posted on 10/8/2021
Mayor Robert Carrier joined leaders of the Cowasuck Band of the Pennacook-Abenaki People, Committee for Racial Equity and Inclusion members, other elected officials and members of the public for a flag-raising ceremony Friday, Oct. 8 in honor of Indigenous People's Day in the City of Dover on Monday, Oct. 11.
Denise Pouliot, the Sag8moskwa (head female speaker), and Paul Pouliot, the Sag8mo (head male speaker/grand chief) of the Cowasuck Band of the Pennacook-Abenaki People, led the song after the Dennis Pouliot raised the flag.
Carrier then read the City Council's proclamation declaring the second Monday in October to be Indigenous People’s Day within the City of Dover, followed by the land acknowledgment statement the City Council adopted in June. The Committee for Racial Equity and Inclusion brought forth and recommended the adoption of the land acknowledgment statement.
The land acknowledgment states:
“This (event/meeting) takes place at Cochecho (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.”
The flag will fly in front of City Hall through Tuesday, Oct. 12.
