Indigenous Land Acknowledgments Are a Thing Now - Raymond Two Hawks Watson

Thursday, June 02, 2022

Raymond Two Hawks Watson, MINDSETTER™

Indigenous land acknowledgments are a thing now. One need only review the numerous press releases coming out of major academic institutions, town councils, and community-serving organizations, and it becomes very apparent that land acknowledgments have become a real thing. To me, it makes sense. Therefore, I generally applaud the effort. There should be more land acknowledgments.

If we’re being honest, there is no American history that does not begin with a European interaction with an Indigenous nation. Whether it was Columbus, Verrazano, the Pilgrims, or any other colonial-era historical narrative that has been scribed, they all begin with meeting indigenous populations that were inhabiting these lands before them. So yes; I’m in favor of indigenous land acknowledgments and I believe there should be more of them.

At their base, indigenous land acknowledgments are a form of educating the public about the specific history of particular lands. That’s important in and of itself. If you live in a particular area, as an engaged member of that community you should be properly informed about the history of where you live. Prior to European contact, the diversity of indigenous nations within a given area was tremendous. So much so that any attempt to generalize would utterly fail to fully encompass the true nuance and complexity of the associated history. So we shouldn’t. What we should do is be specific and intentional about acknowledging the narrative of a particular place and how it relates to the larger narrative of the shared community that we all call home. Indigenous land acknowledgments are a great way to achieve this goal.

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When we examine Rhode Island’s history specifically, we see unequivocally why indigenous land acknowledgments are both beneficial and warranted. In its January 1936 Session, the General Assembly of Rhode Island passed “Chapter 2331, an Act in amendment of and in addition to chapter 294, providing for an observance of a special holiday known as Indian Day, in recognition of the several Tribes of Rhode Island”. The Act is still on the books today and specifically acknowledges the Narragansetts, Wampanoag, Nipmucs, Aquednecks and Niantics. This is because history clearly demonstrates—and the General Assembly clearly acknowledged—there are several Indian Tribes that inhabit the lands Rhode Islanders now call home. As an aside, while “Indian Tribe” is the contemporary term used, to fully comprehend how Europeans perceived the complex form of governance and administration employed by the indigenous nations of New England, the term “Chiefdom” is more appropriate. Accordingly, I will use “Chiefdom” rather than “Indian Tribe” in the remainder of this commentary. This perspective shared, the next rational question is “Which part of Rhode Island do the Narragansetts, Wampanoag, Nipmucs, Aquednecks and Niantics specifically inhabit?”

One of my preferred depictions of the tradional boundaries of Chiefdoms is titled “Map of the Colony of Rhode Island: giving the Indian names of locations and the locations of great events in Indian history with present political divisions indicated”.  It was created and published in 1903 by Sidney S. Rider, a notable Rhode Island historian who was inducted into the Rhode Island Hall of Fame in 2007. Rider created the map to depict, in part, the traditional boundaries of the various Chiefdoms that traditionally inhabit the lands called Rhode Island. Rider’s map was entered by Act of Congress into the Library of Congress in the same year that it was published and should be considered a premier basis for starting to fully understand the complexity of the traditional boundaries of the Chiefdoms. The map specifically acknowledges the “Nahiganset” (contemporarily called “Narragansett”), Nipmuc, Niantic, Wampanoag, and Aquidneck Chiefdoms, and details subdivisions of these Chiefdoms, including the names of villages and sacred sites. As you should notice, these are the same Chiefdoms that were identified as “Indian Tribes” in the General Assembly’s 1936 Indian Day Act.

There are two elements that are of particular interest from the map. First, that present-day Charlestown, Hopkinton, and Westerly, the regions that most Rhode Islanders currently associate with the Narragansetts, are traditionally Niantic territory. Second, what is contemporarily referred to as Providence is not associated with any particular Chiefdom, but rather sits at the intersection of the Nahiganset and Pokanoket (contemporarily called “Wampanoag”) Chiefdoms. This alludes to the conflict between both Chiefdoms over the Moshassuck territories, what Rhode Islanders currently refer to as the East Side of Providence. This in turn calls into question the legitimacy of the land acknowledgment recently presented by Brown University, which acknowledges the Charlestown-based Narragansett Indian Tribe even though the University’s main campus is located in territories that can rightfully be claimed by the Pokanoket. This is why I say I’m generally in support of indigenous land acknowledgment. All of them aren’t that great

That negativity aside, these are prime examples of why indigenous land acknowledgments are beneficial and warranted. A generic “Rhode Island Indian” story won’t cut it; there’s too much great indigenous history to be explored.

So yes; I’m in favor of indigenous land acknowledgment. They make sense and I generally applaud the effort. There should be more indigenous land acknowledgments, especially here in Rhode Island. Rhode Islanders deserve to know the full and complete history of the lands they now call home.

That’s my three cents

Raymond Two Hawks Watson, JD, MCP

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