Dover commits to honor lives of its first inhabitants: 'Untold history'

DOVER — As the city looks to celebrate its 400th year, it also seeks to formally recognize the history and legacy of the peoples who first inhabited the land more than 33,000 residents now call home.

Before the green flag of the Cowasuck Band of the Pennacook-Abenaki People was raised in front of City Hall Wednesday night, the city’s land proclamation was read,  acknowledging the history of Dover’s settlement in 1623 and how it displaced Indigenous populations.

The ceremony came days before Dover will celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day on Monday, Oct. 10, a holiday that in recent years became recognized in a number of communities in New Hampshire.

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Paul and Denise Pouliot, the Sag8mo and Sag8moskwa (speakers) of the Cowasuck Band of the Pennacook and Abenaki People, performed a traditional song that echoed through the halls of City Hall, and explained the symbolism of the flag.

“This flag tells our whole story,” Paul Pouliot said, pointing to each element on the flag and explaining its significance. The Cowasuck Band of the Pennacook and Abenaki People, which were in part based in the Dover area, remain in the region today.

The Dover City Council's Ad Hoc Committee on Racial Equity and Inclusion has been working for the last year, brainstorming ways Dover can be more inclusive and respectful. Last year, the City Council adopted a land acknowledgment statement, first proposed by the Racial Equity and Inclusion Committee. It was first read publicly at a city event during last year’s Cowasuck Band of the Pennacook-Abenaki People flag raising.

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Paul Pouliot said the flag raising and land acknowledgement means a lot to them.

“These things are symbolic, and recognize that our presence is still here,” Paul Pouliot said.

Denise Pouliot added, “It’s fantastic to see this recognition spreading, taking hold in communities and engaging communities in our history.”

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On Sept. 28, the City Council voted to accept $10,000 from the New Hampshire Humanities Community Project Grants for the city’s Indigenous peoples initiative.

The grant continues the work of the Racial Equity and Inclusion Committee. The committee suggested the city use the grant money to purchase plaques for municipal buildings with the land acknowledgement engraved on it. The city also plans to use the grant to host a series of public presentations and online accessible resources on the Indigenous peoples and their history in the region.

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Kathleen Blake, a member of the city’s Racial Equity and Inclusion Committee and former chair of the New Hampshire Commission on Native American Affairs, said the city’s committee continues to meet with school officials, the library and Woodman Institute on increasing awareness of the first peoples who lived in Dover. As part of this goal, the city will publish a new web page titled “Indigenous Dover” dedicated to having this information accessible.

“We have to ensure the stories and history of this place are accurate,” Blake said. “The land acknowledgement was the first step in telling the story of the first peoples that called this place home."

Blake said few people realize the oldest known archaeological site showing human habitation in the state of New Hampshire was carbon dated and more than 12,800 years old.

“When the Indigenous of the Northeast first arrived they were following the ice melt and caribou that moved with it,” Blake said. “You think of 12,800 years — that’s before Stonehenge, before the pyramids. There’s a lot of untold history here. We are not trying to rewrite history, we are trying to share the untold stories of this place.”

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Indigenous Peoples' Day in Dover

The Dover City Council voted in 2020 to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day. This change was made by a number of New Hampshire communities before that time (such as Durham in 2017) and since (such as Portsmouth adding the holiday in 2021 and removing Columbus Day entirely this year).

Mayor Bob Carrier read a proclamation before the flag raising Wednesday, formally announcing Monday will be again recognized as Indigenous Peoples Day. The proclamation acknowledged the "trauma created by violence, hatred and oppression" that the Indigenous peoples of this land endured, and sought to honor "the courageous actions of Indigenous peoples to rise above these tragic challenges and maintain their cherished ways and beliefs."

Carrier also said in the proclamation that Indigenous Peoples Day is an opportunity to: reflect on the ongoing struggles of Indigenous people and celebrate their thriving culture.

Dover's land acknowledgement statement

This (event/meeting) takes place at Cocheco (CO-chi-co) on N’dakinna (n-DA-ki-na), now called Dover, New Hampshire, which is the unceded traditional ancestral homeland of the Abenaki (a-BEN-a-ki), Pennacook and Wabanaki Peoples, past and present. We acknowledge and honor with gratitude the land, waterways, living beings, and the Aln8bak (Al-nuh-bak), the people who have stewarded N’dakinna (n-DA-ki-na) for many millennia.

This article originally appeared on Fosters Daily Democrat: Dover NH raises flag, honors Indigenous Peoples' Day