New Hampshire HB 1664: directing the department of natural and cultural resources to remove the Hannah Duston Memorial in Boscawen.

Bill Text

HB 1664-FN - AS INTRODUCED

2026 SESSION

 26-2977

 07/08

HOUSE BILL 1664-FN

AN ACT directing the department of natural and cultural resources to remove the Hannah Duston Memorial in Boscawen.

SPONSORS: Rep. Nagel, Belk. 6; Rep. Damon, Sull. 8; Rep. Grote, Rock. 24; Rep. Hartnett, Hills. 41; Rep. Horrigan, Straf. 10; Rep. Read, Rock. 10; Rep. W. Thomas, Hills. 12; Sen. Rosenwald, Dist 13; Sen. Watters, Dist 4

COMMITTEE: Resources, Recreation and Development

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ANALYSIS

 This bill directs the department of natural and cultural resources to remove the Hannah Duston Memorial in Boscawen.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

 Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

 Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

 26-2977

 07/08

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty-Six

AN ACT directing the department of natural and cultural resources to remove the Hannah Duston Memorial in Boscawen.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

 1 Statement of Findings. The general court hereby finds that: 

 I. New Hampshire is rich in Native American history and values the contributions of the Native American population to the state. 

 II. The unfortunate legacy of government-sanctioned harm to the Native American population through forced assimilation, culturicide, and genocide, first under colonial government, and later under federal and state government control, resulted in the dramatic decimation of the Native American population in New Hampshire. 

 III. To the extent any or all of the legend of Hannah Duston is true, she was a victim of a complex and divisive interaction between European setters and the Native Population, much to the detriment of the latter, which resulted in the attempt of local natives to “live free or die” through various conflicts, such as King Philip’s War and King William's War, in what proved to be a futile attempt to maintain their sense of cultural integrity and independence. 

 IV. The Native American part of this nation's story is not shared at the memorial site, the marker, or the historic site website, and the presence of the monument provides a gross distortion of historic events that causes further harm to New Hampshire's Native American population. 

 V. Hannah Duston’s story, lost for nearly 200 years, was memorialized in 1870 to use her alleged action of murdering and scalping 2 adult men, 2 adult women, and 6 child natives to inspire non-native citizens to solve the “Native American problem” through similar actions of violence through government-sanctioned forced assimilation, native culturicide, and genocide, practices which continued in this country until 1955. 

 VI. The state memorial glorifies the practice of scalp bounties, sanctioned by federal, state, and territorial governments, which continued until the late 1800’s and resulted in the decimation of native populations all over the country. According to the legend, in escaping her captors, Hannah Dustin murdered ten natives including 6 children, and then scalped them, for which she was paid the scalp bounty, a practice which represents a sad legacy that our state is not proud of. 

 VII. The state, as a people, should not and cannot glorify such actions by statuary memorialization. 

 2 Department of Natural and Cultural Resources; Directive. The department of natural and cultural resources shall remove the Hannah Duston Memorial and the historic marker from their sites in Boscawen. The memorial and marker may be destroyed or stored by the department. If the department elects to store the memorial and marker, and, at any point in time, seeks to display them, the memorial and marker shall be displayed in an accurate and objective manner which depicts the history and respects the legacy of all the participants involved.

 3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect upon its passage.

 LBA

 26-2977

 12/8/25

HB 1664-FN- FISCAL NOTE

AS INTRODUCED

AN ACT directing the department of natural and cultural resources to remove the Hannah Duston Memorial in Boscawen.

FISCAL IMPACT: This bill does not provide funding.

 Estimated State Impact

FY 2026

FY 2027

FY 2028

FY 2029

 Revenue

$0

$0

$0

$0

 Revenue Fund(s)

None

 Expenditures*

$0

Indeterminable Increase

 $30,000 to $200,000

$0

$0

 Funding Source(s)

General Fund and Various Agency Funds

 Appropriations*

$0

$0

$0

$0

 Funding Source(s)

None

 *Expenditure = Cost of bill *Appropriation = Authorized funding to cover cost of bill

METHODOLOGY:

This bill directs the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources to remove