Welcome to the Crandall Minacommuck Farm!
Food and culture are intimately connected, with both helping to sustain the well-being of any society. This was true for the Narragansett Tribe both before and after European arrival. Traditionally, the Narragansett were a hunter-gatherer people, who relied on the bounty of the sky, land, and sea for thousands of years. For countless generations, they celebrated thirteen thanksgivings, or one for each moon in a given year. The ripening and harvesting of various foods marked many of these thanksgivings, such as strawberries and cranberries. Others, like Nikommo, are in honor of the winter moon. Traditionally, the Narragansett cultivated plants such as chenopodium, sunflowers, and eventually maize, beans, and squash, which are commonly called the "Three Sisters." This mixed subsistence strategy was threatened by colonization and eventually outlawed by the English, who saw cultivated farming as the only way to "improve" the land. European farming was more intensive than Narragansett horticulture and the domesticated animals that Europeans brought devastated the Narragansett's shellfish beds and open planting fields.
Married since 1985, Dawn and Cassius are active members in the Narragansett Tribe. Cassius has worked in museum education, masonry, and currently at Natural Resource Conservation Service. Dawn has also worked in museum education, arts administration, and served as Narragansett tribal secretary and on other various committees. Both are also award-winning artists. Cassius makes longhouses, wetus, dugout canoes, pottery, baskets, and mats. Dawn makes clothing, jewelry, and, corn husk dolls; she also does beadwork, basketry and paints. Dawn and Cassius serve as head Narragansett dancers, and through Dawn's leadership, created the Northeast Indigenous Arts Alliance (NIAA).
In one of their many adventures together, Dawn and Cassius launched the Narragansett Food Sovereignty Initiative (NFSI) at Crandall Minacommuck Farm in 2015. They did so knowing how important food is for their Tribe to survive and flourish. As traditional food gatherers through hunting, fishing, gardening and gathering with their immediate and extended families, Dawn and Cassius carry with them the traditional values of food, which they have taught to their children and grandchildren.
The Crandall Minacommuck Farm is a unique 150-acre farm, surrounded by Rhode Island's second largest wetland that contains a large 100-acre white cedar forest, a site of both historic and cultural significance for Rhode Island and the Narragansett Indian Tribe. Under the management of Narragansett Food Sovereignty Initiative (NFSI) the Narragansett Indian Tribe hopes to provide Narragansett people and the Rhode Island community access to food, health, and wellbeing, now and into the future through sustainable agriculture, economic development, community involvement, and educational programs. One of the priorities of the NFSI is to reinstate the rich connection that the Narragansett and the local community had with this property through the continuation of agriculture and preservation of the land's historic resources.
The model of the NFSI is an economically sustainable one, where crop production supports infrastructure maintenance and community programming. Dawn and Cassius' goal is to create a social-collaborative site for farmers and community members through workshops, demonstrations of farming practices, and joint economic and infrastructure projects.
]]>When Ferris Babcock Dove (1915-1983) and Eleanor Dove (1918-present) opened the Dovecrest Restaurant in 1963, it was the first Native American restaurant in New England. Perched on Summit Road, the restaurant gained national attention for their Indigenous cuisine, including johnnycakes, succotash, as well as more unique dishes like racoon pie, bear, moose, and venison stew. The restaurant remained a fixture in the community for 23 years. In 1969, Princess Red Wing and the Dove family moved the Tomaquag Museum beside the restaurant, to better share Narragansett culture with the restaurant's patronage.
Ferris, also known as Chief Roaring Bull, graduated from Westerly High School and Bacone College in Oklahoma, formerly known as Bacone Indian University. He was a member of the National Guard and a supervisor at Electric Boat. Ferris was also the first Native American postmaster, serving for many years at the Rockville post office and as the President of the Rhode Island branch of the Postmasters League. Ferris was also active in the town of Exeter, serving as the town moderator and tax assessor for a multitude of years.
Ferris was also very involved in Tribal affairs throughout his life. He was the last traditional war chief among the Narragansett Tribe, earning this title through physical and mental feats and performing good acts for the community. He held this role until his death. Ferris also played a critical role in his Tribe's fight for federal recognition, testifying before Congress during the federal recognition process in the 1970s. Ferris died shortly after recognition was granted in 1983. The Dovecrest Restaurant was sold in 1984 and closed its doors forever in 1986.
