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.
Please join us for an opening reception of Ways of My Ancestors - Imagery: Lighting the Path to Awareness with spoken words by the artist and other members of the Native American community on Wednesday November 19, 2025 at 4:30pm at the west end between historic Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market. 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.
Scott Strong Hawk Foster is a Native American photographer whose proud roots include Hassanamisco Nipmuc, Mohegan, and Cherokee lineage.
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.
Scott’s images tell a story. They enable the viewer to feel the atmosphere, mood, and emotions of his subject in that moment. By sharing his artistry and life experiences through the lens of a camera, Scott would like to think you can see that he’s a proud father, son, outdoor activity enthusiast, and descendant of a proud, hardworking, and mindful, Indigenous People who respect Mother Earth and all who inhabit it.
Scott’s tagline, “Capture the Moment…Share the Experience”©, vividly expresses his philosophy that life is filled with unique and fleeting moments that must be captured and imprinted or they could be lost forever. His past work experience coupled with his creative mindset now allows him to focus on working in and casting light on the people, places, and beautiful traditions of his Indigenous community.
Quincy Market is a historic market complex near Faneuil Hall in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. It was constructed in 1824–26 and named in honor of Mayor Josiah Quincy, who organized its construction without any tax or debt. The market was designated a National Historic Landmark, recognizing its significance as one of the largest market complexes built in the United States in the first half of the 19th century.
Led by the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture the Un-monument | Re-monument | De-monument: Transforming Boston is a multi-year program that will bring temporary monuments and free public programming to neighborhoods across Boston in partnership with Faneuil Hall Marketplace, Graffito SP, The Office of Historic Preservation, and City of Boston Planning. This programming is made possible by a grant from the Mellon Foundation's Monuments Project.