“I can see Manisses”

If Denali can change its name, should Block Island?

By Steve Ahlquist in Rhode Island's Future

Block Island - another place where European settlers slaughtered
local Native American people

Nick Kirkpatrick in the Washington Post speculated a few days ago that Block Island might be a candidate for renaming in the wake President Obama’s executive decision to revert the name of Mt. McKinley back to the Native American name Denali. As Kirkpatrick explains it:

“For thousands of years, Native Americans called this pear-shaped island in southern Rhode Island ‘Manisses‘ (‘Island of the Little God,’) until it was visited in 1614 by Dutch explorer Adriaen Block, who renamed it after himself. Block? Have you ever heard of him?”

Boston.com elaborated somewhat on the history, saying, “War soon broke out between native groups and colonists,” and suggested that, “Given Block’s legacy, maybe the island, as the Post suggests, deserves its old name back.”

I called Blake Filippi, the independent Representative whose district includes includes all of Block Island (as well as Charlestown and portions of Westerly and South Kingstown,) what he thought of the idea. 

Though he wouldn’t comment on the idea’s merits, he did point out that in his opinion, Block Island residents would have to vote to amend the town charter, and that such a name change could not be done through executive action, as was the case with Mt. Denali. 

EDITOR'S NOTE: Filippi holds the view that the federal government has no powers other than those expressly written in the US Constitution and is part of the "Tenther Movement." Tenthers believe that states have the right to "nullification" - to declare null and void any federal action that does not appear in the Constitution. That philosophy led to the Civil War and was effectively ended when the South lost to the North.

Filippi also corrected my pronunciation of “Manisses” which is properly “Man-uh-sees” and doesn’t rhyme with “missus.”

I placed a second call to Nancy Dodge, town manager of New Shoreham, located on Block Island. I asked her if the residents of Block island were open to the idea of changing the name from “Block island” to Manisses.

“I don’t sense a groundswell of activity on this,” said Dodge, adding that such a change didn’t seem likely.

Steve Ahlquist is a writer, artist and current president of the Humanists of Rhode Island, a non-profit group dedicated to reason, compassion, optimism, courage and action. The views expressed are his own and not necessarily those of any organization of which he is a member. atomicsteve@gmail.com
Twitter: @SteveAhlquist