Eleanor (Spears) Dove, or Pretty Flower, was born in 1918, growing up in, what was then, rural East Providence. In her youth, Eleanor modeled, worked as a caterer, and in a family restaurant. She met Ferris at a dance in East Providence, where she told her cousin, "I'll take the tall one." In 1938 she and Ferris were married at the Narragansett Indian Church. They raised four children in Charlestown prior to purchasing their homestead in Exeter, which became Dovecrest.
Eleanor was an active member of the Narragansett in her own right. Along with being head chef and manager of the Dovecrest, for years she was involved in the Business Professional Women's Foundation, the March of Dimes, and the Narragansett Indian Church Board. Eleanor turned 100 years old on August 1, 2018. Her most important role is mother, grandmother, mentor, and role model to many throughout the Native and non-Native community, a testimony she shared at her 100th birthday celebration.
Although the Dovecrest closed over 30 years ago, the locale is still special to the Narragansett community. Next to the building, the Tomaquag Museum remains open and more active today than ever. The adjacent Nuweetooun School was opened in 2003, educating Narragansett and other children for seven years. The school was headed by Lorén Spears, Ferris and Eleanor's granddaughter, who has served as the Executive Director of the Tomaquag Museum since 2003.
]]>On April 21st 1936, 22-year old Ellison Brown arrived at the Rhode Island State House and was met by a roaring ovation from the Rhode Island General Assembly. When asked to speak, he said "I did it for Rhode Island." What Ellison had done was win the Boston Marathon. Very few people had heard of Ellison the day before, but now he was the talk of the world. Newspapers far and wide were swept up by Tarzan's story, which often focused on his Indian heritage. Headlines aimed to sell papers, read "Hailed as 'First 100 Percent American' to Win Boston Marathon."
Born in 1913, Ellison Brown was the fifth of eight children to Otis Brown and Grace Ethel Babcock. As a child, Ellison earned the nickname "Tarzan" for his love of climbing and swinging from trees. His traditional Narragansett name was "Deerfoot." At 12, Ellison left school to help provide for his family, working as a manual laborer at Woods River Junction railroad. Following in the Narragansett tradition, Ellison's father taught him stonemasonry.
At 16, Brown started formal marathon training with Tippy Salimeno as his trainer. He ran his first Boston Marathon in 1933. In 1935, Brown ran with the support of his tribal community, finishing in 13th place only two days after his mother's passing. One of his mother's last wishes was that he run the race. Ellison showed up wearing an outfit made out of one of her dresses and finished the last 6 miles barefoot, after complaining about his shoes. Brown was often a showman-sometimes racing ahead so he had time to rest or eat.
Brown took first place in both the 1936 and 1939 Boston Marathons. Heartbreak Hill got its name in the 1936 race, when Johnny Kelley reportedly hit Ellison on the backside, which spurred him to victory, breaking Kelley's heart. After this win, Tarzan headed to Berlin with the U.S. Olympic team. He could not finish the race due to an injury and unfortunate disqualification. Although making the 1940 Olympic team, the games were cancelled due to WWII.
Brown was the first runner to break the 2-hour-30-minute mark for the marathon. In 1936, Brown won back to back marathons: the first in New York, followed by a race in New Hampshire, to which he hitchhiked overnight. These races took a toll and Brown suffered a double hernia later that week. Ellison often pushed himself beyond the breaking point because his winnings helped provide for his family.
In 1973, Tarzan was inducted into the National Indian Athletic Hall of Fame in Lawrence, Kansas. The following year, a dinner was hosted in his honor in Rhode Island. Hundreds came to celebrate, including many people from his marathon days. Even Johnny Kelley didn't miss the event!
Tragically, Brown was murdered in Westerly in August of 1975. He was struck by a vehicle while outside a bar in Misquamicut. Charges were filed against the driver, a young Connecticut man who had argued with Brown in the parking lot. Although gone, Brown will never be forgotten.
]]>Wanting to animate the ground that had become cold over the centuries, Princess Red Wing initiated the Great Swamp Massacre Ceremony in the late 1930s. The ceremony starkly contrasted with the 1906 dedication of the monument to the Great Swamp Fight. The Narragansett consider the event a massacre, not a "fight," because of the death of many non-combatants (women and children) during the violence. In preparation for the first ceremony, Princess Red Wing spent countless hours organizing participants in order to begin a much needed healing process. The ceremony both reawakened the consciousness of tribal members to the terrible massacre during King Philip's War and forced White community members to acknowledge the transgressions against Native peoples in Rhode Island. The ceremony has grown over the years and continues today. It includes a lighting of fires to honor the past, present, and future, songs, ceremonies, dancing, a roll call of fallen soldiers in various wars, as well as speeches by Native and non-Native people.
