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Acknowledge All of Our Past

Like many, I welcome the beautiful signs now installed on major roads into town. They enhance community identity and pride and are an upbeat gesture for those visiting. But I have a concern that hits me every time I pass one of them. It relates to the one-line message underneath the main placard, which reads “Settled 1641, Incorporated 1826”. A casual drive-by reader would conclude that our town depicts its history as starting in 1641, with nothing relevant having happened until then. We know, though, that what is now Madison had been inhabited for thousands of years by indigenous people named the Hammonassets.

The Hammonassets are no longer with us, owing to disease, war, and displacement. But an acknowledgment that they were here and did steward our beautiful corner of the world before it was settled by Europeans would be a way of reasserting the role of native peoples in what is now Madison. Even better, if such an acknowledgment is done in collaboration with our schools, other local institutions, and indigenous institutions in the state, it would open opportunities to enhance knowledge, historical accuracy, and cultural awareness among our residents. A sign is no place for a lengthy land acknowledgment, of course. But a simple change at minimal cost would accomplish the purpose of recognition. Why not add one line between the main sign and the “Settled” board that reads something like “Hammonasset territory.”

I have proposed a change of this nature to the Board of Selectmen and hope they would initiate public consultation on it. It’s time that our welcome signs acknowledge all of our past.

Stephen Davis

Madison