Leah Hopkins, Indigenous People's Partnership Coordinator for Mass DCR. Photo: Carl Stevens/WBZ NewsRadio
SAUGUS, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) has appointed the first-ever Indigenous People’s Partnership Coordinator to help foster relationships between the agency and the state’s Indigenous community.
Leah Hopkins was selected for the job as she is a member of the Narragansett Indian Tribe of Rhode Island. She has been visiting different DCR properties and explaining the significance of her role.
WBZ NewsRadio spoke to Hopkins at the DCR Breakheart Reservation in Saugus.
“I am responsible for building the bridge between the agency, and tribal nations, and indigenous communities in Massachusetts to help native people get access and connect back to the homelands here in Mass.”
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The DCR takes care of public lands that native Indigenous people lived on for thousands of years. Hopkins said that her job will help them reconnect with that land.
“Connecting to the land [helps] preserve Indigenous culture,” she added.
The DCR created the position in November 2024 “to help foster meaningful relationships and improve the understanding and collaboration between the state’s conservation agency and Indigenous communities across Massachusetts,” according to a DCR press release.
WBZ NewsRadio’s Carl Stevens (@CarlWBZ) reports.