Princess Red Wing was born Mary E. Congdon in 1896 to Walter Glasko (Narragansett) and Hannah Weeden (Wampanoag). Mary received her tribal name from her mother, after the red wing blackbird, "to fling her mission far with grace, for ears that harken for the uplift of my race." She certainly did uplift her Tribe and countless more Native groups throughout her life.
Princess Red Wing designed the Narragansett Indian Tribe's Seal and was asked to help draft the Tribe's bylaws in 1934 after the Indian Reorganization Act was passed. And as mentioned, she was no stranger to pageants, parades, and dedications. During her life, Princess Red Wing was invited to events all over the country. But, she refused to attend the Mount Rushmore dedication in 1941 because it desecrated a sacred place. Princess Red Wing was elected Squaw Sachem of the New England Council of Chiefs in 1945, which enabled her to oversee sacred ceremonies. Although "squaw" can be used in a derogatory sense, "squaw sachem" was a traditional Narragansett role. The term was reclaimed in the 20th century and used to empower Native women.
Princess Red Wing co-founded the Tomaquag Museum with friend and anthropologist, Eva Butler, in 1958. The museum's first home was Eva Butler's private residence, where it remained until Butler passed away in 1969. The Museum's second home was in Exeter, where Princess Red Wing moved the museum in 1972 so that she could share her tribal knowledge with the many patrons of the Dovecrest restaurant, living with the Dove family for years. She stepped down from her role at the Tomaquag Museum in 1984.
Nine years earlier, Princess Red Wing was given an honorary doctorate at the University of Rhode Island, an acknowledgment of her many achievements. In 1978, she was inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame, which only includes a few Native American inductees: Canonicus, Miantonomi, Massasoit, Metacomet, and Ellison 'Tarzan' Brown. She died in 1987 at the age of 91 and is buried in Pascoag. Princess Red Wing was a tireless activist, passionate educator, celebrated artist, and gifted storyteller who made critical contributions to society on behalf of the Narragansett tribe and throughout broader Indian Country during a challenging time in Native history.
]]>Near this location in 1741, Mary Wilkinson found Sarah Muckamug crying after a visit from the father of her four children, Aaron Whipple, an enslaved man living in Providence. Their relationship was over after more than a decade. The couple had never married, Aaron refused to live with Sarah or help "maintain" their children. He had also started a new relationship with another Native woman. Sarah had just left her older three children as indentured servants to Richard Brown of Providence. When Mary Wilkinson found Sarah, she had been passing through on her way to the Hassanamisco Reservation in Massachusetts with her infant child, Joseph. Mary Wilkinson and her husband Israel allowed her to build a wigwam and stay on their property. Although the women had only recently met, Sarah needed to share the cause of her sorrow with someone.
While the exact date of her birth is unknown, Sarah Muckamug was born in the early 1700s to Peter Muckamug (Narragansett) and Sarah Robbins (Hassanamisco Nipmuc). Both of her parents had been indentured in Providence after King Philip's War.
Starting in the 1720s, Sarah Muckamug was indentured in John Whipple's Towne Street home for at least a dozen years. In 1728 Sarah Muckamug entered into a "union" with Aaron Whipple, a black slave also living in John Whipple's home. They had at least four children between 1729 and 1740: Rhoda, Abigail, Abraham, and Joseph.
In 1729, Sarah Muckamug's mother, Sarah Robbins was allotted 100 acres at Hassanamisco, prompting her and Peter to take up full-time residence there. In addition to farming, Sarah Robbins and Peter Muckamug leased some of their land to local Whites, a common strategy for many Native landowners to secure additional income. This practice occasionally led to land disputes and land grabs (seizing of property through unscrupulous business/social practices). In 1740, Peter died.
The following year (1742) Sarah Muckamug left the Wilkinson's land and returned to Hassanamisco with her infant son, Joseph. By 1744, Sarah Muckamug was well established in Hassanamisco and had another child, also named Sarah, with Fortune Burnee, a free Black man living in the community.
Sarah Muckamug's mother, Sarah Robbins, died in 1749. The following year, Sarah Muckamug herself became ill with "a long sickness," dying the following year in the home of Hezekiah Ward, a White neighbor. The arrangement had been ordered by the Indian trustees for the Hassanamisco reservation. By the time of her death, Sarah Muckamug had accrued medical expenses totaling 13 pounds, not including her burial costs. Hezekiah Ward petitioned for payment. To settle these debts, some of her family's lands were sold and her 11-year old son Joseph was indentured. Debt accrual was a too common reality that often broke apart Native families and made them unwillingly part with ownership of ancestral lands.
