ATHOL — Athol voters are being asked to place their town among the ranks of those municipalities that have thus far endorsed the effort to scrap Massachusetts’ state seal, an emblem that also adorns the flag of the Commonwealth. An article in support of the change will appear on the June 13 Annual Town Meeting warrant, placed there via citizens’ petition.
One of the organizers of the statewide effort, David Detmold of Montague, discussed the drive for change during the May 3 meeting of Athol’s Selectboard.
“A very similarly worded petition has already been approved now in 44 cities and towns across the Commonwealth, from Provincetown to the Berkshires,” Detmold explained. “We’re very pleased that folks in town were interested enough to take the time to place this on the warrant.
And (we’d) also like to note that your state representative, Susannah Whipps, has been one of the co-sponsors of the legislation that set up a special commission last year to invite Native leaders of the Commonwealth — from the Nipmuc, from the Massachusetts, and from the Wampanoag nation — to sit with state legislators and historians, and others appointed by the governor … to look at the current state symbol on the state seal and flag and to recommend changes to it.”
Detmold said the commission has given itself a deadline of December 2022 to report back to the Legislature. It’s possible, he added, that the deadline could be extended until March of next year.
Detmold said of the state seal, “This has been the subject of protests, particularly by indigenous people and their allies, for decades. If you look at it, it’s a white hand holding a Colonial broadsword, placed right above the head of a Native American, and it has a Latin motto underneath that says, ‘She seeks a quiet peace by the sword.’
“Many people, myself included, look at this as a symbol of past relations — that were certainly violent — between the colonial settlers and the native people. Athol clearly honors and recognizes its native history. You see it everywhere, including right on the dais here, where Pequoig is mentioned. And the Nipmuc are close by with us.”
Detmold then lobbied for Athol voters to add their town to the list of those that have expressed support for a change in the state seal.
“What we’re really hoping,” he continued, “is that Athol, at the upcoming Town Meeting, can weigh in on this historic process and say, ‘Is this the time to look at a symbol that could perhaps be more harmonious, and express our best ideals for peaceful relations going forward between all of the people who live in the Commonwealth today?’”
“Is there work on a new flag and how that would look?” asked board member Stephen Raymond.
“Fortunately, from my point of view,” Detmold responded, “when people say, ‘What would you like to see the flag changed to, or what would you want the new symbol to be?’ I can say here for the first time that we’re finally consulting the native people whose image we have used as our state symbol in one form or another since 1629, when the Puritans first came over.
“We’ve never really asked them before. So, I’m very much looking forward to seeing what their recommendations may be for how a design process can go forward. I don’t know the answer to your question but I do know that for the first time this is a process that I can truly support, and I hope the Athol Town Meeting voters may feel so inclined as well because we are actually asking native peoples what their idea might be.”
In response to a comment from board Chair Alan Dodge, Detmold noted that the commission studying a possible change in the state symbol includes not only representatives of Native American and state legislators, but also the Secretary of State, the director of the Massachusetts Historical Commission, and a representative of the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
“This seal and flag represents us to incoming tourists from around the country and around the world, and so we’d very much like it to be a welcoming one,” Detmold concluded.
Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com