Narragansett People - Current Events

Current Events

The state and tribe have disagreed on certain rights on the reservation. On July 14, 2003, Rhode Island state police raided a tribe-run smoke shop on the Charlestown reservation, the culmination of a dispute over the tribe's failure to pay state taxes on its sale of cigarettes. 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 because of the 1978 Joint Memorandum of Agreement settling the land issues, in which the tribe agreed that state law would be observed on its land.

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. One Narragansett man suffered a broken leg in the confrontation. The case was being retried in the summer of 2008. Competing police experts testified on each side of the case.

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. The Rhode Island Constitution declares all non-state-run lotteries or gambling illegal. A proposed constitutional amendment to allow the tribe to build the casino was voted down by state residents in November 2006.

The tribe has plans to upgrade the Longhouse along US 2 (South County Trail) as a place of indigenous American cuisine and cultural meeting house. These plans have been in the works for well over 15 years. Originally built in 1940, the Longhouse has fallen into disrepair. Upgrades for Narragansett Indian tribal medical, technological, and artistic systems are also being planned.

The late 20th and 21st century have brought new questions of Native American identity. Like numerous other tribes, the Narragansett have recently undertaken efforts to review tribal rolls and reassess applications for membership. They currently require tribal members to show direct descent from one or more of the 324 members listed on the 1880-1884 Roll, which was established when Rhode Island negotiated land sales that appeared to take away their tribal status.

The current population numbers about 2400, and the tribe has closed the rolls. They have dropped some people from the rolls and denied new applications for membership. 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), a case determining Native American land rights, in the fall of 2008. The Court ruled in favor of Rhode Island in February 2009. The suit was brought by the state of Rhode Island against the Department of Interior (DOI) over its authority to take land into trust on behalf of certain American Indians. While the authority was part of the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act, the state argued that the process could not hold for tribes that achieved federal recognition after 1934. The US Supreme Court upheld the state. At issue is 31 acres (130,000 m2) of land in Charlestown which the Narrangansett purchased in 1991. After trying to develop it for elderly housing, in 1998 they requested the DOI to take it into trust on their behalf to remove it from state and local control.