Chapter 800 ends the tribe (Rhode Island, January session 1880 to 1883)

SUMMARYChapter 800 ends the tribe (Rhode Island, January session 1880 to 1883) [Connections: Northeast & Mid-Atlantic, Nov 5, 2026]

RECORDThe General Assembly passed cap. 800 at its January 1880 session. Section 9: "the tribal authority of the Narragansett tribe of Indians shall cease, except for the purpose of carrying the provisions of this act into full effect." The detribalization list had 302 names in 1880 and 324 in 1881. The RIHS essay says about 927 acres of communal land were removed (all but 2½ acres around the Indian Church), and that the state paid $5,000 in total to the 324 people on the list (figure from a BIA memorandum). Some families refused to sign the rolls; some moved to Brothertown, Wisconsin

PATTERNThe same 1880s method as the federal allotment era: make a roll, buy out the land, declare the nation over

LENS (WW9)The roll that ended them is the roll that proves them. Today it is the base roll of the Narragansett Indian Tribe

OPENThe RIHS essay gives 1982 for federal recognition and 1983 for the BIA memo, so the dates need reconciling. Find the original reservation sale broadside (July 11, 1882)

SOURCEThe Narragansett Indians, 20 R.I. 715 (1898), quoting cap. 800; RIHS Encompass, "Narragansett History"; Wikipedia, Indigenous peoples of Rhode Island (302/324 roll figures). Primary: R.I. Public Laws cap. 800 (1880).