, as well as the strength of Indigenous culture and knowledge, the continued existence of tribal soverignty, and the principle of tribal self-determination.*
Wellesley College Botanic Gardens invites everyone to participate in strengthening our collective understanding of this land, encompassing its history, challenges, and the diversity of life it includes. Hands-on learning with plants and land empowers people to develop relationships of reciprocity and contribute to the care of this land, to recognize that they are part of it, and to take these lessons with them. We recognize that decolonization, antiracism, and environmental justice are deeply needed in the fields of botany, ecology, and land care, and commit to continued learning and change.
*Thanks to the Native American & Indigenous Students Association who worked with college leaders to develop this statement and actionable steps toward Indigenous rights advocacy.
Wellesley College Botanic Gardens
Open Hours:
Tuesday & Thursday 12pm - 4pm
Sunday 10am - 3pm
Address: 106 Central Street, Wellesley, MA 02481
Phone: (781) 283-3094
Email: wcbg@wellesley.edu
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