Information about Narragansett (tribe)

For other uses of the term, see Narragansett (disambiguation).

The Narragansett tribe, or more accurately Nahahiganseck Sovereign Nation, are a Native American tribe who controlled the area surrounding Narragansett Bay in present-day Rhode Island, and also portions of Connecticut, and eastern Massachusetts. The Nahahiganseck culture has existed in the region for thousands of years, trading extensively, and the town of Narragansett, Rhode Island, is named after them. Although they suffered greatly from King Philip's War, the Narragansett absorbed members of other tribes to reboost numbers, especially the Niantic tribe, now fully merged into the Narragansett. According to tribal rolls there are approximately 2,400 members of the Narragansett Tribe today.

The museum of the Nahahiganseck is the Tomaquag Indian Memorial Museum in Exeter, Rhode Island. The school for the Nahahiganseck children is the Nuweetooun School at the same museum.

The word "Narragansett" means, literally, "[the people] of/at the small, narrow point." Some members still speak the original Algonquian language although it had died out and was only partially reclaimed from books in the early 20th century. The Nahahganseck spoke a Y-dialect of the Algonquian language, similar enough to the N-dialects of the Massachusett and Wampanoag to be mutally intelligible. Other Y-dialects include the Shinnecock and Pequot languages. In the 17th century, Roger Williams, a co-founder of Rhode Island, learned the tribe's language, documenting it in his 1643 publication A Key Into the Language of America. Williams gave the tribe's name as "Nanhigganeuck," of which "Narragansett" seems to be an English corruption. A number of loan words have been absorbed into the English language from Narragansett and other closely related languages such as Wampanoag and Massachusett; such words include quahog, papoose, powwow, squash, and succotash.

History

When the English started colonizing New England (1620), the Narragansetts were the most powerful native nation in southern New England. Massasoit of the Wampanoag nation allied himself to the English at Plymouth as a way to protect the Wampanoags from Narragansett attacks.

In the fall of 1621, the Narragansetts sent a "gift" of a snakeskin filled with arrows to the newly established English colony at Plymouth. The "gift" was really a threatening challenge. The governor of Plymouth, William Bradford, sent the snakeskin back, but this time it was filled with bullets. The Narragansetts understood the message and did not attack the colony.

In 1636, the Narraganestt sagamores (leaders) sold the land that became Providence to Roger Williams. During the Pequot War, the Narragansetts were allied to the New England colonists. However, the brutality of the English shocked the Narragansetts, who returned home in disgust.

In 1643 the Narragansetts under Miantonomo invaded what is now eastern Connecticut. The plan was to subdue the Mohegan nation and its leader Uncas. William Bradford reports in chapter 33 of his history of Plymouth Of Plymouth Plantation that Miantonomo had between 900-1000 men under his command. The invasion turned into a fiasco, and Miantonomo was captured and then executed by Uncas' brother with a hatchet.

The following year, in order to keep the peace, Canonicus (the new leader of the Narragansetts) and his son Mixanno, signed a peace treaty with the New England colonists at Boston. The peace would last for the next thirty years, but the encroachment of the growing colonial population gradually began to erode any accords between natives and settlers. As missionaries began to convert tribal members, many natives feared the assimilation of native lifestyle into colonial culture. The colonial push for religious conversion collided with native resistance to assimilation, and in 1675, John Sassamon, a converted "Praying Indian," was found bludgeoned to death in a pond. Specifics surrounding Sassamon's death never surfaced, although it is widely accepted that Metacomet, the Wampanoag Sachem, may have ordered Sassamon's execution because of his cooperation with colonial authorities concerning the growing discontent among Wampanoags. Three Wampanoags were arrested, convicted, and hanged for Sassamon's death. Metacomet subsequently declared war on the colonists