Sarah Muckamug's story illustrates the larger issues at play for Native families through the 18th century where servitude, illness/death, debt, and land sales became vicious cycles, manipulated by colonial powers to continually subjugate Indigenous people on a number of fronts. Sarah's life also shows us the complex role that marriage or "intermarriage" between First Peoples and individuals of African descent, free or enslaved, played in Colonial Native life.
]]>The church that you see here today was not the original structure built on this site in 1750. The earlier church was made of wood; its chimney can still be seen in the interior of the current church. Here, Samuel Niles was one of the first in a long line of Indian ministers that had connections to the Narragansett Indian Church. Upon his death in 1785, Niles was laid to rest in the church's burial ground. He was dearly loved by his family and community, having one of the most finely carved headstones in the cemetery.
Niles was born in 1706 and served as a traditional spiritual leader, or pawwaw, to the Narragansett before converting to Christianity during the "Great Awakening." Niles was not accepted by the English and accused of preaching without license. In 1750, Niles formed a Separatist Christian community and served many Native communities throughout his life, including the Narragansett, Niantic, Mohegan, Montauk, and Pequot. Niles broke from traditional Christianity in many ways. For one, while he was accepted by his Native peers, he was never properly ordained through the process of the "laying of hands." Secondly, he was illiterate; though, this did not stop Niles from preaching the word of God in his own way.
Revolution was on the minds of many in 1776, including the Narragansett, who expelled minister Joseph Fish and schoolmaster Edmund Deake from the reservation. Both were working and living there, having been sponsored by the New England Company. The Narragansett preferred the preaching of fellow Indians, whether sanctioned or not. For some time, Fish had decried the Narragansetts' preferences, saying in a letter "They had rather follow that ignorant, proud, conceited, obstinate Teacher, poor Samuel Niles, than Attend regular preaching of Sound Gospel Doctrine." The Narragansett likely preferred Niles because he blended their traditional ways with Christianity. For one, Niles understood the importance of their annual powwow. Accordingly, he ensured that the powwow was sponsored by the Church.
Niles was politically involved in his community at a rather tumultuous time. By the mid/late 18th century, the English strategy to abuse, intoxicate, and lure Native people into debt was taking its toll on every tribe in the region. Niles opposed the actions of Sachem Thomas Ninigret (1738-1769), who was illegally selling Narragansett land. Many of the land sales were done in response to immense debt that Thomas Ninigret and his family (not the tribe) had accrued in Rhode Island and abroad while Thomas attended school in England, an arrangement made for him and his family when "King Tom' was still a boy. Niles and other Narragansett tribal members urged a moratorium on the sale of Narragansett lands, while others demanded he step down as Sachem. A temporary moratorium on land sales was granted in 1767.
Niles continued to preach until his death in 1785. One of the most famous Indian preachers of the 18th century, Mohegan minister Samson Occom, saw Niles as a true mentor.
]]>Within a mile of this location, Metacomet, also called King Philip, and his men were ambushed by Captain Benjamin Church of the Plymouth Colony on August 12, 1676. Church had followed Metacomet to his long-time stronghold on Montaup (Mount Hope) after two years of heavy fighting between Colonial and Native forces dubbed "King Philip's War" (1675-1676). In the "Miery Swamp" near Mount Hope Bay, Metacomet was shot in the heart by John Alderman, a Native man fighting for Captain Church. Falling face down in a small stream, Metacomet took his last breath on lands that he knew well. Metacomet was then beheaded and quartered¬-a truly barbaric act. His body was strung in the trees so his remains would be scattered. From Mount Hope, Metacomet's head was sent to Plymouth, one hand was sent to Boston, and Alderman was given the other.
Metacomet was the younger son of the Wampanoag Massasoit (Great Sachem) Ousamequin. Metacomet was born before 1640 and had an elder brother, Wamsutta (Alexander) and at least three sisters. When their octogenarian father Massasoit died in 1661, his eldest son, Wamsutta became the Chief Sachem. Wamsutta and Metacomet married a pair of sisters, with Wamsutta marrying Weetamoo and Metacomet marrying her younger sister, Wootonekanuske--two daughters of the Pocasset Sachem Corbitant.
