Indigenous Boston Harbor 10.22.25

About the program:

Boston Harbor is Indigenous space. Indigenous Boston Harbor is a free boat tour of Boston Harbor and the Harbor Islands, with a walking tour of Deer Island. Indigenous Boston Harbor is led by Elizabeth Solomon and Faries Gray, members of the Massachusett Tribe at Ponkapoag, and organized by artists Nicholas Brown and Sarah Kanouse.

Departing from the Fox Point Pavilion and Boat Dock in a vessel from the Division of Marine Operations at UMass Boston, the boat tour focuses on evolving Indigenous relationships with the Harbor and Harbor Islands–past, present, and future. The ancestral experience of a not-so-distant past when today’s islands were hills and the harbor was land offers a radically different perspective on the specter of climate change and sea-level rise. Navigating the dynamic interplay of land and water, the tour highlights Indigenous climate action and envisions an abundant and just Indigenous future.

After traveling through the harbor past the mouth of the Neponset River and skirting several of the 34 islands that comprise Boston Harbor Islands National and State Park, we will disembark on Deer Island. Now home to the second largest sewage treatment plant in the country, Deer Island served as the first detention camp for Indigenous people in what would become the United States. Centering Indigenous perspectives, the tour will consider how Deer Island’s history is interpreted by the National Park Service and the ten other agencies that make up the Boston Harbor Islands Partnership. A sign on the island briefly outlines its varied and contested past: “Since colonial days, Deer Island has served as a detention center for American Indians, a quarantine station and hospital for immigrants, an asylum for the city’s social outcasts and the poor, a reformatory for juvenile delinquents, an orphanage, a Pr*son for petty criminals, and a military post.”

Indigenous Boston Harbor provides an opportunity to reflect on the legacies of settler colonialism and the politics of memory. Highlighting relationships with the land and water that have endured and evolved despite centuries of violence and dispossession, the tour shows how Boston Harbor remains Indigenous space.

Indigenous Boston Harbor is presented by Arts on the Point and the University Hall Gallery at UMass Boston, made possible with support from the Paul Hayes Tucker Fund.

Important Event Details:

All participants should meet at the Fox Point Pavilion no later than 12:30pm. The boat will depart promptly at 1:00pm. If you are driving or taking public transit to UMass Boston we recommend arriving early (by 12pm) so you have plenty of time to make your way to the Fox Point Pavilion and Boat Dock. Click here for a map and directions to the Fox Point Dock.

The M/V Columbia Point is an all-weather 110 passenger, 64ft U.S. Coast Guard certified & ADA-accessible vessel. The event primarily takes place outside and will run rain or shine. Please dress accordingly. We suggest dressing in warm layers with a windbreaker or rain coat, to bring a hat, sungalsses, comfortable shoes, water and snacks. We will be on a boat out in the harbor, docking at Deer Island, and walking approximately a half mile to the memorial site.

In the case of unsafe weather, we will contact participants with as much notice as possible and reschedule to our rain date: Tuesday, October 28th, 2025 (12:30-5pm).

If you want to be redirected to the 10.22.25 date event page, follow this link:

Indigenous Boston Harbor 10.22.25 Eventbrite Registration Link

Accessibility:

Although the M/V Columbia Point and Fox Point are ADA-accessible, unfortunately the dock and ramp at Deer Island are not handicapped accessible. There is a 6 inch lip transitioning from the floating dock to the ramp. There may also be a gap between the floating docks. If you have any questions or concerns about these details, please write us in advance at: [email protected]

Getting to Fox Point Pavilion:

GPS pin for Fox Point on the UMass Boston campus: https://goo.gl/maps/1HyZ19u5zhFiA6BK9

Map of the campus: Click here for a map of the campus

Via the MBTA:From the UMass/JFK station, take the Paul Revere Shuttles into campus, and get off at the ISC stop. From there, follow the walking directions below.

Parking at UMass Boston: https://www.umb.edu/the_university/getting_here#VisitFrom the Bayside lot, take the Paul Revere Shuttles to campus, and get off at the ISC stop, and follow the walking directions below.

From the West Garage, Fox Point Pavilion is a short walk along the Harbor Walk. Click here for a map of the campus

Ride Share:Take your car to this GPS pinpoint to the ISC Ride Share drop off location, and follow the walking directions below.

Walking directions from the ISC:From the ISC, cross the street towards the Harbor Walk, and take a left. Walk along the water about 100 yards and the Fox Point Pavilion will be on your right. Click here for a map of the campus.

Host or Publisher University Hall Gallery, UMass Boston