About 30 people protest outside a Narragansett Tribal Council meeting, calling the leadership a 'dictatorship' for ejecting some people from the tribe.

01:00 AM EST on Sunday, February 26, 2006

BY BENJAMIN N. GEDAN
Journal Staff Writer

CHARLESTOWN -- Nearly 30 protesters, shivering, drumming and chanting slogans, gathered yesterday at the Narragansett Indian Tribe community center to demand access to a Tribal Council meeting.

They assailed the tribal government as an oppressive "dictatorship," called for justice, and repeatedly sought entry into the crowded meeting chamber.

The protesters failed to gain entry. But the presence of the crowd at the Four Winds Community Center, on Route 2, highlighted the intensifying anger among people who claim Narragansett ancestry but are denied tribal membership.

That group grew significantly late last year, when the tribe adopted stricter membership standards and a genealogical investigative committee identified at least 100 people whose documentation it deemed insufficient.

That group, including then-Tribal Council member Yvette Champlain, lost voting rights in tribal elections as well as access to federally financed low-income housing and health care. Since then, Champlain said, several elderly Indians have been denied medical treatment and medicine.

The move enraged Champlain, 40, and prompted some to accuse tribal leaders of culling the membership rolls to avoid sharing the enormous payouts promised by Harrah's Entertainment if it builds a casino in Rhode Island in conjunction with the Narragansetts.

"It's their greed," said Glenda Hazard, 53, of Providence, as she paced along the roadside in yesterday's 29-degree weather.

The removal of more than 100 Narragansetts, apparently the largest change in tribal membership in a decade, has bolstered the ranks of those fighting to join the tribe, including many who have never been recognized. Already, the outcry has forced the postponement of last month's Tribal Council elections.

Many of the protesters who gathered yesterday outside the wood-shingled community center insisted that their recognition as Narragansetts by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs should satisfy the tribal genealogist.

"You can't be Indian your whole life and then they kick you off," said Danielle Johnson King, 36, of South Kingstown, who was ejected last year from the tribe.

A Narragansett Tribal Police officer blocked a Journal reporter from attending the monthly Tribal Council meeting. In a telephone interview, the tribe's chief sachem, Matthew Thomas, strongly denied that the tribal government hopes to concentrate Harrah's payments in the hands of a few members.

The decision to review all 2,800 members, Thomas said, followed a general discussion of membership standards. Federal dollars are scarce, he said, so the tribe must be diligent in scrutinizing members' lineage.

"People think there's gold somewhere. You wouldn't believe how many people say they are Narragansetts," Thomas said. "You've got to be of Narragansett blood, and you've got to prove it."

Several members were removed in 1997 for failing the genealogy test during a similar campaign. In 1993, the tribe denied membership to members of the large Weeden family, sparking a public dispute.

To gain membership, an applicant must provide documents proving that his or her relatives were on the tribal roll of 1880. Federal recognition is irrelevant, Thomas said, and except for newborns, the tribe has admitted no new members since 1994.

Thomas' critics, however, see more sinister intentions at work. Lashonna Semedo, 36, of Providence, said the same self-identified Narragansetts recruited to protest the 2003 smoke shop raid are now being cast adrift.

The organizers of yesterday's protest said they would picket again tomorrow outside the tribal administrative building.

"They figure they get the casino and there's less they'll have to pay out," King said. "Don't put us on the outside. We're all connected."

bgedan@projo.com / (401) 277-8072