Mayor seeks repeal of anti-Indian law
Passed during bitter colonial war
Native American Times and Associated Press
11/24/2004

Officials in Boston are working to formally repeal an archaic, centuries old law that mandates the arrest of any American Indian that enters the city.

The Boston Indian Imprisonment Act was passed in 1675 during the King Philip's War, which was essentially a battle between colonists and the Wampanoag Tribe. Obviously, it has not been enforced for many years.

The Boston City Council passed a resolution in favor of repeal last year, but the final action must be taken by the state Legislature.

It was the colonial Legislature, the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, that approved the statute on Oct. 13, 1675.

Boston Mayor Tom Menino has filed a home rule petition, setting the legislative process in motion.

"It's time to make things right," Menino said in a statement. "Together, we'll send the message that hatred and discrimination have no place in Boston."

Menino, who made his announcement the day before Thanksgiving, noted that November is American Indian History and Heritage Month.

According to a history of the Wampanoag, Massachusetts divided the tribe’s lands in 1842 and ended tribal status in 1870, but the Wampanoag reorganized as the Wampanoag Nation in 1928. There are currently five organized bands: Assonet, Gay Head, Herring Pond, Mashpee, and Namasket. All have petitioned for federal and state recognition, but only the 600-member Gay Head were successful, achieving that goal in 1987. The courts turned down the 2,200-member strong Mashpee in 1978.