{"id":31014,"date":"2023-04-12T04:01:40","date_gmt":"2023-04-12T08:01:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/2023\/04\/12\/brian-lightfoot-brown-narragansett-tribe-still-fighting-for-its-sovereignty\/"},"modified":"2023-07-31T18:35:30","modified_gmt":"2023-07-31T22:35:30","slug":"brian-lightfoot-brown-narragansett-tribe-still-fighting-for-its-sovereignty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2023\/04\/12\/brian-lightfoot-brown-narragansett-tribe-still-fighting-for-its-sovereignty\/","title":{"rendered":"Brian Lightfoot Brown: Narragansett Tribe still fighting for its sovereignty"},"content":{"rendered":"\"Narragansett<\/a>
Dancers at a Narragansett Tribe powwow in Rhode Island. The powwow, held every August, is the oldest recorded gathering of its type in the United States. Photo: Jack McLane<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n
40 Years Later<\/div>\r\n
Wednesday, April 12, 2023<\/div>\r\n
By Brian Lightfoot Brown<\/div>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nApril 11, 1983. The Narragansett Indian Tribe of Rhode Island<\/a> had gained federal recognition and acknowledgment. It took approximately a full century to reclaim official tribal status after it was illegally taken away by the Rhode Island General Assembly during a series of hearings between 1880 and 1884, without the legally required federal sanction.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nThis illegal \u201cdetribalization\u201d<\/a> was utilized as a tool to sell off Narragansett tribal lands. It also served as a form of literary genocide, writing the Narragansett tribe out of documented existence. The tribe made several attempts to reclaim their land and status to no avail.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nThis \u201cdetribalization\u201d would have negative impact that the Narragansett still contend with today. The tribe continued to be ignored into the early 20th century, until 1936 when Ellison \u201cTarzan\u201d Brown burst onto the scene with his legendary, Heartbreak Hill-naming victory in the Boston Marathon, over the previous year\u2019s winner, the iconic Johnny Kelley.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nEllison \u201cTarzan\u201d Brown\u2019s victory<\/a> helped to earn him a spot on the U.S. Olympic team, but it also propelled the existence of the Narragansett people back in to the public\u2019s awareness. Brown would go on to win the Boston Marathon, again, in 1939. Sadly, the Narragansett continued to be swept under society\u2019s rug otherwise.\r\n

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Forty-six years ago, one of the greatest athletes and a true Indigenous icon, made the transition from a star on earth to a star in the sky. @UrbanN8VWarrior #EllisonBrown #TarzanBrown #Narragansett https:\/\/t.co\/kqt3by428u<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

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<\/P>\r\nOn June 18, 1934, the Indian Reorganization Act<\/a> (IRA) was passed, stating that tribes now under federal jurisdiction could follow the land-into-trust process. The Narragansett, due to the illegal actions of the Rhode Island General Assembly from 1880 through 1884, were not under federal jurisdiction. However, it was understood that it intended to mean at the time federal status was obtained. This was planting the seeds of many clashes the Narragansett would go on to have with the state of Rhode Island. \r\n

<\/p>\r\nIn 1975, the tribe filed a lawsuit over land that had been taken from them by unfair means. The lawsuit was settled in 1978 as the Rhode Island Indian Land Claims Settlement Act<\/a>. The Narragansett regained 1800 acres of land around their reservation in Charlestown, Rhode Island. \r\n

<\/P>\r\nHowever, the state did implement some stipulations that have also created disputes between tribe and state ever since. The tribe agreed that the land would be under legal jurisdiction of Rhode Island laws and taxes, with the exception of aboriginal hunting and fishing rights.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nThe next step was to file for federal recognition, something the Narragansett would have certainly obtained decades earlier, if not for the illegal detribalization of about 100 years before. Then it finally happened. On April 11, 1983, the Narragansett tribe was a federally recognized tribal nation. \r\n

<\/p>\r\nThe recognition status gave the Narragansett access to federal funding for healthcare, education and a multitude of other needs to assist tribal members. Internal disputes have risen up from time to time, but the tribe\u2019s biggest opposition has been the U.S. government. In particular, their own home state of Rhode Island.\r\n

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Hiawatha Brown of the Narragansett Tribe: \u201cWe were the last to come into this federal system. We are going to be the first to be removed. It\u2019s apparent.\u201d #StandWithMashpee<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

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<\/P>\r\nIn the 1990s, the Narragansett began attempts at having a casino in the state. The tribe\u2019s first major attempt was defeated at the polls, where the tribe hoped to build a casino in the town of West Greenwich, Rhode Island, in 1994. Just a few years later, Senator John Chafee snuck a rider onto an Omnibus Bill at the last moment, stating that the Narragansett tribal land was to be treated as settlement land and not usable through the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. Chafee pulled this move to block the Narragansett from possibly building a gaming facility on tribal lands.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nThe Narragansett were astonished at the fact that the courts did not uphold the tribe\u2019s status as a sovereign nation. Fast forward to July 14, 2003. The Narragansett Indian Smoke Shop raid. The tribe was running a tax-free smoke shop on tribal land, believing it was their right to do so, as a sovereign nation.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nThen Rhode Island Governor Donald Carcieri felt otherwise. Carcieri sent a large force of state troopers to the smoke shop to issue a search and seizure warrant. The media cameras that were there caught the state troopers forcing their way through customers and tribal members, arresting several tribal members. Public opinion weighed strongly against the actions of the troopers, but the smoke shop has remained closed ever since.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nFormer Governor Carcieri\u2019s final blow to the Narragansett came when he filed suit against the Secretary of the Interior, then Ken Salazar, stating that the Narragansett were not able to have land placed into trust for housing, because the tribe wasn\u2019t under federal jurisdiction when the IRA became law. \r\n

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