According to an editorial written by Princess Red Wing, the name The Narragansett Dawn was chosen at a tribal meeting in December 1934 in order to signify “the awakening after so long and black a night of being civilized” (“Our Purpose”). This quote begins to suggest the quietly subversive nature of the paper. The general tone of many of the articles is a sort of defiant and proud resistance to the dominant narratives about Indians in American culture at this time. Native people were often portrayed as savages who needed to be civilized by the stronger hand of white people, to be forcibly taught about Jesus, Shakespeare, and white bread in order to become worthwhile members of society. In response to this depiction of their people, Indians like the founders of the Narragansett Dawn worked to create an image of their communities as close-knit and tradition-based. Moreover, looking to the future, George D. Jordan insisted that, “to preserve the best that was and now is in this culture shall be the primary function of this organization” (“The American Indian”). The Narragansett Dawn was both a way for Red Wing and Hazard to do this in the present and a platform through which they could call upon other Native people and allies to do so in the future.
This sort of resistance to the hegemony of white American culture is perhaps explained by a consideration of the history of the Narragansett tribe. The Narragansett tribe was a prominent nation of Native people in Rhode Island and other parts of New England before the arrival of European settlers in the 1600’s. Their cultural values and way of life led them to resist the influence of English settlers in very “passive” ways. Unlike the Pequot nation, who challenged the English in direct combat, the Narragansett people rebelled against the English by going to other tribes and keeping them from signing treaties with the English (Boissevain). They also teamed up with the Dutch to resist the English in 1653.
Because of these trends in their history, the Narragansett nation become intermingled with many different bloodlines. For instance, Princess Red Wing, one of the founders of The Narragansett Dawn, was actually only half Narragansett; her mother was Wampanoag (Poon). Partially because of the ubiquity of this blood mingling, the Narragansett tribe was particularly susceptible to the trend of detribalization in the late 1800s. The General Allottment Act, passed in 1887, distributed land previously held by the tribe to settlers and forced many Narragansett people to leave Rhode Island. In addition, the state of Rhode Island claimed that the blood of the members of the Narragansett tribe was not pure enough for them to ever become federally recognized (Geake).
In 1934, just before the launch of the Narragansett Dawn, the United States federal government issued the Indian Reorganization Act, which allowed tribes to make claims to land and govern themselves. Since this seemed to reverse some of the effects of the General Allottment Act, the Narragansett Tribe began to believe that they could regain a sense of their own communal identity. Political activists from the Narragansett community spoke out in hopes of reawakening the spirit of their people, who had been so long oppressed and diminished. One such activist was Princess Red Wing, who held tribal events out of her home and initiated the publication of The Narragansett Dawn. In the editorials she wrote for the paper, she invoked the Narragansett people’s pride in response to governmental claims regarding their ancestry and purity. The Narragansett Dawn was therefore a manifestation of a mounting sense of community among the Narragansett people in the 1930’s, as well as a sort of throwback to the passive resistance the tribe championed in its earlier days.
The Narragansett Dawn was broken into multiple sections, which varied from issue to issue. There were many that were consistent, though. One such section was the Narragansett Tongue, which contained lessons on common vocabulary, such as the names of animals, plants, and types of buildings, in the Narragansett language. A total of thirteen lessons were produced. Another section was Genealogy, which traced the lineage, both paternal and maternal, of significant figures in the Narragansett community. The paper also contained a section that was first named Greetings From Friends and later changed to the Narragansett Mailbox. It was similar to a "letter to the editor" section and contained letters written to the newspaper by its readers, both Indian and non-Indian. The letters mostly served to praise the paper or the tribe, or to express solidarity with its aim of stirring up a sense of community among the Narragansett.
The paper also featured identity sections, which described Narragansett items and values that displayed their cultural identity. They appear with varying titles pertaining to the topic, such as "Narragansett Fires" and "Pipe of Peace." There was also a section called Milestones that contained small bits of news, such as the announcement of births, deaths, weddings, and notable visits, that occurred in and around the Narragansett reservation in Rhode Island. There was also a news section called Sunrise News that was written for each issue by the Keeper of Records, a woman named Marion W. Brown. This section contained information on small, notable things that had taken place in the Narragansett community in each respective month. The paper also printed short articles on history, offering a Narragansett perspective on historical events such as the first Thanksgiving and King Phillip’s War.
