Story at a glance
- The Rhode Island Narragansett tribe has regained control of its ancestral land where a battle with English colonists nearly killed off the tribe in 1675.
- The five acres of sacred land was returned to the tribe on Friday by the Rhode Island Historical Society.
- The tribe commemorated the return of its sacred land Saturday morning, lighting three small fires to represent the past, present and future.
The Rhode Island Narragansett tribe has regained control of its ancestral land where a battle with English colonists nearly killed off the tribe in 1675.
The five acres of sacred land was returned to the tribe on Friday by the Rhode Island Historical Society, which acquired the land in 1906 from the Hazard family.
The Hazard family were among the earliest settlers of Rhode Island.
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The land in the woods of South Kingstown is believed to have been the location of the “Great Swamp Massacre” on Dec. 19, 1675, where hundreds of tribe members were killed by English colonists who considered it a fortification, despite the Narragansett people having decided to remain neutral in King Philip’s War.
The tribe commemorated the return of its sacred land Saturday morning, lighting three small fires to represent the past, present and future.
“For many years, the Narragansetts were visitors to a place that was theirs,” John Brown III, the tribe’s medicine man and historic preservation officer, told The Boston Globe. “Now that this has happened, we know we can go back to a place of our forefathers, where there was happiness and sorrow, and we can go there as rightful owners.”
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