Haverhill Recommends Removing Hatchet from Hannah Duston Statue

Changes are coming soon to a nearly 150-year-old controversial hatchet-wielding statue in downtown Haverhill.

This week the City Council voted unanimously to allow the Hannah Duston statue to remain in GAR Park, but it’s recommending the word savages be erased and for her hatchet to be removed.

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Hannah Duston was kidnapped by Native Americans during a raid in the 1600s. She was able to escape after killing several of her captors.

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The council also voted to allow space in the park for a Native Americans monument to be created. {snip}

“Now we want to honor those who got here before the settlers did, made this land, inhabited it for thousands of years I want to honor them in some way,” said Haverhill Mayor James Fiorentini.

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