WILLIAMSTOWN — A group walking across Massachusetts to demand the state retire its flag and seal set off from the New York border here Friday, stopping downtown to rally supporters before heading east to Boston.

Berkshire County residents gathered at First Congregational Church in Williamstown support The Walk For New Dawn on Friday afternoon as activists walk across the state for the next three weeks to rally support for changing the state flag and seal.

About 10 people gathered outside the First Congregational Church on Main Street to greet the Walk for a New Dawn, whose participants will cover roughly 160 miles over the coming weeks and expect to reach the Statehouse on Aug. 13. Along the way, they are collecting letters urging Gov. Maura Healey to replace the current symbols and take up other Indigenous legislative priorities.

The flag and seal depict an Indigenous man beneath a raised arm holding a colonial broadsword, imagery the group says symbolizes colonial violence and is offensive to Indigenous communities.

"We are flying in Massachusetts the last overt flag of white supremacy in the entire country," said David Detmold, one of the walkers pressing for change.

Organizers say the walk aims to educate the public about current Indigenous legislative agendas and advocate for replacing the current state symbols.

Detmold, of Montague, and Dorothea Melnicoff, of Greenfield, met supporters and collected letters for Gov. Maura Healey, then continued east to North Adams.

David Detmold, left, sat down to rest after walking from Grafton, N.Y. on Friday as part of Walk For a New Dawn, an effort to raise awareness about and change the Massachusetts state flag and seal.

“This has been a discussion for a long time,” Melnicoff said, holding handmade protest signs that read: “Listen to Indigenous Nations.”

The walkers will continue east, with their first rest day planned for Aug. 1 at the Pocumtuck Homelands Festival in Montague.

Detmold and the group have advocated for the changing the emblems in 88 communities, he said. In 2023, Williamstown voted overwhelmingly in favor of a ballot measure supporting changes to the state flag and seal. Other communities did the same.

“When we won the vote in Cambridge, [people] said a bunch of liberal cities were just virtue signaling," Detmold said. “That’s just not true. We’ve gone to all the towns where we could find even one person [in support].”

Dorthea Melnicoff, left and David Detmold, right, are among those participating in Walk For a New Dawn, an effort to raise awareness about and change the Massachusetts state flag and seal.

Meantime, the Massachusetts Seal, Flag, and Motto Advisory Commission has developed recommendations for new state symbols through a statewide public process, but has not made final decisions. It's the state's second attempt to redesign the emblems after a previous commission dissolved in 2023 without issuing recommendations.

The flag is one of multiple Indigenous legislative matters that participants in the Walk For a New Dawn says they want to highlight, including removing Indigenous mascots from schools and ensuring children learn Indigenous history.

Carrie Waara is a member of Greylock Together, a local chapter of the national progressive organization Indivisible, and she met the walkers on Friday. She acknowledged the commission's work, but was critical of the pace of their meetings.

“It seems like they are not listening to the voices who are most harmed by this,” she said. “And that’s part of the ask, that the commission listen more to Indigenous voices.”

While that process continues, Detmold and other activists argue the current flag should be retired immediately.

"We'd rather live with no flag at all for a year or two than be forced to keep flying this one," Wendy Penner, a spokesperson for Greylock Together, said. "Governor Healey, take down that racist flag of violence today."

Not everyone agrees. Recent gubernatorial candidates Brian Shortsleeve and Mike Kennealy have both weighed in, saying the flag reflects the commonwealth’s history and should stay.

Cheryl Rose, of Dalton, speaks Friday with David Detmold, right, before handing him a letter for the governor in support of Walk For a New Dawn, an effort to raise awareness about and change the state flag and seal.

When asked about the flag in an unrelated press conference in 2025, Healey said she was focused on more pressing issues.

“The state flag and seal? Look, I don’t mean to laugh, but of everything that’s going on right now? I support that there’s a legislative commission,” she said.

Walk organizers are collecting letters urging Healey to support replacing the flag and seal and other Indigenous legislative priorities. Along the route, they are also highlighting issues they say affect Indigenous communities, including opposition to sand mining near Carver and Plymouth and Healey's proposal to repeal the voter-approved 1982 law limiting new nuclear power plant construction.

Dalton Residents Henry and Cheryl Rose joined the group in Williamstown to give their letter of support for changing the flag, which they first found out about years back at the Mashpee Wampanoag Museum.

“It’s a really simple thing to change,” said Henry, who was there as an officer of Massachusetts Green Rainbow Party. “It’s racist and insulting.”

Melnicoff said the flag was just one part of showing reconciliation and reparation for the spoiling of land that Indigenous tribes called homes for millennia.

“Many tribes have roots that extend back 14,000 years,” she said. “Right now, we’re celebrating 250.”