Boston Herald
November 7, 1999

"Neponset history comes to life via Savin Hill mural"
by Mark Murphy

Cathy Goodman, with neighbors covering the corner and street outside her Savin Hill Avenue cafe yesterday, had difficulty recalling the last time the neighborhood came out in this much force.

"It probably would have been when St. William's burned down that people came together like this," Goodman, a lifelong Savin Hill resident, said of Savin Hill's parish.

But that's where the similarity ended. Yesterday, with Mayor Thomas M. Menino doing the honors, a mural honoring the neighborhood's rich ethnic history was unveiled on the side of the cafe that faces the Savin Hill T stop.

Artist James Hobin, himself a Savin Hill native, chose to go all the way back through the area's known history for his inspiration, with help of local high school students. The mural depicts members of the Neponset Indian Tribe in a summer encampment on Meeting House Hill, with what is now Boston Harbor and Savin Hill in the background.

Hobin, with the help of officials at the Mashantucket/Peqout Museum and Research Center, learned that approximately 500 years ago, members of the Neponset Tribe summered in Savin Hill and the surrounding area.

As a result, Tall Oak, referred by the museum, took part in a local history symposium , at one point performing a series of ancient Algonquin songs at St. William Grammar School's auditorium. Tall Oak's daughter, Toni Wheaton, performed a song during yesterday's ceremony.

The mural is part of a project that also includes a videotape, currently in production, featuring the recollections of more than 150 Savin Hill natives.

"The best talent in the world comes out of Savin Hill," said Festy McDonough, a 69-year-old neighbor involved in the project. Said Hobin, "The story of the mural is that we live in a community that is continually changing."