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Originally published on May 1, 2021 2:52 pm
A statue of a woman towers over a patch of daffodils in a city park in Haverhill, Mass. Scowling ferociously, she leans forward, gripping a hatchet.
The statue honors Hannah Duston, a 17th-century English colonist who is believed to have killed 10 Native Americans in order to escape captivity during King William s War. It has become a flashpoint in the country s ongoing debate about racist monuments, as locals reevaluate the Duston legend. That hatchet is supposedly the one that she actually used to, quote unquote, scalp the warriors, says Ron Peacetree of the Haverhill Historical Commission.
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SCOTT SIMON, HOST: Statues of Hannah Duston face a reckoning in two New England communities. Duston was a 17th-century English colonist who was said to have been captured by Native Americans who then killed 10 of them in order to escape. WBUR s Amelia Mason has this report, which includes descriptions of violence.
AMELIA MASON, BYLINE: The statue of Hannah Duston in Haverhill, Mass., towers over a patch of daffodils in the city s G.A.R. Park. Legend says that in 1697, Duston killed 10 Native American warriors who d kidnapped her. The statue depicts her holding a hatchet.
Statue Of A Killer: Monument To Colonial Woman Who Scalped Natives Sparks Debate wfdd.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wfdd.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Jesse Costa/WBUR
toggle caption Jesse Costa/WBUR
The Hannah Duston statue in G.A.R. Park in Haverhill, Mass. The monument has become the subject of fierce public debate. Jesse Costa/WBUR
A statue of a woman towers over a patch of daffodils in a city park in Haverhill, Mass. Scowling ferociously, she leans forward, gripping a hatchet.
The statue honors Hannah Duston, a 17th-century English colonist who is believed to have killed 10 Native Americans in order to escape captivity during King William s War. It has become a flashpoint in the country s ongoing debate about racist monuments, as locals reevaluate the Duston legend.