SmokeSygnals

10/10/2026

We’ve heard the question asked: Why is the Wampanoag story being told first?

I think the better question is: How do we use this process to create more space for other Indigenous communities to tell their own stories?

The White Pine Gathering Circle was never meant to be the only Indigenous monument in Boston. It was meant to be a beginning.

We piloted a process with Wampanoag communities where the story, meaning, and design were shaped by the people closest to it. That process worked, and now the hope is to share it, build on it, and help create more opportunities for other Indigenous communities to shape public space in ways that reflect their own histories, responsibilities, and futures.

Being first should not be about taking up all the space. It should be about opening the door.

The monument would include imagery from a Wampanoag creation story about Moshop the giant and the Pukwudgie, a small, mischevious people.

10/07/2026

Lorèn and the entire team at Tomaquag Museum put so much thought and care into working through this difficult history and making every bit of the exhibit space count.

If you can, head to Mystic Seaport Museum on October 10 to hear the talk about the exhibit and the questions it raises about freedom and Indigenous sovereignty. Hope you can make it!

10/06/2026

We’re excited to see WBUR sharing the story of the White Pine Gathering Circle and the Wampanoag voices shaping its design.

This may become Boston’s first permanent Indigenous monument, but it should not be the last. We hope this community-led process creates a path for more Tribes and Indigenous organizations to tell their own stories in public spaces.

Join us for the public design unveiling on Sunday, October 18, from 2:00 to 4:00 PM at Scarboro Hill in Franklin Park.

Read the story:
https://www.wbur.org/news/2026/10/06/massachusetts-indigenous-monument-roxbury-franklin-park-scarboro-hill

09/12/2026

Meet us at Indigenous Peoples Day Newton!

We’ll be sharing the White Pine Gathering Circle, a Wampanoag-designed monument proposed for Franklin Park in Boston.

Stop by our table to see the design, learn about the story behind the monument, and meet the project team.

Monday, October 12, 2026
11:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Albemarle Field, Newton
Free and open to the public

Event details: https://www.ipdnewton.org/celebration

Discover the White Pine Gathering Circle, a community-driven Wampanoag monument proposed for Boston, and meet the project team at Indigenous Peoples Day Newton.

08/04/2026

Wampanoag Tribal members and families are invited to help shape the White Pine Gathering Circle, a Wampanoag-designed monument proposed for Boston.

SmokeSygnals has been working with the Wampanoag Consulting Alliance and the City of Boston through a community-driven process to develop the monument’s story and design. We are now ready to share the selected design with Tribal communities and gather feedback before it returns to the advisory committee for final review.

Join us at one of two Community Design Unveiling and Feedback Sessions to see the monument design, learn about the story and process behind it, ask questions, and help guide its final development.

Thursday, August 20 at 5:00 PM
Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribe Meeting House
Bournedale, Massachusetts
Held just before Herring Pond Cultural Night.

Thursday, August 27 at 5:00 PM
Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head
Aquinnah, Martha’s Vineyard

Both sessions are open to Mashpee, Aquinnah, and Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribal members and their families. Food will be provided, and door prizes will feature artwork by Wampanoag artists Hartman Deetz and Ryan Derby.

Come see what the community has created and help shape the final design.

Learn more online at

SmokeSygnals has been working with the Wampanoag Consulting Alliance and the City of Boston through a community-driven process to develop the White Pine Gathering Circle, a Wampanoag-designed monument proposed for Franklin Park in Boston.

09/30/2025

We made a few waves with the Tomaquag Museum at the Water Fire Festival last weekend. The launch of the dugout was terrific, and the new home at the Museum is perfect.

09/01/2025

Be part of history as SmokeSygnals completes the final burn of a traditional dugout canoe on-site at the Tomaquag Museum. The public is welcome to watch this incredible process (Museum open 10–2).

03/28/2025

Our work will continue because failure is not an option.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday aiming to eliminate what the it calls “anti-American” content from museums and parks, sources told ABC News.

02/10/2025

01/22/2025

This administration may not see the value in DEI, but we do. We know the value of new perspectives, opinions, beliefs, and genders. We see the value in every DEI employee relieved of duty today and feel for them deeply and personally. We see the value in the relationships we've built with our federal government partners and the great work we've done to amplify communities of color over the past four years. We understand the fear of a future under a hostile administration because of a status - women-owned, native-owned, disadvantaged business - that we will continue to carry proudly. All this has done today is reaffirm why we must work harder and longer to build our story in our voice.

Trump has called the diversity and inclusion programs “discrimination” and insisted on restoring strictly “merit-based” hiring.