As the oldest urban Indian center in Massachusetts, our mission is to empower the Native American community with the goal of improving the quality of life of Indigenous peoples. NAICOB was originally established in 1969 as the Boston Indian Council (BIC) when it served as the hub of social and civil rights activities for the American Indian/Alaska Native and First Nations urban Indian community in Boston. Indigenous community members met across the street from Boston Common, then on Washington Street in Dorchester, and in 1974 established our current center on South Huntington Avenue in Jamaica Plain. In 1976, Governor Dukakis signed Executive Order No. 126 recognizing the Boston Indian Council as the state's liaison with resident members of tribes with whom the state holds Treaties and other agreements. The BIC reorganized as the North American Indian Center of Boston in 1991 and offered innovative programs such as a drop-in recovery facility, Native American head start, and on-site job training. We continue to provide a wide range of cultural, social, educational, and professional services to Native peoples in the Commonwealth, guided by the express needs of our community members.
NAICOB is a co-curatorial partner of the City of Boston's Un-monument | Re-monument | De-monument: Transforming Boston program.
With multiple curators, the City creates opportunities for more perspectives to join the conversation. Commissioning local organizations also supports Boston’s creative ecosystem and creates a more natural distribution of projects, histories, and community participation in this city-wide dialogue. Our Memorialization of Urban Indigenous Presence in the City of Boston project builds on the Center's over 55 years of advocacy for the urban Indigenous population of the City of Boston. This project proposes our building and adjacent grounds as a monument to memorialize the extant presence and contributions of the urban Indigenous population within the City of Boston.
*A Note on Terminology
The terminology used to describe American Indian people has changed over the years, as have the people that are recognized by state and federal governments as being American Indian. The terms that are often used today include American Indian, Native American, Indigenous, Indian, First Peoples, Aboriginal, and First Nations. Typically, First Nations is used to describe American Indian people in Canada and Aboriginal is used to describe the Native people of Australia. The Native people of Alaska have been recognized as Alaska Native by the federal government since 1971. Native Hawaiians, are the most recent Native population to be included in federal programs made available to American Indians although they are not federally recognized as a tribe. On this website, you will find the various terms that describe Indigenous peoples used interchangeably or used together. We do this to respect the terminology that different tribes and people use to describe themselves.
We honor Indigenous people who may or may not be part of a federally recognized or state recognized tribe, as well as the peoples whose tribes have been split by the U.S.-Canada border and the U.S.-Mexico border. All Indigenous people are welcome at the North American Indian Center of Boston.
NAICOB is a co-curatorial partner of the City of Boston's Un-monument | Re-monument | De-monument: Transforming Boston program.
With multiple curators, the City creates opportunities for more perspectives to join the conversation. Commissioning local organizations also supports Boston’s creative ecosystem and creates a more natural distribution of projects, histories, and community participation in this city-wide dialogue. Our Memorialization of Urban Indigenous Presence in the City of Boston project builds on the Center's over 55 years of advocacy for the urban Indigenous population of the City of Boston. This project proposes our building and adjacent grounds as a monument to memorialize the extant presence and contributions of the urban Indigenous population within the City of Boston.
*A Note on Terminology
The terminology used to describe American Indian people has changed over the years, as have the people that are recognized by state and federal governments as being American Indian. The terms that are often used today include American Indian, Native American, Indigenous, Indian, First Peoples, Aboriginal, and First Nations. Typically, First Nations is used to describe American Indian people in Canada and Aboriginal is used to describe the Native people of Australia. The Native people of Alaska have been recognized as Alaska Native by the federal government since 1971. Native Hawaiians, are the most recent Native population to be included in federal programs made available to American Indians although they are not federally recognized as a tribe. On this website, you will find the various terms that describe Indigenous peoples used interchangeably or used together. We do this to respect the terminology that different tribes and people use to describe themselves.
We honor Indigenous people who may or may not be part of a federally recognized or state recognized tribe, as well as the peoples whose tribes have been split by the U.S.-Canada border and the U.S.-Mexico border. All Indigenous people are welcome at the North American Indian Center of Boston.