By Peyton Dauley
Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem: “By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty.”
While this motto may seem strong and resilient to unknowing readers, it associates with a statewide controversy that, until recently, hadn’t caught the attention of many Mashpee residents. With new petitions passed by the town government, however, you may be seeing it more than ever.
Does it sound familiar? Unless you are versed in Latin and state flags, it’s unlikely that you have ever noticed the Massachusetts motto, less so likely that you knew it’s meaning. However, it has been surrounding all of us Massachusetts residents since the first banners flew in Plymouth colony, and is even present on the Mashpee town seal.
While this motto may seem strong and resilient to unknowing readers, it associates with a statewide controversy that, until recently, hadn’t caught the attention of many Mashpee residents. With new petitions passed by the town government, however, you may be seeing it more than ever.
Does it sound familiar? Unless you are versed in Latin and state flags, it’s unlikely that you have ever noticed the Massachusetts motto, less so likely that you knew it’s meaning. However, it has been surrounding all of us Massachusetts residents since the first banners flew in Plymouth colony, and is even present on the Mashpee town seal.
This motto was adopted in 1775 by a colonial Congress, alongside our coat of arms. It’s the coat of arms that you may be more familiar with. From a distance, you may recognize the state seal on flags or official documents. The Latin motto surrounds the image of a Native American, seemingly looking off somewhere above as he turns down his bow and arrow.
As you look closer, and learn more of Massachusetts history, the peaceful interpretation of the Native American becomes more complicated. Over his head is an arm, seemingly brandishing or swinging a sword. And while this may simply be a symbol of strength, the context of colonial violence toward Native Americans at the time of the seal’s approval makes this less than probable.
Some have even speculated that the sword present on both the town and state seals belongs to Myles Standish, an English military official famous for his leading of Plymouth colony, and infamous for his attitude toward Native Americans.
This image, combined with our sword-glamorizing catchphrase, may just idealize history in the wrong way as we try to commit to progress within the movement of Native American awareness. And it’s not just the state seal we should worry about: In Mashpee, there’s a very similar, and pressing, issue.
Unlike its Cape colleagues, Mashpee has barely drafted its own seal, instead deciding to take on a slightly edited rendition of the state seal. These edits weren’t enough. The town’s official stamp displays practically the same exact image, with some light artistic interpretations. But the sword-holding arm over the Native American is still there.
The Mashpee town seal was approved on April 10, 1899. Outdated and untested, the seal stood to abide by the state’s guidelines, in an attempt to represent Mashpee’s population and history. This seal was crafted in a response to a new Massachusetts law that would, as deemed by the Governor, “provide for the establishment of city and town seals,” (stated by a Senate journal from 1899).
This seal has never truly represented our region’s population or history whatsoever. Instead of focusing on the multitude of landmarks Mashpee has to offer as significant to the town, it instead depicts an extremely negative aspect of Massachusetts’ founding, and in a glorified way. Though subtle, the survival of this seal until this year raises questions of how much progress has truly been made in recovering from the bloody beginning of our state.
The Native American community of Massachusetts has been fighting for a change in the state seal for years. In 2010, the state commission on Indian Affairs voted unanimously in support of legislation that would change the state seal, according to a Cape Cod Times article published that year. “The sword over the Indian’s head is horrific,” said Executive Director Jim Peters in the same article.
Despite this, no formal proposal has been approved to draft a new state seal. As for Mashpee's seal, no petition for a change was presented to town government until a meeting this past May.
Member of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Brian Weeden submitted a petition that called for the redesign of the seal at the May Town Meeting, and it was approved. Alongside the decision to change Mashpee’s seal, Weeden also successfully proposed celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day rather than Columbus Day in the town.
“It feels rewarding,” Weeden said after the vote in a statement to Cape News. “I think that it speaks volumes that the only Indian tribe on the Cape is rewriting our history.”
The changing of the town seal signifies progress and within Mashpee. Although some aren’t satisfied with the change, supporters hope it will assist in moving toward Native American awareness within the town, and away from our state’s negative past.
By designating our documents, police cars, and town hall with a redesigned and revamped official seal, Mashpee would join a growing movement advocating for progress and awareness of Native American history. Therefore we should support this change, and encourage officials to complete the transition as quickly as possible.
If we can change the town seal, soon maybe the state seal can be modified as well. In doing so, Massachusetts would become a forefront state in the effort to address and progress from our past, and would join a lengthening list of communities striving for the change they wish to see.
This seal has never truly represented our region’s population or history whatsoever. Instead of focusing on the multitude of landmarks Mashpee has to offer as significant to the town, it instead depicts an extremely negative aspect of Massachusetts’ founding, and in a glorified way. Though subtle, the survival of this seal until this year raises questions of how much progress has truly been made in recovering from the bloody beginning of our state.
The Native American community of Massachusetts has been fighting for a change in the state seal for years. In 2010, the state commission on Indian Affairs voted unanimously in support of legislation that would change the state seal, according to a Cape Cod Times article published that year. “The sword over the Indian’s head is horrific,” said Executive Director Jim Peters in the same article.
Despite this, no formal proposal has been approved to draft a new state seal. As for Mashpee's seal, no petition for a change was presented to town government until a meeting this past May.
Member of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Brian Weeden submitted a petition that called for the redesign of the seal at the May Town Meeting, and it was approved. Alongside the decision to change Mashpee’s seal, Weeden also successfully proposed celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day rather than Columbus Day in the town.
“It feels rewarding,” Weeden said after the vote in a statement to Cape News. “I think that it speaks volumes that the only Indian tribe on the Cape is rewriting our history.”
The changing of the town seal signifies progress and within Mashpee. Although some aren’t satisfied with the change, supporters hope it will assist in moving toward Native American awareness within the town, and away from our state’s negative past.
By designating our documents, police cars, and town hall with a redesigned and revamped official seal, Mashpee would join a growing movement advocating for progress and awareness of Native American history. Therefore we should support this change, and encourage officials to complete the transition as quickly as possible.
If we can change the town seal, soon maybe the state seal can be modified as well. In doing so, Massachusetts would become a forefront state in the effort to address and progress from our past, and would join a lengthening list of communities striving for the change they wish to see.