Narragansett people
This would have made the newly acquired land officially recognized as part of the Narragansett Indian reservation, taking it out from under Rhode Island's legal authority.
[10] As a result of colonization, there was a great decline of Narragansett language speakers in the 19th century, so modern attempts to understand its words have to make use of written sources.
The earliest such sources are the writings of English colonists in the 1600s, and at that time the name of the Narragansett people was spelled in a variety of different ways, perhaps attesting to different local pronunciations.
He traced the source of the word Narragansett to a geographical location: Being inquisitive of what root the title or denomination Nahigonset should come I heard that Nahigonsset was so named from a little island, between Puttaquomscut and Mishquomacuk on the sea and fresh water side.
[9][14] But in fact Roger Williams's statement does enable a fairly precise localization: He states that the place was "a little island, between Puttaquomscut and Mishquomacuk on the sea and fresh water side", and that it was near Sugar Loaf Hill.
[17] Excavations revealed the remains of a coastal village from the Late Woodland period, inhabited by about 100 people for about four years, sometime in the tenth or eleventh centuries A.D.
They waged successful attacks on settlements in Massachusetts and Connecticut, but Rhode Island was spared at the beginning, as the Narragansetts remained officially neutral.
In January 1676, colonist Joshua Tefft was hanged, drawn, and quartered by colonial forces at Smith's Castle[26] in Wickford, Rhode Island for having fought on the side of the Narragansetts during the Great Swamp Fight.
The Indians retaliated for the massacre in a widespread spring offensive beginning in February 1676 in which they destroyed all Colonial settlements on the western side of Narragansett Bay.
Troops from Connecticut composed of colonists and their Mohegan allies swept into Rhode Island and killed substantial numbers of the now-weakened Narragansetts.
While King Tom was sachem, much of the Narragansett land was sold, and a considerable part of the tribe emigrated to the State of New York, joining other Indians there who belonged to the same Algonquin language group.
The tribal leaders resisted increasing legislative pressure after the American Civil War to "take up citizenship" in the United States, which would have required them to give up their treaty privileges and Indian nation status.
We claim that while one drop of Indian blood remains in our veins, we are entitled to the rights and privileges guaranteed by your ancestors to ours by solemn treaty, which without a breach of faith you cannot violate.
The state put tribal lands up for public sale in the 19th century, but the tribe did not disperse and its members continued to practice its culture.
A 2006 survey conducted in preparation for development of a new residential subdivision revealed what archaeologists consider the remains of a Narragansett Indian village dating from 1100 to 1300.
[32][citation needed] Preliminary surveys of the Narragansett tract, known as RI 110, have revealed a village with perhaps as many 22 structures, as well as three known human burial sites.
There is also evidence of granaries, ceremonial areas and storage pits that may shed new light on the importance of maize agriculture to woodland tribes.
In the first week of excavation, 78 kernels of corn were found at this site, the first time that cultivation of maize could be confirmed this far north on the Atlantic Coast.
Providence founder Roger Williams was brought to the top of Sugarloaf Hill in nearby Wakefield when treating with the Narragansett tribe.
[33] In January 1975, the Narragansett Tribe filed suit in federal court to regain 3,200 acres (13 km2) of land in southern Rhode Island which they claimed the state had illegally taken from them in 1880.
[34] In 1978, the Narragansett Tribe signed a Joint Memorandum of Understanding (JMOU) with the state of Rhode Island, Town of Charlestown, and private property owners in settlement of their land claim.
[citation needed] In a separate federal civil rights lawsuit, the tribe charged the police with the use of excessive force during the 2003 raid on the smoke shop.
[37] The Narragansett Tribe is negotiating with the General Assembly for approval to build a casino in Rhode Island with their partner, currently Harrah's Entertainment.
[citation needed] The tribe has plans to upgrade the Longhouse that it constructed along RI Route 2 (South County Trail) to serve as a place of American Indian cuisine and cultural meeting house.
[citation needed] The Narragansetts have undertaken efforts to review tribal rolls and reassess applications for membership, like numerous other tribes in the 21st century.
Scholars and activists see this as a national trend among tribes, prompted by a variety of factors, including internal family rivalries and the issue of significant new revenues from Indian casinos.
The US Supreme Court agreed to hear Carcieri v. Salazar (2009) in the fall of 2008, a case determining American Indian land rights.
[39] The suit was brought by the state of Rhode Island against the Department of the Interior (DOI) over its authority to take land into trust on behalf of certain American Indians.
[39] The authority was part of the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act, but the state argued that the process could not hold for tribes that achieved federal recognition after 1934.
In August 2017, the tribe held the 342nd powwow with events including the traditional grand entry, a procession of military veterans, dancers, and honored tribal representatives, and the ceremonial lighting of a sacred fire.
