“The Indians Are Coming! The Indians Are Coming!” - Watson
Thursday, March 17, 2022
“The Indians are coming! The Indians are coming!” It’s as if we’re still living in the late 1600s and the settlement of Providence is getting ready to be burned to the ground. Those sentiments are often how it feels when trying to have ANY discussion about “Indians” in Rhode Island. I use the term “Indian” intentionally and you’ll understand why as this commentary progresses. But man oh man, I tell ya, whenever the topic gets brought up, it seems that a lot of Rhode Islanders are absolutely terrified to even acknowledge the subject matter, never mind be productively engaged in the discussion.
“I didn’t know there were anymore Indians left in Rhode Island.” That one’s always fun. Particularly given the fact that in the early 1900s Providence was the third largest community of American Indians in the U.S. Additionally, Rhode Island is home to a federally recognized American Indian Tribe. This isn’t ancient history; this is here and now. How could they not know? It doesn’t make any sense.
“You don’t look like an Indian.” This one’s even better because it shows a complete lack of understanding about what an “American Indian” actually is. For those who may be unaware, in American law “American Indian” is a political status, not a racial designation. See Morton v Mancari (1974). From this perspective, “You don’t look like an Indian.” is equivalent to stating “You don’t look like a diplomat; a foreign national; a political refugee; an asylum seeker; etc . . . .” Sounds outrageous, right? But apparently not right when it comes to the “Indians” . . . and it makes no sense.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“How much Indian are you?” This is definitely one of my favorites. I recall having a fantastic conversation on Facebook with a self-proclaimed English-Irishman who was adamant that I needed to take a DNA test to prove that I was an actual Narragansett. In true Two Hawks fashion, I responded that given the history that the English and the Irish have with one another, I imagined that his Irish ancestors must be rolling in their graves to hear him proudly proclaim to have English blood. He didn’t like that much; I didn’t much care. I don’t have much of a stomach for trying to rationalize willful ignorance . . . especially when it makes no sense.
“Are you federally recognized?” This one is probably the most sensible. First and foremost, no I’m not. There’s only one federally recognized Tribe in the State of Rhode Island, and I am not an enrolled member of it. That being said, and with all due respect, “What does being federally recognized have to do with being an Indian?”
True, there are over 500 Indian Tribes that have established such relationships with the Federal government. But there are also several hundreds of Tribes across the US that have established state recognition relationships instead. Does that somehow make those state-recognized Tribes less Indian than the federally recognized Indian Tribes? What about Tribes like my Tribe, the Mashapaug Nahaganset Tribe. My Tribe hasn’t officially formalized any relationship with the U.S. Federal Government or the State of Rhode Island. Are we somehow less Indian than the other Indian Tribes? If you’re following my logic, then I’ll ask again; “What does being federally recognized have to do with being an Indian?”
In fact, let’s go deeper. The federal recognition process was established in 1978. If we are to use federal recognition as the sole determinant for who is a “real Indian,” then the logical question is “Who was a ‘real Indian’ before the federal recognition process was established?” It can’t be that “real Indians” magically appeared in 1978 after hundreds of Indian treaties, numerous Indian Wars, a 1924 Indian Citizenship Act, and a 1968 Indian Civil Rights Act. Clearly, there had to be “real Indians” around before the federal recognition process was established in 1978. If so, then I’m at a complete loss to understand; “What does being federally recognized have to do with being an Indian?” Indians were around before federal recognition was established. It makes no sense.
I share these sentiments because a bill was recently introduced into the General Assembly—2022 - H 7471—to create a process for “Native American” tribes to be recognized by the State of Rhode Island. Let me be the first to say that this is a great step in a positive direction. I take my hat off to the legislators who have taken the first step towards trying to make things right with the local Indian Tribes. That said, there’s still work that needs to be done.
First, the Tribes are “American Indian” not “Native American.” As previously expressed, “American Indian” is a political status in American law reserved for individuals whose blood heritage predates European colonization of the Americas. “Native American” doesn’t mean the same thing or hold the same political status in American law. Contemporarily the terms have been used interchangeably for the purposes of political correctness; but from a legal perspective, there’s really no space for the two to mix. Properly, if you’re going to call me anything other than an “American Indian”, then call me a Narragansett, from Mashapaug. But please, with all due respect given to the intentions of the act, many of the Tribes don’t want to be recognized as “Native American,” It doesn’t make any sense.
Secondly, many of the Tribes are concerned that the current bill inappropriately places the decision to determine who is a legitimate Indian Tribe at the foot of the Governor of Rhode Island. The Tribes see that as very problematic primarily because we all know how politics in Rhode Island can go. There is a real concern that even if the Tribes had faith in such a process, there would be some element of favoritism or Rhode Island political might that would eventually force its way in to muddy up the waters. Further—and I’ll just say it flat out—I really don’t think the Governor wants to be in the mix of trying to determine who a real Indian is in Rhode Island. It’s ugly business and can even have unnamed parties stooping as low as to spread rumors that you’re not actually who you say you are; that your mother’s not your actual mother, that your family’s not your actual family, and that you were adopted as a child . . . all in an effort to prove that you’re not a “real Indian;” or at least not as real of an Indian as they are. SMH. With everything else going on in the State, and with people acting like that, why would the Governor want to proactively be placed in such a position? To me, it just doesn’t make any sense.
Lastly, the Tribes are primarily concerned that most of the Tribes weren’t effectively engaged when the bill was created. That’s not to say that the legislators intentionally chose to leave any of the Tribes out. It is to say that most of the Tribes were not effectively engaged.
We’ll chalk it up to a general misunderstanding of the politics among the local Tribes. As a general rule of thumb, and for future reference, nobody should be looking to any one Tribe to speak as an authority for all of the Tribes that inhabit Rhode Island. Nor should anybody be looking to a nonprofit as any legitimate authority to speak on behalf of any Tribe unless you have confirmed with the Tribe itself that the nonprofit has the right to speak on its behalf. Each Tribe is an individual, autonomous entity and should be—and by law must be—dealt with on an individual basis and with the same care and nuance as the State deals with any of its Cities and Towns. In short, don’t try to find “the Indian;” go and speak to “the Indians”. Anything else just doesn’t make any sense.
I’ll close my commentary this week by saying this. Governor McKee; Representatives Vella-Wilkinson, Williams, Amore, Barros, Baginski, Solomon, Kazarian, Morales, McEntee, and Marszalkowski; Rhode Islanders in general . . . the Tribes are still here (Eniskeetompoag!) and they are open to engaging with you if this is indeed a sincere effort. Please do not hesitate to proactively reach out.
That’s my three cents.
Raymond Two Hawks Watson
Watson is a civil rights leader in Rhode Island. He has an accomplished career in business. He is the founder of the Providence Cultural Equity Initiative. Watson holds a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science from Union College in NY, a Master's Degree in Community Planning from the University of Rhode Island, and is a current Juris Doctorate Candidate at the Roger Williams University School of Law. Watson is also the recipient of the Rhode Island Foundation’s 2016 Innovation Fellowship.
