Narragansetts and governor clash over land parcel

Sunday, Aug. 6, 2000 | 9:53 a.m.

The clash intensified last week when Gov. Lincoln Almond appealed the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs' decision to take the property into trust for the tribe.

Almond, a gambling foe, said state and local laws would no longer apply to the property and the Narragansetts could build a casino there without statewide approval.

"The Tribe had repeatedly and consistently attempted to operate a casino gambling facility within the state," the state said in a complaint filed in U.S. District Court.

Almond's attorney, Joseph Larisa, said the state doesn't want land "ripped" from its civil and criminal jurisdiction.

"It opens up a Pandora's box of issues that don't need to be there, not the least of which is gambling," Larisa told The Providence Sunday Journal.

But the tribe says the state's position is ironic. The state of Rhode Island wouldn't exist if it weren't for the Narragansetts, since the land had been "ripped" away from the tribe, said the tribe's chief sachem, Matthew Thomas.

"If anything, we're just getting a drop back," he said. "We're very disappointed that the state has taken this position."

The tribe says it wants to use the parcel for housing and has started building a housing development on the site.

The tribe received a $4.1-million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for the project. But a HUD audit last year blasted the Narragansetts for not following HUD spending guidelines and recommended that the agency either salvage the development or cut its losses.

Since then, HUD has pledged to continue working with the tribe.