There was also a decent amount of origin Indian poetry published in The Narragansett Dawn. These poems were usually quite short and often dealt with themes related to Narragansett culture and values, religion, and nature. An excerpt from one poem: "All that eye and heart could own / Rich domains to roam at will / When the morning sun went down / See him on his eastern hill” (“The Indian”). This poem, written by a poet called Flying Squirrel, presents an image of pre-colonial Narragansett life as idyllic and profoundly in touch with the natural world. Yet it also laments that this lifestyle is no longer possible after the past three hundred years of history: “Oh his Golden Age hath vanished / Like the moonlight from the hill” (“The Indian”). It therefore presents a less optimistic tone than much of the rest of The Narragansett Dawn, which is focused on the idea of reestablishing a sense of Narragansett identity and preserving the culture for posterity.
"The American Indian." The Narragansett Dawn. Feb 1936. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
Boissevain, Ethel. "Narragansett Survival: A Study of Group Persistence Through Adapted Traits". Ethnohistory 6 (4): 347. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
Geake, Robert A. (2011). A History of the Narragansett Tribe of Rhode Island: Keepers of the Bay. Charleston, SC: The History Press. pp. 126–128.
"The Indian". The Narragansett Dawn. Aug 1936. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
"Our Purpose". The Narragansett Dawn. Sept. 1936. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
Poon, Chris (12 Jul 2003). "Princess Red Wing: Preserver of Native American Traditions". Providence Journal.
Redwing, Princess and Ernest Hazard. “The Narragansett Dawn". URI Digital Commons. Retrieved 2 April 2013.
]]>waligek abaznoda gagalnemenal/ abaznodakad w’eljial.
A good basket holds its maker's hands.
(Jesse Bruchac, "Abaznodaal")
Baskets are very important in Abenaki culture, and Abenaki linguist Jesse Bruchac's poem describes them as having life within them. Abenaki oral tradition ties the people intimately to baskets by way of the natural materials used to make them. According to ethnohistorian Gordon Day, Western Abenakis believe that “man was created by Tabaldak… he created a couple from living wood who pleased him and who became the ancestors of the Indian race” (218).
In the Abenaki language, words are categorized as either “animate” or “inanimate.” The word for basket, abaznoda, is inanimate. And yet "inanimate" does not mean "less important." Day explains that “many things are alive that whites commonly regard as inanimate, and every living thing has its own peculiar power, more or less specific in kind and limited in quantity” (218). Elie Joubert, an author and teacher of the Abenaki language, elaborates on this point: an animate noun is “the Abenaki way of expressing connectedness with reverence to living things, celestial bodies, and the creation of all things great and grand on this land. The determination was made long ago, by our ancestors according to their view of the world at that time. We as speakers of the language do not question why one bush is animate and another is inanimate.”
The basket pictured here captures these relationships between the people, their history, and their land and resources. Unlike many of the fancy baskets seen in museums, it is a strictly utilitarian item--an unusual find, since baskets of this type were often thrown away. The Hopkinton Historical Society obtained this basket from a local farmer named Ebenezer Morrill (1806-1892), who reported that he got it from a Native woman who camped by the river in Contoocook.
In its original description, the Historical Society noted that this basket is sturdy, able to carry heavy items, and that it shows evidence of having been made in relative haste: its splints are not smoothed as they are in more decorative baskets; and its vertical warps are cut off, rather than folded in at the rims.
For all the humble nature of its design, this basket is nevertheless a powerful testament to Native people's continuous presence in the Hopkinton area throughout the 1800s, and in New Hampshire more generally, despite the persistent myth that they "vanished" from this state.
Like basketmakers, advocates and teachers of the language like Jesse Bruchac and Elie Joubert are working to ensure that Abenaki culture and will survive through many more generations. These teachers are adapting to new economies and technologies: Bruchac uses media like YouTube to document his children learning the language. Just as this utilitarian basket has survived two hundred years, carrying histories of its culture, the Abenaki language has also survived, carrying the stories and knowledge of the people who have lived along the river in Contoocook and in other areas of New England since time immemorial.
Bruchac, Jesse Bowman., Joseph Alfred Elie. Joubert, and Jeanne
A. Brink.L8dwaw8gan Wji Abaznodakaw8gan: The Language of Basket Making. Greenfield Center, NY: Bowman, 2010. Print.
Day, Gordon M. Title In Search of New England's Native Past: Selected Essays by Gordon M. Day. Univ of Massachusetts Pr, 1999. Print.
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