HAWLEY — Residents adopted all but one of the 25 warrant articles at Annual Town Meeting on Monday.

Thirty of the town’s 260 registered voters convened at the Town Office to have their voices heard on issues ranging from the omnibus budget to the Mohawk Trail Regional School District agreement to a resolution supporting a commission’s efforts to change the state’s official seal and motto, which is the only article they shot down. Moderator Scott Purinton ran the meeting, which lasted about an hour and adjourned at 8:01 p.m.

State seal

The lengthiest discussion of the evening pertained to the citizen’s petition article asking residents to adopt a resolution supporting a special state commission’s efforts to change the state’s official seal and motto. Voters rejected the article by a vote of 9-14.

The state seal depicts an Indigenous man holding a bow and arrow, and above the man is an arm brandishing a sword. A Latin inscription loosely translates to “By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty.”

Tedd White said he felt the warrant article was an expensive mistake, as the seal would have to be replaced on all state documents. He also said changing the seal would erase Native American history.

“That’s what’s actually happening,” he said. “The insignia on the seal … is a tribute to the Native Americans, and it’s an honor for them to be on that seal. And this is a tribute to what went on 403 years ago, when the settlers came here to this state.”

White said Native Americans welcomed European settlers and helped them survive their first winter.

“That’s my family, William and Susanna White, that came in 1620, and that’s what that insignia means to me,” he said. “It’s not just about the Native Americans. It’s about us, too. ... This is our history — your history, my history.

“And our history’s being destroyed, it’s being erased,” he added. “I ask you this, where is this going to stop?”

White proposed tabling the issue for four or five years to “let this cancel culture go by.”

John Sears, chair of the Historical Commission, stood up in support of the resolution. He said Indigenous leaders in Massachusetts “have been asking for 50 years to have this seal changed.” He noted the bow held by the Native American — whose facial features came from a photo of Thomas Little Shell, a Chippewa chief from Montana — is pointed down and has no string, meaning the man is disarmed and has been “pacified.”

“Indigenous leaders are actually upset about this. This does not reflect their culture. It does not reflect their place in our society,” Sears argued. “I think we owe it to them. It’s not going to erase their history at all. It’s going to bring attention to their history, by doing this.”

Christine Hicks said many Massachusetts high schools with Native American mascots have made changes due to perceived disrespect.

“And, the way I look at it, it was an honor for all of these schools — including the one I went to back east — to have an Indian as a mascot,” she said. “Everything had an Indian on it in Quincy, and they’re doing away with all of it. And I think that’s disrespectful.”

Selectboard member Hussain Hamdan chimed in to say he doesn’t believe the flag was designed to depict subjugation. He said items on a coat of arms are independent of one another.

“It was not intended by the people who designed it to present a beheading,” he said. “Just to be perfectly clear.”

Hamdan also said the flag’s creation was an attempt to combine the histories of Indigenous peoples and “the European components.”

“I don’t think we really have any denial that the Native Americans were not always treated very well by white settlers,” he said.

But, Hamdan added, a period of staggering inflation and a $30 trillion national debt is no time to spend money on replacing the seal on every document and police uniform in Massachusetts.

“And if you want to do something about equity, I would propose that there’s other things that money could be spent on,” he said. “That’s my view.”

Regional agreement changes

Sheryl Stanton, superintendent of the Mohawk Trail and Hawlemont regional school districts, stood up to speak on Articles 21 to 23, asking residents if they would agree to amend the regional school district agreement by striking and replacing language pertaining to apportionment of expenses among member towns and to the budget. Although the articles passed in Hawley, they haven’t been supported by all member towns.

“The regional agreement governs the relationship between the eight towns of the Mohawk Trail Regional School District,” she explained. “The regional agreement defines how costs are portioned to each of the towns based on student enrollment.”

Should the town assessment formula change, it would better align with the state’s funding formula by factoring in School Choice students and residents who opt to attend a charter school. The previous assessment formula, Stanton explained, was crafted before the days of School Choice, charter schools and out-of-district tuition for students.

“The language is complicated, but the idea is actually quite simple,” she said. “Right now, the apportioned costs to each town are based on students from the town that are sitting in seats in schools in the Mohawk Trail Regional School District. So that does not include students who use charter, students who use School Choice and students who are in some out-of-district special education placement.”

Voters also adopted a $593,133 operating budget for fiscal year 2024, which is 6.57% higher than the current year’s figures, and a $604,659 school budget, a 2.86% decline from this fiscal year. They also gave their blessing to all proposed capital expenses, including the largest one — $15,000 for a brush mower.

Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-930-4120.

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