Narragansetts, Langevin meet over tribal rights

By Katie Mulvaney

CHARLESTOWN — Narragansett Indian leaders say they pressed U.S. Rep. James R. Langevin yesterday for congressional hearings on restoring their rights as a federally recognized Indian tribe.

“We would hope, certainly, that some of the entitlements that belonged to the tribe would be returned to the tribe,” said John Brown, the medicine man in training who serves on the Tribal Council.

Langevin met with Brown, Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas and three tribal elders yesterday at the tribe’s Four Winds Community Center, on Route 2, Brown said. It was the start of a daylong tour of Charlestown that included stops at St. Mary-St. James Food Pantry and the Kettle Pond Visitor Center.

Of concern to Narragansett leaders are recent court rulings they say threaten their sovereignty. In particular, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last year — in a decision the Supreme Court declined to review — that the state police had the authority to execute a search-and-seizure warrant on Narragansett land in Charlestown to stop the tribe from illegally selling tax-free cigarettes.

Brown charged yesterday that the decision was “politically based as opposed to legally based.”

Read more here: http://www.projo.com/news/content/LANGEVIN6_07-06-07_AC69D0B.34c4af2.html