Tribu De Estados Unidos

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Narragansett
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The Narragansett culture was an American Indian tribe located in western Rhode Island adjacent to Narragansett Bay. Their population was around 10,000 people in the 1600's. Because of diseases introduced by European colonists along with warfare, the population of the tribe plummeted to only 200 people. Their numbershave since rebounded and at present count there are 2,456 people in the Narragansett tribe.
The Narragansett were once a very powerful tribe. They often went to war with neighboring tribes in order to gain territory. When the European colonists first arrived, their diseases began to affect many of the other neighboring tribes. The Narragansett took advantage of this and started to take control ofneighboring territories. A man named Roger Williams befriended the Narragansett and they soon came to trust him. They even went to war with the Pequot as an ally of the colonists because of Williams. The Pequot were almost destroyed. Diseases started to affect the Narragansett people; their isolation did not help them for long.

The Narragansett Indian spent a great deal of their day in thefields tending to their corn crop which was their major staple. They gathered nuts and berries and other plants. The Narragansett were also very skilled hunters and fishermen; they used this to supplement their diet. The typical family lived in a structure called a wigwam. They spent a great deal of time building and repairing their canoes which was their primary means of transportation. They wouldseasonally move to where food was readily available, living by the coast in the summer and moving inland in the winter.
The Narragansett fought in the so-called King Philip’s War in 1675 which reduced their population dramatically. The tribe took on the colonists and England because their land was being taken away and their way of life was being destroyed. Even though they were allies before, thewar was inevitable. In December of 1675, the English and their Indian allies wiped out more than 20% of the Narragansett tribe in a single battle.
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Location
Narragansett Bay and western Rhode Island.

Population

Probably more than 10,000 in 1610, but by 1674 this had dropped to 5,000. The Narragansett lost almost 20% of their population in a single battle with the English in Decemberof 1675. Massacre and starvation soon killed most of the others. By 1682 less than 500 Narragansett remained. They were allowed to settle with the Eastern Niantic on a reservation at Charlestown, Rhode Island. Though increasingly racially intermixed, the Narragansett have been able to maintain their reservation, organization and population through the years. Federally recognized since 1983, theNarragansett tribal rolls currently list over 2,400 members, most of whom still reside in Rhode Island.
Names

Narragansett is an English corruption of Nanhigganeuck, their actual name meaning "people of the small point." The Dutch used the shortened form of Nahican.

Language

Algonquin. Y-dialect like the Pequot, Mohegan, Niantic, and Montauk.

Sub-Nations

Narragansett Confederation:Aquidneck, Chaubatick, Maushapogue, Mittaubscut, Narragansett, Pawchauquet, Pawtuxet, Ponaganset, and Shawomet (Shanomet).

Allied or Subject Tribes

Coweset (Nipmuc), Eastern Niantic, Manissean (Block Island Indians), and after 1653, the Metoac of Long Island. Narragansett Reservation 1682: Charlestown

Narragansett Reservation after 1682
Charlestown

Culture

Eastern Woodland. Wellorganized with central authority, the Narragansett were governed by eight hereditary sachems each subordinate to the grand sachem who usually resided in the largest village. Their villages of medium-sized longhouses were usually large, fortified and located on the islands of Narragansett Bay. They farmed extensively with large fields of corn, beans, and squash. Expert with the canoe, their diet...