A DISTINCTIVE SYMBOL REPRESENTING A NATION 

(As approved at the 3/19/05 Tribal Council meeting)

             Like most nations in the world today, the Hassanamisco band of the Nipmuc Nation, too, has a distinctive logo or symbol representing its proud ancestral heritage today and for the next seven generations.  This logo has four symbols and colors working together in harmony.     

           All things in the universe are living in a balanced whole.  The outer circle’s round shape represents wholeness, completeness, unification—the Great Spirit.  The circle symbolizes the cycle of life:  birth, growth, death, and rebirth.  It has no beginning and no end.  The Nipmuc people are in the center of this circle where the power dwells.  The outer circle’s yellow (weesoe) color is the same color as the sun (nepauz), or grandfather (wuttootchikkinneesin), as the Nipmuc people refer to it.  The sun represents the energy of life, providing warmth and light for our journey through life. 

            The inner circle or background represents the rolling hills, trees, and rich fertile land that Nipmuc people once inhabited.  The interior portion of what is now Massachusetts, and parts of Rhode Island and Connecticut provided the Nipmuc people with bountiful hunting grounds and rich fertile soil for gathering, planting, and harvesting maize and other crops.  These gifts of life provided food, clothing, shelter, tools, and weapons throughout the year.  The inner circle or background’s brown color represents Mother Earth. 

            The four wavy lines symbolize water—where life begins.  Water composed three-quarters of the earth’s surface in the form of seas, rivers, and lakes.  It also makes up one-half of our body mass.  The Algonkian word for water is (nippe) from which the Nipmuc name is derived.  Nipmuc, translated to mean “fresh water people,” helped the Englis distinguish our people, who primarily used inland freshwater lakes, ponds, and rivers for fishing  rather than the Atlantic Ocean, from other New England tribes.  The blue (peshau) color of the wavy lines is the same color as the water and sky.  It is said that water reflects the color of the sky—the domain of the Great Spirit or Creator. 

            The rooted plant illustrates the miracles of bounty being nurtured by fresh water.  All living things need food and water in order to live, grow, and flourish.  Herbal plants, maize and other crops were an important staple in the Nipmuc economy and contributed to the health and well-being of the Nipmuc people.  The rooted plant’s green (ashkashki) color symbolizes growth, strength, and longevity of life. 

The Nipmuc Nation tribal logo is a distinctive symbolgiving a proud people a face

 today and for the next seven generations