By Elizabeth Abbott, The New York Times

It is known that Native Americans lived in every state in this country, including Narragansett, Rhode Island. New archaeological evidence of the Narragansett Indians’ presence in that area has been discovered.

Some people were  exhilarated by the discovery:

“The discovery of the Indian village has excited archaeologists because of the insights it may give into how Indians lived in pre-Columbian times. To find the remains of an entire village is rare, according to archaeologists; only one other village similar in scope and complexity has been found on the East Coast, in Virginia.”

Others,  such as the development firm, Downing Salt Pond Partners, who own the property, are not exactly jumping for joy over the discovery. The firm has  already built a shopping plaza and 26 single-family homes on the land, and  they intend to  build 53 additional houses.

“The state is seeking to create a public archaeology park out of private land that Downing had already started to develop, not only violating the developer’s private property rights but also causing it considerable financial harm, the lawsuit states.”

The company is claiming that the state does not have the right to take the private land owned by Downing without compensation. Unfortunately, the state does not have the money, and is appealing to the public for support. So, the question is do we value the preservation of history and traditon, or  the rights of  the private property owners.

We at Talking Feather believe in the old adage “knowledge is wisdom”-

In other words, leave the Narragansett Indian site as it stands.

Read the article and leave your comments which are appreciated.