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Cambridge unveils bilingual street signs in Massachusett language

The translations read “nekône taꝏmâôk,” for First Street, with the following ordinal numbers as “neese,” “neeshwe,” “yâwe,” and more.

Third Street, or neeshwe taꝏmâôk in Massachusett, in East Cambridge. City of Cambridge.

December 3, 2024

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Cambridge city leaders and members of the Massachusett tribe presented newly installed street signs last week in East Cambridge written in both English and Massachusett.

In 2021, thousands of Cambridge voters selected the project as part of a participatory budget item that also includes revitalizing the city’s African American Heritage Trail. The street signs, which are at each intersection of First through Eighth Street in East Cambridge, mark the first phase of the project.

The signs maintain the traditional green of all municipal street signs, while the Massachusett translation is on top of the English name in purple. The purple color represents the color of the quahog clam shell, which is used to make traditional shell beads called wampum beads, the city said.

“The juxtaposition reminds us that there is more than one way of looking at things,” Cambridge’s “Native Spaces” site says.

Following through on a project submitted through our Participatory Budgeting initiative, Cambridge officials and members of the local Massachusett tribe today unveiled new street signs that are now available in the English and Massachusett language from First to Eighth streets. pic.twitter.com/KLyrAyH2yI
— City of Cambridge (@CambMA) November 29, 2024

Sage Carbone, a Cambridge resident and member of the Northern Narragansett Indian Tribe of Rhode Island with Nipmuc, Massachusett ancestry, previously told Boston.com that there would be more than 70 new street signs for each intersection of the eight streets. She proposed the participatory budget item to translate the signs and to mark indigenous sites in Cambridge.

“I’m proud to say that this project has built strong relationships between tribal nations, municipal leaders, and engaged citizens,” she said at an unveiling ceremony Friday. “I hope that today has inspired you to look creatively at what you see day-to-day and wonder how it can be improved.”

The translations read “nekône taꝏmâôk,” for First Street, with the following ordinal numbers as “neese,” “neeshwe,” “yâwe,” “napanatashe,” “nequsuktashe,” “neesâusuktashe,” and “neeshwôsuktashe.”

Vice Mayor Marc McGovern also spoke at the ceremony. He called the project “far more than a visual change.”

“It is a profound acknowledgement of the people who lived here long before white settlers,” McGovern said. “The Massachusett tribe has a rich history of tending to this land, fostering thriving communities, and preserving cultural traditions that continue to this day.”