The town of Boscawen wants Hannah Duston to remain right where she is.
David Nagel, a Republican state representative from Gilmanton, filed legislation to remove the statue dedicated to Duston on an island park in the Merrimack River in Boscawen.
The monument to Duston, a woman who killed her Native American captors in 1697, depicts her holding scalps of those she killed, something Nagel said he found “disturbing.” Some modern historians have questioned the historical accuracy of Duston’s capture, which was recounted by Puritan Cotton Mather and later retold in the 1820s.
The Boscawen Select Board’s letter addressed to Nagel noted the history of the statue’s creation and past discussions about it. They said destroying the sculpture is not the right path forward.
“Although we certainly believe in the importance of telling all sides of a historic story, we do not believe in demolishing interpretations that make us uncomfortable,” the Select Board wrote.
The statue is one of the first and oldest dedicated to a woman in the United States. Lorrie Carey, a member of the Select Board, said stories like Duston’s are rare and should not be forgotten.
“If you look at history, you will find very little reference to women’s sacrifice in history, or the role that women played in history,” Carey said. “History is largely seen through the eyes of men. She is a representative of many women in history whose stories are not told and will never be told.”
Nagel said he has spoken to dozens of people in the weeks after he filed the request, but did not reach out to the Boscawen Select Board. The statue is situated on state-owned land and he believed this was a state issue, not a town issue.
“If there was a commission started to create more of an accurate historical picture to the monument that would be acceptable by all parties, I am totally fine with that,” Nagel said. “But I do think they need to realize how offensive this is to Native Americans.”
In 2021, The Hannah Duston Advisory Committee, made up of town officials, Hannah Duston descendants and those with indigenous roots, suggested building new markers in the park to paint a fuller picture of the complex history behind the statue. The state committee hasn’t met for some time.
Denise Pouliot, the female speaker for The Cowasuck Band of the Pennacook-Abenaki, was part of the committee and said she did not like the statue but understood its broader historical significance. She said she is glad conversations are starting up again.
“We’d rather take the standpoint behind education and empowering the general public [and] our social circles with that history, then trying to erase it and not discuss it at all, because nobody wins then,” Pouliot said.
Carey said that she would also like to see discussions revived from the committee and additionally tell other people’s stories, in addition to Duston.
“I’m not in favor of demolishing history just because it’s offensive,” Carey said. “It is who we are, and sometimes we are offensive. But that doesn’t mean we can’t broaden the conversation to provide the modern interpretation of who we believe we are.”
The Boscawen Select Board encouraged Nagel to withdraw the legislation. Nagel said he is considering the request. If the bill remains, lawmakers will debate whether to remove the statue next year.