Narragansett Tribe considers action over e-mail

Friday, July 13, 2007  

The Narragansett Tribe of Rhode Island is considering legal action over an e-mail that has stirred racial tensions in the town of Charlestown.

John Brown, the tribe’s medicine-man-in-training, said the e-mail could be considered a hate crime. He said the tribe plans to ask the U.S. Attorney and the state’s attorney general’s office to review the message.

"We are obligated to at least look at the possibility that there are issues here that deal with hate crimes," Brown told The Providence Journal.

The e-mail was written by Katharine H. Waterman, president of the town council. In it, she accused the tribe of misusing money that belongs to taxpayers. She also said the tribe's reservation was a gift.

Waterman apologized but the e-mail heightened tensions between the tribe and the town, whose campaign against one of the tribe's land-into-trust lawsuits has dragged on for a decade.

Get the Story:
Tribe ponders state, federal protest (The Providence Journal 7/12)
pwpwd

$rl Narragansett Tribe - http://www.narragansett-tribe.org

Official says Narragansett Tribe taking 'our' money (7/11)