Post King Philip's War

Before the 17th century, the land of Rhode Island was entirely inhabited by various tribes of Indigenous Peoples. The Narragansett Population occupied most of today’s current state of Rhode Island, but mainly lived in present-day Providence. Prior to European colonization, over 144,000 Indigenous peoples lived in New England1, and the Narragansett population itself was composed of over 10,000 members.2 However, with the start of colonization of the land in the 1630s, and with the settlement of the city of Providence by Roger Williams in 1636, the Indigenous population in the area began to decline . Although Williams created a land agreement with the Indigenous Population in the area, and focused on making sure their rights were not violated by the Europeans who began to settle the land, the other colonizers did not follow this agreement to the extent which Williams had hoped for.3 The result of this was a severe decline in the native population, as the Europeans brought with them many diseases and epidemics.1

From 1675-1677, a battle between the native peoples and the colonizers, known as the “King Philip's War” was fought on the Rhode Island - Massachusetts border, and resulted in great losses for both sides. Many European settlements were destroyed, and the colonizers lost about 1.5% of their population. The Indigenous people suffered greatly, as over 3000 members of the Indigenous tribes were killed, resulting in a 15% population decrease.4 

After this battle, the Indigenous population continued to decline, reaching almost extinction in the 19th century when the census counted only 32 Indigenous people left living in the state.1 In the meantime, colonization of the area continued, and the city of Providence began to thrive as more Europeans travelled to the state. Today, the Narragansett population sits at about 2400, while the population of the city of Providence is about 180,000.2 

Today, Providence is trying to improve its reputation regarding its relationship with the Indigenous Population, and rectifying some of the mistakes made in the past. Many protests and rallies have taken place, pushing for the city to officially change the celebration of Columbus Day to Indigenous People’s day, highlighting the history of the Indigenous populations and the ways in which they suffered rather than celebrating a colonizer such as Columbus who mistreated and exploited the native people that he met. Organizations such as the Tomaquag museum have also been working diligently to spread information about these tribes and to tell their stories, many of which have been lost or misinterpreted over time due to the effects of colonization and expansion of the state. Most recently, the city has produced a land acknowledgement, entitled “A Matter of Truth'', explaining the truth behind the stories of the Indigenous peoples in the area, and how the city plans to reconcile and repair the damages that have been done with those tribes. This document includes a seven part narrative of the history of the relationship between the city of Providence and both the native tribes in the area and the African American population that was forced into slavery. This narrative covers over four hundred years of stories, spanning from the 1600s up until the present day, and how the city still needs to improve the way it treats the BIPOC community.5 While there is still much work to be done, we are very recently beginning to see an improvement in the acknowledgement of Indigenous peoples and their stories, and work is starting to be done in order to make sure that the native population of Providence and of all of Rhode Island is accurately represented and shared with all members of today’s society.