By Raven SiJohn, AAANativeArts.com. For 10 years I lived on the road selling Native American crafts and craft supplies at powwows across the United States, at a different reservation nearly every week of the year.
The Narragansett Indian Tribe is a federally recognized nation based in Charlestown, Rhode Island, with roughly 4,000 enrolled members and its own elected government led by a Chief Sachem. They have lived along Narragansett Bay for thousands of years, and they are very much still here today. This page is your guide to their history, language, traditions, and living culture, with links to deeper articles on each topic.
If you are drawn to the beadwork and art of the Eastern Woodland nations, our shop carries Native American inspired pieces and gifts that honor these traditions. You can browse them at NativeCrafts.us.
Where do the Narragansett live today?
The Narragansett live in and around Charlestown, Rhode Island, on a reservation of about 1,800 acres. The United States formally recognized the tribe in 1983, and the tribal rolls today list roughly 4,000 members.
The tribe governs itself through an elected Tribal Council led by a Chief Sachem, along with a Medicine Man, a Medicine Woman, and a War Chief. Major decisions are put to the whole tribal membership, which keeps the community closely involved in its own government.
Their land is not held in federal trust. A 2009 Supreme Court decision, Carcieri v. Salazar, blocked the Department of the Interior from taking newly bought Narragansett land into trust, and the tribe continues to seek a fix through Congress.
A brief history of the Narragansett
The Narragansett had lived along the coast of southern Rhode Island for thousands of years before Giovanni da Verrazzano reached the bay in 1524. When a devastating epidemic swept the region from 1616 to 1619, it largely spared the Narragansett while it crippled neighboring nations, and for a time they were the most powerful people in the area.
That balance did not last. After the Pequot War of 1637 and 1638, pressure from English settlers and rival tribes grew, and in 1675 the region erupted into King Philip's War. On December 19, 1675, colonial forces attacked a fortified Narragansett village in a frozen swamp and killed hundreds of older men, women, and children in what became known as the Great Swamp Massacre.
Survivors scattered and rebuilt over the next two centuries, and the community held together through repeated attempts by the state to end its tribal status. The tribe recovered 1,800 acres through a 1978 land settlement and won federal recognition in 1983.
Is the Narragansett language still spoken?
The Narragansett language went almost completely silent during the 20th century, but the tribe is working to bring it back. Much of what survives comes from a remarkable early record.
In 1643 the Rhode Island founder Roger Williams published A Key into the Language of America, one of the earliest studies of any Native language in North America. It captured a large part of the Narragansett vocabulary, and today the tribe and language workers use it and other old manuscripts to teach words and phrases again.
How the Narragansett traditionally lived
The Narragansett traditionally moved with the seasons. In winter they gathered inland in long houses that could shelter twenty or more people, and in summer they moved to the shore and built dome shaped wetus, also called wigwams, covered with bark and woven mats.
They fed themselves through a mix of farming, hunting, fishing, and gathering. Their fields grew the Three Sisters, corn, beans, and squash planted together, while the men hunted deer, bear, turkey, and other game in the woods and took fish, clams, and quahogs from the bay in dugout canoes large enough, by one account, to carry forty men.
What did the Narragansett wear?
The Narragansett traditionally dressed in clothing made from deerskin and other hides. Men wore breechcloths and leggings, women wore skirts and mantles, and both added robes of fur or feather work in cold weather.
They finished their clothing and ornaments with wampum, the small purple and white beads cut from quahog and whelk shells. Moccasins protected the feet, and shell and bead jewelry marked status and occasion.
Wampum and Narragansett art and crafts
The Narragansett were among the most skilled wampum makers in the Northeast. Turning the purple and white parts of quahog and whelk shells into tiny polished beads was slow, exacting work.
Wampum served as a record of agreements, a gift that sealed treaties, and a mark of honor, not simply as money. The tribe also made splint baskets, carved wood and stone tools, and pottery. You can read more about the craft in our guide to Narragansett wampum.
Narragansett religion and spiritual beliefs
The Narragansett honored a creator god named Cautantowwit, who they believed lived in the southwest and had made the other spirits and the first people. They credited the warm winds of Indian summer to his gentle court.
They also recognized Manitou, a spiritual power that ran through people, animals, and the natural world. Healers and spiritual leaders called powwaws led ceremonies, treated the sick, and guided the community, and the good were believed to travel southwest to Cautantowwit's house after death.
Narragansett burial customs
Traditional Narragansett burials reflected the belief that the soul journeyed to Cautantowwit's house in the southwest. Archaeology and colonial accounts show the dead were placed carefully in the ground, often in a curled position and oriented toward the southwest.
Families buried loved ones with grave goods such as tools, ornaments, and wampum for the journey ahead. Roger Williams wrote that the Narragansett grieved deeply and marked their losses with real ceremony.
