Imagine coming upon a colorful, round medallion on the sidewalk of your neighborhood park. The marker announces “You are in Native Space.” You use your phone to scan the QR code in the center of the medallion’s sun-like symbol and load a location-aware web app inviting you to “listen.” You put on your headphones and move through the park, immersed in an ever-changing tapestry of sounds that respond to your location: field recordings of human and more-than-human life, powwow drums and music, and a collage of voices describing diverse experiences with and visions of this place over the last 10,000 years.
Initiated by Massachusett elder Elizabeth Solomon and Boston-based artist Sarah Kanouse, “Native Spaces” is a digital platform for sharing artful, place-based audio narratives of Indigenous survival, resistance, and resurgence in Eastern Massachusetts. Salem is the location of the project’s first chapter and showcases varied perspectives – both Indigenous and non-Native – on the historic “deed” that legitimized, under colonial law, the transfer of the Massachusett village of Naumkeag to the English colonists. The pilot iteration launched October 11, 2024 and will be expanded in the coming years.
The Salem chapter includes five audio ‘zones’ where historical or archeological records demonstrate pre-colonial use by the Massachusett people of Naumkeag. Audio content reflects themes resonant with the site, but changes algorithmically based on the listener’s location within the zone. Visitors access the project on-site through brightly colored sidewalk medallions, while online audiences may visit the website via any browser for a simulated experience.
Project Team:
- Sarah Kanouse and Elizabeth Solomon (co-PIs/collaborating artists)
- Sadie Red Wing (contributing graphic designer)
- Halsey Burgund (creator for the Roundware platform and tech supervisor)
- Carly Bates (research assistant and front-end programmer)
- Elizabeth Solomon (Massachusett Tribe at Ponkapoag)
Upcoming Publications:
You can explore the full project here: https://findnative.space
This project will be presented at the College Art Association annual conference on February 14, 2025.
