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August 18th 2023: Waving goodbye to "The Big Indian" statue

Roadside statue removed from Route 2
Alden Bourne
Roadside statue removed from Route 2

What happened to the so-called "Big Indian" statue on Route 2? Monte is joined Rhonda Anderson, who is the Western Massachusetts Commissioner on Indian Affairs, founder and Co-Director of the Ohketeau Cultural Center and the Native Youth Empowerment Foundation, and a member of theAdvisory Council for the New England Foundation for the Arts. And Tomantha Sylvester an Indigenous (Ojibwe) artist and Community Advocate through the Ohketeau Cultural Center. Tomantha also circulated a petition to remove the statue, which received more than 1,300 signatures and led to communication with the owners of the shop on Route 2. And long-time Greenfield Recorder reporter, Richie Davis, on his new collection of profiles of interesting people in The 413 called Flights of Fancy, Souls of Grace. A Wine Thunderdome with Benson and Bruce and Toni from Provisions, tasting Northern Italian whites. And Live Music Friday with Northampton-based King Radio who are playing PERFORMANCE

Christopher “Monte'' Belmonte is host and executive producer of NEPM's The Fabulous 413. He was born and raised in Massachusetts and has been a radio host in western Massachusetts for the last 20 years — the last 17 of them as host of Mornings with Monte on The River 93.9/WRSI.
Kaliis Smith is a radio host and producer for NEPM's The Fabulous 413. She was most recently host and producer at The River 93.9/WRSI where she appeared on Mornings with Monte for the Nerdwatch segment and hosted weekday evenings.