Narragansett wedding customs
Detailed records of traditional Narragansett wedding customs are thin, and honest sources say only so much. Colonial writers noted that marriage was a community matter recognized by families and sachems, and that a leading sachem might have more than one wife.
Beyond that, specifics were rarely written down. We would rather leave this section short than invent detail, and we will expand our article on Narragansett wedding customs as stronger sources come to light.
The August Meeting: one of the oldest powwows in America
The Narragansett still gather every summer for the August Meeting, a powwow that colonial records trace back to 1675, which makes it one of the oldest recorded powwows in North America. It falls on the 2nd weekend of August each year, held on the tribal grounds in Charlestown.
The weekend centers on social and traditional dancing, drumming, and the coming together of families and neighboring nations. The gathering is open to respectful visitors, and it is one of the clearest signs that Narragansett culture is living and continuing, not a thing of the past.
Famous Narragansett sachems and leaders
The Narragansett produced several leaders whose names still carry weight in New England history. Canonicus and his nephew Miantonomi welcomed and dealt with the earliest English settlers, including Roger Williams, in the 1630s and 1640s.
Canonchet led the tribe during King Philip's War and was executed in 1676, and Ninigret guided the closely tied Niantic and Narragansett people through the hard years that followed. You can meet them in detail in our article on famous Narragansett sachems and leaders.
Quick facts about the Narragansett
- The United States federally recognized the Narragansett Indian Tribe in 1983.
- The tribe is based in Charlestown, Rhode Island, on a reservation of about 1,800 acres.
- Roughly 4,000 people are enrolled, and the rolls are currently closed.
- Roger Williams recorded the language in 1643, and the tribe is reviving it today.
- The August Meeting powwow, held on the 2nd weekend of August, dates to 1675.
- The 1616 to 1619 epidemic, that swept coastal New England (often called "The Great Dying") killed a huge share of the Wampanoag, Massachusett, and Abenaki peoples along the coast. It largely spared the Narragansett, who lived farther inland, and briefly made them the strongest nation in the region.
How to respectfully learn more about Narragansett culture
The best place to start is the tribe itself. Visit the Narragansett Indian Tribe's official website, and if you are near Rhode Island on the 2nd weekend of August, the public August Meeting powwow is a welcoming way to experience the culture in person.
You can also read Roger Williams' A Key into the Language of America and support Narragansett and other Native artists directly. Remember that some ceremonies are private, and treating those as off limits rather than as curiosities is part of showing respect.
Try Eastern Woodland style beadwork yourself
If seeing Narragansett wampum and beadwork makes you want to try beadwork of your own, our shop stocks the glass and shell beads, needles, and thread that many crafters use to make their own pieces. We are not tribal artisans ourselves, we simply supply the materials so you can create your own beadwork. You can find beading supplies at NativeCrafts.us.
Frequently asked questions about the Narragansett
Where do the Narragansett live today?
The Narragansett live in and around Charlestown, Rhode Island, on a reservation of about 1,800 acres. The federally recognized tribe has roughly 4,000 enrolled members and governs itself through an elected Tribal Council led by a Chief Sachem.
Is the Narragansett tribe still around today?
Yes. The Narragansett are a living, federally recognized nation with their own government, reservation, and cultural events. They gather each August for a powwow that dates back to 1675, and they are actively reviving their language and traditions.
What language did the Narragansett speak?
The Narragansett spoke an Algonquian language of the same family as their New England neighbors. It fell out of everyday use in the 20th century, but Roger Williams recorded much of it in 1643, and the tribe uses that record to teach the language again today.
When is the Narragansett powwow?
The Narragansett August Meeting powwow takes place on the 2nd weekend of August each year, on the tribal grounds in Charlestown, Rhode Island. Documented since 1675, it is considered one of the oldest recorded powwows in North America and is open to respectful visitors.
Who were the famous Narragansett leaders?
The best known Narragansett leaders include the sachems Canonicus and Miantonomi, who met the first English settlers, Canonchet, who led during King Philip's War, and Ninigret of the allied Niantic. Their decisions shaped the history of colonial New England.
The Narragansett today
The Narragansett are not a chapter in a history book. They are a modern nation that carried its identity through plague, war, and centuries of pressure, and they still govern themselves, gather each August, and teach their language to a new generation.
In my own years at powwows, the thing that stayed with me was how warmly living Native cultures welcome respectful curiosity. The Narragansett story is a good reminder that these nations are still writing their history right now.
Want to keep exploring? Browse our other Native American tribe guides, or find Native American inspired art and craft supplies at NativeCrafts.us.
"For 10 years I lived on the road, selling my Native American crafts and craft supplies at powwows across the United States, at a different reservation nearly every week of the year. Everything I share here comes from real experience, not just research." Raven SiJohn, AAANativeArts.com (Est. 1999)
