The legal disputes over the Nisachuk Rock Piles continues. Originally submitted by coldrum.
As a boy, John Brown remembers traveling with his family to the wooded hills in northwest Rhode Island where his fellow Narragansett Indians gathered near stone piles they believe were left by ancient ancestors. That belief is now at the center of a struggle between the rural town of North Smithfield and a developer who wants to build a 122-lot subdivision on the land.
The town suspects the piles are burial mounds, and has filed a lawsuit asking a judge to declare the land a historic burial ground. But the developer contends the piles were left behind by farmers or loggers, and has been pushing since 2001 to build.
Little is known for certain about the hundreds of rock mounds near Nipsachuck Hill and swamp. The piles of granite, slate and quartz rocks on hilly, forested land there are generally two feet or taller. Similar mounds have been found along the Appalachian Mountains and into eastern Canada. The land was a crossroads for several historic American Indian tribes in southern New England, including the Nipmuc, Narragansett and Wampanoag. Two battles were fought there during the 17th century King Philip's War, a bloody conflict between New England's colonists and the Wampanoag tribe and its allies.
Nineteenth century maps show that American Indian families continued to live and farm in the Nipsachuck area, said Donald Gagnon, chairman of the North Smithfield Conservation Commission.
Brown, the historic preservation officer for the Narragansett tribe, said the stone mounds appear to be man-made and probably mark a burial or ceremonial ground common to several tribes. Narragansett Indians continued to gather there for sunrise ceremonies and other commemorations into the 1960s or 1970s, when conflicts with property owners halted the meetings, he said.
"We would meet there and discuss that it was a meeting place of our ancestors, and that we come at this time to give acknowledgment of those people that have passed," Brown said.
The housing development, proposed by the Narragansett Improvement Co. and two other firms, was first rejected in 2001 by town authorities because the subdivision would have leveled the hilly landscape, among other reasons. (Narragansett Improvement is not related to the Narragansett Indian Tribe.) The developers filed a second proposal in 2005 but, after a lawsuit, it was rejected by the town in April.
Michael Kelly, an attorney for the developers, would not comment in detail about the dispute, but says the town's most recent lawsuit is a ploy to block the development.
Town officials say they just want to enforce building laws and protect burial plots. Under state law, local governments must establish a 25-foot perimeter around historic cemeteries or even suspected burial sites. If enough burial sites are identified, it could make parts of the development site off-limits for building.
In addition to the stone mounds, old property deeds refer to family cemeteries within the proposed development, Gagnon said.
Kelly's clients paid a private archaeologist nine years ago to excavate several areas on the property. Kelly would not say what was found, but he said the archaeologist determined the area was not a burial ground.
But last year, the town hired Meli, who owns an archaeological consulting firm in North Kingstown, to conduct several walking surveys of Nipsachuck Hill and swamp. He found multiple artifacts that he believes show the site was in use by humans before the first Europeans arrived.
He identified a triangular boulder that he thinks is a Manitou stone, an American Indian marker used to identify areas of spiritual significance. He also recovered a stone ax in the debris of one partially toppled rock pile. Elsewhere, Meli found several rock projectile points.
Still, none of these clues proves the mounds are burial grounds. No one is certain exactly what lies beneath the ground, but Gagnon said he thinks the court might require more excavations. The lawsuit is pending, and a Superior Court judge has not yet set a date for arguments.
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