Setting aside tribal tensions of the previous five decades, the Narragansetts decided to ally themselves with the Wampanoags under the leadership of Metacomet (Anglicanized as King Philip). The allied warriors of the Narragansetts and Wampanoags waged a guerilla war against the colonists of Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. After just a few months of fighting, the native forces had burned the settlement of Newport to the ground and heavily damaged Providence. The natives also waged successful attacks on settlements in Massachusetts and Connecticut. The colonial leaders of the Massachusetts Bay colony declared war on the Narragansetts and Wampanoags. In spite of waging a successful campaign against the colonists, the allied native forces began to run low on supplies and retreated to northern Rhode Island to open a cache of corn. The Pequots of Eastern Connecticut, now allied with the English colonists, knew of this cache and helped the colonists ambush most of the native warriors en route to the cache. Subsequently, the Rhode Island colonists converged on southern Rhode Island, in the Great Swamp, where the Narragansetts has built a palisaded fort that housed the women, children and elderly of the tribe. Seeking retribution for the destruction of Providence and Newport, the Rhode Island colonists attacked the fort in what is now known as the Great Swamp Fight in December, 1675. Hundreds and perhaps thousands of women and children were killed in this conflict, which may be better labeled as a massacre. Following this event, the surviving Narragansetts were either sold into slavery or absorbed by other local tribes.

Footnote: In 1676, Joshua Tefft was executed at Smith's Castle in Wickford, Rhode Island. He was an English colonist who fought on the side of the Narragansett during the Great Swamp Fight battle of King Philip's War. He may be the only person ever hanged, drawn and quartered in United States history (Metacomet himself after his death was beheaded and quartered-but not hanged).

Present history

Many members of the Narragansett Indian Tribe of Rhode Island (the official name used by the Bureau of Indian Affairs circa 2003) reside on or near the Narragansett Indian Reservation (population 60, according to the 2000 U.S. Census, although only nine of these residents were of Native American descent), land held in trust by the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations and located in the Town of Charlestown, Rhode Island. The land area is 8.694 km² (3.357 sq mi).

On July 14, 2003, Rhode Island state police raided a tribe-run smoke shop on the Charlestown reservation, the culmination of an ongoing dispute between the tribe and state over the tribe's right to sell tax-free cigarettes.^[1] In 2005 the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals declared the police action a violation of the tribe's sovereignty. In 2006, an en banc decision of the First Circuit reversed the prior decision, stating the raid did not violate the tribe's sovereign immunity.

The Narragansett Tribe is busy in negotiations with the General Assembly in order to allow them to build a casino in Rhode Island with their partner, which is currently Harrah's Entertainment. Currently, the Rhode Island Constitution declares all non-state run lotteries illegal. An amendment to the Constitution allowing the tribe to build the casino was voted down in November 2006.

In December 2006 hundreds of Tribal members were told that they are no longer Narragansett Indians. The prospects of financial gain have caused this division within the tribe. Tribal elders are left with no medical coverage, and some have been denied meals on wheels, which is a great concern for this elderly population. Abolished members have banded together in an attempt to separate themselves from the southern faction.

In February 2007 The Northern Narragansett Indian Tribe of Rhode Island was officially incorporated. The newly formed tribe comprises descendants of the indigenous people of Rhode Island. The Northern Narragansett Tribe of Rhode Island will seek state recognition, as most members of this newly formed tribe are already federally recognized members of the Narragansett Indian Tribe based in southern Rhode Island. The Northern Tribe will have an economic development plan that does not include gambling. The tribe plans to develop partnerships with the State of Rhode Island and the city of Providence that will create jobs and economic stability for the community at large. The plan is to make Providence one of the richest cities in the United States, as it once was in the early 1900s.

See also

• Massasoit, sachem of the Pokanoket and Wampanoag tribes.
• King Philip's War fought by English colonists against sachem Metacomet.

References

External links

• Narragansett Reservation, Rhode Island United States Census Bureau
• Reference book on Narragansett
• Narragansett Indian Tribe Official Site
• Narragansett Language information
• Mohegan-Montauk-Narragansett page from Ethnologue website
• Tomaquag Indian Memorial Museum
• Nuweetooun School
• Narragansett Language information and speculation

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