Rhode Island Genealogy

Rhode Island and King Philips War

During the 17^th century a war erupted in colonial America that was fought throughout Rhode Island. King Philips War, named after the Native American called Metacom who was referred to by colonists as Philip, saw fierce fighting between Native Americans and the settlers in Rhode Island. King Philips war was not isolated to Rhode Island, and battles were fought in other settled areas of America. But this war was the final struggle fought by the Native Indians of Rhode Island. When the war had ended the various tribes that lived in Rhode Island had to relinquish any power they once held in the area over to the British.

The build-up to war

The outbreak of war has been attributed to both long term and short term causes. In the long term, relations between colonist and native Indians became increasingly strained over time because of the constant increase of settlers arriving in the Rhode Island area. This meant that resources became less abundant and disputes over land began to flare up. Another long term reason for the conflict was the foreign diseases like smallpox, typhoid, and measles that spread among the Native American tribes as quickly became pandemics.

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Popularity: 68% [?]

Roger Williams (circa 1603 – between January and March 1683) was an American Protestant theologian, and the first American proponent of religious freedom and the separation of church and state. In 1636, he began the colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, which provided a refuge for religious minorities. Williams started the First Baptist Church in America Providence before leaving to become a Seeker. He was a student of Indian languages and an advocate for fair dealings with Native Americans.

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Popularity: 100% [?]

The Wampanoag originally spoke a dialect of the Massachusett-Wampanoag language, which belongs to the Algonquian languages family. Currently English speaking, the Wampanoag are spearheading a language revival under the direction of the “Wampanoag Language Reclamation Project.”

The rapid decline of the Wampanoag language began after the American Revolution. At this time, New England Native American communities suffered from huge gender imbalances due to premature male deaths, especially due to military and maritime activity. Consequently, many Wampanoag women were forced to marry outside their linguistic groups, making it extremely difficult to maintain the various Wampanoag dialects.

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Popularity: 23% [?]

The Wampanoag (pronounced /ˌwɑːmpəˈnoʊ.æɡ/; Wôpanâak in the Wampanoag language; alternate spellings Wompanoag or Wampanig) are a Native American nation which currently consists of five tribes.

In 1600 the Wampanoag lived in southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island, as well as within a territory that encompassed current day Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket and the Elizabeth Islands. Their population numbered about 12,000.

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Popularity: 16% [?]

The Niantic, or in their own language, the Nehântick or Nehantucket were a tribe of New England Native Americans, who were living in Connecticut and Rhode Island during the early colonial period. Due to intrusions of the Pequot, the Niantic were divided into an eastern and western division. The Western Niantic were subject to the Pequot and lived just east of the mouth of the Connecticut River while the Eastern Niantic became very close allies to the Narragansett.

The division of the Niantic became so great that the language of the eastern Niantic is classified as a dialect of Narragansett while the language of the western Niantic is classified as Pequot-Mohegan.

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Popularity: 19% [?]

Mohegan-Montauk-Narragansett (also known as Pequot-Mohegan, Narrangansett, Montauk, Secatogue, Stockbridge, Shinnecock-Poosepatuck) is an extinct Algonquian language formerly spoken in part of what is now known as New England and Long Island.

The earliest study of the language in English was by Roger Williams, founder of the Rhode Island colony, in his book A Key Into the Language of America (1643), largely a study of the Narragansett language.

As of 2010, the Shinnecock and Unkechaug nations of Long Island, New York, had begun work with the State University of New York at Stony Brook, Southampton Campus, to revive their languages, or dialects of the above.

Source: Wikipedia.

Popularity: 21% [?]

The Narragansett tribe are a Algonquian Native American tribe from Rhode Island. Today they are enrolled in the Narragansett Indian Tribe of Rhode Island, a federally recognized tribe.

The Narragansett tribe controls the Narragansett Indian Reservation, 1,800 acres (7.3 km2), or 3.357 square miles acres of trust lands in Charlestown, Rhode Island. A small portion of the tribe resides on or near the reservation, whose population is 60, according to the 2000 U.S. Census.

Additionally, they own several hundred acres in Westerly.
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Popularity: 96% [?]

Miantonomoh (1565? – August 1643), also spelled Miantonomo or Miantonomah, was a chief of the Narragansett tribe of New England Indians, nephew of their grand sachem, Canonicus (died 1647). He seems to have been friendly to the English colonists of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, though he was accused of being treacherous.

In 1636, when under suspicion, Miantonomoh went to Boston to prove his loyalty to the colonists. In the following year, during the Pequot War, he permitted John Mason to lead his Connecticut expedition against the Pequot Indians through Narraganset country. The Pequot were defeated in this war. In 1638, he signed for the Narraganset the tripartite treaty between that tribe, the Connecticut colonists and the Mohegan Indians, which provided for a perpetual peace between the parties, and Miantonomoh was given control over eighty of the two hundred Pequot. However, conflict continued with the Mohegans over control of the Pequot people and land. Miantonomoh tried to organize other tribes throughout the English colonies in a union against the English.

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Popularity: 18% [?]

Canonicus (c. 1565 – June 4, 1647) was a Native American chief of the Narragansett. He was a firm friend of English settlers.

Canonicus was born around 1565. He was chief of the Narragansett tribe when the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, and one of the first with whom they had dealings. In 1622, he was inclined to wage war against the colony. This was a serious matter, since he could muster about 3,000 warriors. As an intimation of his mood, he sent to the governor a bundle of arrows tied with a snake skin. The skin was filled with powder and bullets and returned. Negotiations followed this defiant answer, and peace was established outlasting the life of Canonicus.

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Popularity: 15% [?]

This week we continue a series on the history of Rhode Island:

Providence Plantation was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a theologian, independent preacher, and linguist on land gifted by the Narragansett sachem Canonicus. Roger Williams, fleeing from religious persecution in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, agreed with his fellow settlers on an egalitarian constitution providing for majority rule “in civil things” and liberty of conscience. Roger Williams named the colony Providence Plantation, in recognition of agriculture as the basis of its economy and believing that God had brought him and his followers there. Williams named the other islands in the Narragansett Bay after virtues: Patience Island, Prudence Island and Hope Island.

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Popularity: 17% [?]