Boston Mayor's Office of Arts & Culture and Faneuil Hall Marketplace Present Ways of My Ancestors Exhibit Celebrating Native American Heritage

BOSTON, Nov. 17, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Boston Mayor's Office of Arts & Culture and Faneuil Hall Marketplace are proud to present Ways of My Ancestors - Imagery: Lighting the Path to Awareness, a powerful Native American photography series by Hassanamisco Nipmuc Artist Scott Strong Hawk Foster. Launched during Native American Heritage Month, the exhibit will be on display beginning November 15, 2025 until January 14, 2026.

To celebrate the unveiling of the exhibit, there will be a Grand Opening on Wednesday, November 19, 2025 beginning at 4:30 PM followed by a reception with light refreshments, presented by Faneuil Hall Marketplace. The event will include a walking artist talk with Scott Strong Hawk Foster, and will feature:

• Native American singers and drummers
• Strong Eagle Daly, Hassanamisco Native American flautist
• Ella Nathanael Alkiewicz, Nunatsiavut Kavamange Inuk, Un-Monument artist and poet, reading "All Four Directions"
• Bruce Curliss, Hassanamisco Nipmuc Tribal council member, performing a stomp dance
• Jim Peters, Mashpee Wampanoag, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Commission on Indian Affairs, delivering remarks

As we enter the nation's 250th anniversary, Ways of My Ancestors invites reflection on the contemporary presence and enduring culture of Native American and Indigenous peoples of this land through photography. It will feature five portraits positioned at each end of Quincy Market, greeting visitors as they enter and leave the historic Boston marketplace.

Faneuil Hall Marketplace said, "This exhibit marks the beginning of our new, long-term arts initiative aimed at connecting Boston residents and visitors to a diverse range of public art. It also reflects our ongoing commitment to continuously enhance and evolve the Faneuil Hall Marketplace experience for our community. As a place where history and culture have long converged, we are honored to host this powerful exhibit that shines a light on the living heritage of Native Americans." 

"Hassanamisco Nipmuc artist Scott Strong Hawk Foster's Un-monument commission illustrates the importance of self-representation of Native American and Indigenous peoples after centuries of erasure and misrepresentation in our art and public spaces," said Karin Goodfellow, Director of Transformative Art and Monuments for the Boston Mayor's Office of Arts & Culture. "Quincy Market sits within the historical core of our identities as Bostonians and acts as a significant setting for these monumental portraits."

"Public art and cultural storytelling help us understand the histories and communities that define Boston. Native American Heritage Month invites all of us to engage more deeply with Indigenous voices and perspectives," said Mariangely Solis Cervera, Chief of Equity and Inclusion for the City of Boston.

Foster said, "My ethos as a Hassanamisco Nipmuc artist and cultural preservation photographer is to represent my family and my community authentically; to record compelling images that make known the true stories of our heritage, values, and oral traditions; and to attest to how we are thriving today! Through this portrait series, my goal is to educate the unaware and misinformed while fostering inclusion and speaking the truths to tell our story as Indigenous inhabitants of this region. That is 'the why' behind what I do."

Ways of My Ancestors is presented as part of Boston's Un-monument | Re-monument | De-monument: Transforming Boston initiative, which has been commissioned by the Mayor's Office of Arts and Culture with support through a $3 million grant—the largest investment into public art programming in Boston—as part of the Mellon Foundation's Monuments Project. Boston is one of nine U.S. cities to receive a grant.

Un-monument underscores the City's commitment to sharing a more inclusive and expansive story of Boston's past, present, and future. Through temporary public art installations that expand the traditional monument form, the initiative aims to help residents reflect on and engage with monuments in Boston and the narratives they create.

Funded by the Mayor's Office of Arts and Culture through the Mellon Foundation grant, Ways of My Ancestors is presented in partnership with Faneuil Hall Marketplace, Graffito SP, the City of Boston Office of Historic Preservation, the Equity and Inclusion Cabinet, and the Planning Department.

For more information about the exhibit and opening reception, please visit: Ways of My Ancestors Opening Event.

About the Artist
Scott Strong Hawk Foster is a Native American photographer whose proud roots include Hassanamisco Nipmuc, Mohegan, and Cherokee lineage. A cultural preservation photographer, Scott's images reflect his travels throughout the ancestral homelands of the Native American Peoples of New England. While attending powwows, cultural events, and Indigenous practices that span millennia, Scott's passion has become highlighting the rich, resilient, and diverse cultures and history of the Indigenous peoples that are still here and living amongst us.

To see more of Scott's photography in Boston, visit the ICA's Here We Stay exhibition.

About Faneuil Hall Marketplace
Faneuil Hall Marketplace, founded in 1742 in downtown Boston, is the vibrant home to the world-famous Quincy Market Colonnade (the largest and oldest food hall in the United States). It is a bustling hub of beloved eateries, shops, and push carts, as well as a key destination for lively street performances, historic tours, family-friendly events, and more. Faneuil Hall Marketplace is committed to its role as a central destination for the benefit of the Boston community – welcoming residents, workers, and visitors from around the world – and is partnering with the City to deliver the next chapter for the iconic site.

About the Mayor's Office of Arts and Culture
Dedicated to enhancing the quality of life, economic vitality, and design of the City through the arts, the Mayor's Office of Arts and Culture is committed to providing access to art and culture for all Bostonians. We believe that the role of arts in all aspects and neighborhoods of Boston is intertwined with civic life and reinforced through equitable access to arts and culture in every community, its public institutions, and public places. Key areas of work include support to the cultural sector through grants and programs, support of cultural facilities and artist workspace, as well as the commissioning, review, and care of art in public places. Learn more at www.boston.gov/arts.

Contact
Nina Pellegrini
Faneuil Hall Marketplace
[email protected]

SOURCE Faneuil Hall Marketplace