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More than 70 new signs will be identified from 1st to 8th streets after the participatory budget line.
Example of a bilingual sign in the United States. Street signs designating Streets 1 through 8 in East Cambridge will include translations into the Massachusetts language.
After more than 2,500 Cambridge residents make their voices heard during a participatory budget vote in 2021, more than 70 new street signs in East Cambridge will include translations into the native Massachusetts language.
Cambridge resident Sage Carbone proposed a participatory budget item to add traditional Native translations to city signs, along with commemorating Native American sites in Cambridge with signs.
“Any representation is missing,” she said. Carbone is a member of the Northern Narragansett Indian Tribe of Rhode Island and is originally from Nipmuc, Massachusetts.
The signs, which will include English and Massachusetts for 1st through 8th streets in East Cambridge, will be at each intersection of those numbered streets. A group of volunteer Native scientists and city officials, including Carbone, will look at mock-ups of the marker next week in preparation for installation in the spring.
According to Carbone, translations would read “nekône taꝏmâôk” for the first street, with the following ordinal numbers such as “neese,” “neeshwe,” “yâwe,” “napanatashe,” “nequsuktashe,” “neesâusuktashe,” and “neeshwôsuktashe.” “.
She said there is a lack of inclusive events and Native American visibility in Cambridge.
“I hope this project also highlights some areas of improvement that need to be done and investment on the city side,” Carbone said. “There are at least three Native American-run cultural heritage centers in Boston, and none in Cambridge.”
It was approved in December 2021 as a combined project called the African American and Indigenous Historical Reckoning Project, which also looks to restore and expand the existing African American Heritage Trail at Cambridge.
The project received more than 2,500 votes from 7,000 voters, becoming one of seven projects funded in the city’s eighth participatory budgeting cycle.
The joint initiative received $180,000. This first phase, including new street signs, should cost less than $20,000, according to Sarah Burks of the Cambridge Historical Commission.
“We are committed to getting the project done, and we hope it makes people stop and think about the history of this area,” Birx said.
Friends of the project include the private non-profit History Cambridge.
“Traditionally, there has not been a lot of recognition of the people who occupied this space for thousands of years before it was colonized,” said Marieke Van Dam, the group’s executive director.
“The people of Cambridge don’t really know about history, but they want to know more, so we see an incredible need and thirst to learn more about this history,” she said.
Cambridge worked with Carbone, along with other Indigenous advocates, for their Indigenous Voices project.
“All the labels we have need to be rewritten and re-examined,” Van Dam said. “This is where we are. If we’re really explaining the history of a place, if we’re really talking about American history, we have to expand the narrative. We have to talk about more stories.”
Street signs are just the first phase of this budget line. Birx said there is sufficient funding for multiple phases of both projects.
While the Indigenous portion of the project is moving forward faster than the African American trail restoration, both are scheduled to work with historical markers with the remaining funds.
“When you look at current historical indicators, most of them either begin with white settlement and/or contain derogatory or incorrect statements about Native Americans,” Carbone said. “In order to make these changes, there needs to be a thorough audit of the signage and research on how to best display those dates.”
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The city of Cambridge, Massachusetts has introduced a new initiative to promote inclusivity and celebrate the heritage of Native American communities. The city has installed street signs that include both English and Native American translations, acknowledging the indigenous people who have called the area home for centuries. This groundbreaking move signals a commitment to honoring and recognizing the history and culture of Native American tribes, and sets a positive example for other communities to follow.