SCOOP: Narragansett Tribal lands about to expand by 105 acres

RI Transportation Department in negotiations to hand over Camp Davis to the Tribe

By Will Collette

Fasten your seat-belts  Charlestown, we’re about to go on yet another bumpy ride. I have confirmed that the RI Department of Transportation has acquired Camp Davis from the Providence Boys and Girls Club and is in the process of transferring the 104.9 acre site to the Narragansett Indian Tribe.

RIDOT’s acquisition is not yet reflected in Charlestown’s tax assessor database.

View Narragansett Tribal Lands and Camp Davis in a larger map. Land marked in purple are existing Tribal lands. Yellow means town ownership. Camp Davis is marked in orange. NOTE: These representations are approximate renderings simply to give you an idea what lands are in play in this transaction. See also the larger scale map at the bottom of this article to see the land in broader context. 

The land transfer is in compensation to the tribe for the disturbance of a very old, deeply buried Narragansett Indian village during the relocation of I-195 and reconstruction of the Providence viaduct. 

RIDOT has already agreed to purchase and preserve an important 53 acre site in Narragansett that once held an Indian village considered by many scholars to be one of the most critical archaeological sites on the East Coast.

The campground is located near the Narragansett Indian Church and would give the Tribe a contiguous swath of land stretching along School House Pond. Currently, the main portion of the Tribe's lands are split in two parts by town property and Camp Davis. If the Tribe acquired Camp Davis, it units the tribal lands.

Rep. Donna Walsh told me the Camp Davis land transfer from the state to the tribe will come with some land use restrictions that have not yet been negotiated. 

So far, the town of Charlestown has not been involved in these discussions nor the members of its General Assembly delegation. There is a meeting scheduled on Friday for RIDOT to meet with some of the interested parties.

I've heard that Charlestown's Special Counsel to fight anything and everything the Narragansetts want to do, "Injun Joe" Larisa, will be at the meeting, pretty much guaranteeing their will be a big fight.

The Charlestown Citizens Alliance Party has reflexively opposed any and all endeavors that would expand the Narragansetts’ power or land holding. If the CCA Party reacts as it has in the past, this land acquisition by the Tribe could boil up into a toxic stew pretty quickly.

I’ll bring you more details as they emerge.







Another map view of the properties in play:

Like the map at the top of the page, this representation is approximate to permit you to get a better idea where the Camp Davis property is located and how it relates to other tribal lands. Camp Davis is in orange. Existing tribal land is purple and town property is yellow. Ignore the icon for "Royal Indian Burial Ground." That's a Google Maps error - it's actually the site of the Narragansett Indian Church.