In 1662, Wamsutta was called to Plymouth to answer conspiracy charges. On his return home, he became ill and died shortly thereafter with rumors of a poisoning among many. Metacomet, the newly instated Sachem, grew to despise the English for the death of his brother and other cultural and political issues. When Swansea was settled in 1667, Metacomet fumed. Swansea was settled on land that the English did not own. Moreover, the settlement was just a stone's throw away from Montaup. When the English learned of Metacomet's anger, they forced him to surrender his firearms. The United Colonies denied his claims of appeal and imposed such a heavy fine that he was forced to sell the Wampanoag lands in Swansea. The final straw came in 1675 when three Wampanoag men were executed for murdering John Sassamon, a Christian or "praying Indian." Sassamon was an English informant who had recently warned Plymouth of a brewing Indian uprising.
By 1675, Metacomet had gathered Native allies across the region to fight English colonists. While much of the fighting occurred in Massachusetts, Rhode Island did not go unscathed. Metacomet's forces attacked Pawtuxet, Warwick, and Providence. Roger Williams' Providence home was destroyed in the early months of 1676. Local tribes, like the Narragansett, were immeasurably impacted by the conflict.
During the war, most "praying Indians" and other Native people were rounded up and sent to Deer Island in Boston Harbor. John Eliot and Daniel Gookin, a missionary and Major-General, were so disturbed by these events that they attempted to ferry supplies to Deer Island, for which they were both nearly hanged. In late 1676, Metacomet's wife Wootonekanuske and their nine-year-old son were captured by Captain Benjamin Church and sold into slavery in the West Indies, along with many other Native prisoners.
]]>Miantonomi and Canonicus lived and ruled in a period of extreme change for the Narragansett. Although there were no colonists in the region when Miantonomi was born (c. 1600), early trading interactions between Europeans and First Peoples eventually turned into increasing waves of colonists arriving. By 1640, there were 20,000 English in southern New England. Miantonomi and Canonicus ruled as dual Sachems. A Sachem is a paramount leader or chief in an Algonquian tribe. The practice of having dual Sachems was common among the Narragansett and other Algonquians.
In 1636, Canonicus and his nephew Miantonomi befriended Roger Williams, a newcomer to the area who had been banished by the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The uncle and nephew deeded Williams a portion of land in 1638, which Williams named Providence. One of the boundary markers was Neutaconkanut Hill, a visible high point.
While to Williams this transaction meant that he owned these lands, to the Narragansett, land could never be bought or sold. As such, they likely thought that they were sharing land with Williams and his followers. Subsequently, the Narragansett were shocked when they were unable to move freely about the land, with fences and stone walls at every turn and courts readily prosecuting them for trespassing--a very foreign concept indeed.
At the time, colonists knew of Miantonomi's political power in the region. In 1632, Boston even hosted him for a formal dinner. Governor Winthrop remarked that Miantonomi "was very deliberate and showed good understanding of justice, equity, and ingenuity."
During the Pequot War (1636-37), the Narragansett, led by Canonicus and Miantonomi, allied with the English against the Pequots, who were enemies prior to European arrival. Williams' colony was essentially left defenseless if not for the Narragansett's support of the English. At the time, Narragansett animosity also extended to the Mohegan Tribe. The Mohegan Tribe were a group of Pequots that previously separated and had become increasingly hostile because of English encroachment and disagreements between two Sachems: Sassacus and Uncas. Although enemies with the Pequots, the Narragansett were horrified when the English killed Pequot women and children at Mystic Fort during the war. This went against the Narragansett code of war and was an act the English had sworn they would not do. From then on, Miantonomi increasingly distrusted the English.
After the war, rumors soon swirled that Miantonomi was planning an uprising. In the fall of 1640, Miantonomi was again called to Boston, but this time it was to answer conspiracy charges. Miantonomi asked Roger Williams to serve as his interpreter, but Williams, having only been banished five years earlier, did not accompany him. Shortly after the meeting, the newly formed United Colonies of New England learned of a rousing speech Miantonomi made to encourage tribes to join him in an uprising. The United Colonies wanted Miantonomi to be stopped.
In 1643, Uncas, the Mohegan Sachem, finally captured Miantonomi and brought him to Hartford, where the English held him as a prisoner. Not knowing what to do with him, they returned Miantonomi to the Mohegan, which was likely a strategy to pit Native communities against each other. In captivity, Miantonomi was assassinated by Wawequa, Uncas' brother, which likely relieved the United Colonies. Canonicus died in 1647, reportedly brokenhearted from the loss of his nephew.
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