NARRAGANSET

Algonquian-speaking Indian tribe that occupied most of what is now Rhode Island west of Narragansett Bay. They were grouped in eight territorial divisions, each with a chief who was in turn subject to a head chief. Their subsistence depended on the cultivation of corn (maize), hunting, and fishing. The Narraganset maintained good relations with whites until King Philip's War (q.v.) in 167576, in which they sided with the hostile tribes. Soon after a battle at Kingston, R.I., in 1675 in which nearly 1,000 Narraganset were killed or captured, they abandoned their territory. Most joined the Mahican or Abnaki or fled to Canada, from where some later received permission to return. The latter were settled among other Algonquian groups that had remained neutral in the war. The combined tribes, known as the Narraganset, decreased in number, and in 1788 many joined Indian settlements in New York composed of remnants of various Algonquian tribes. Some joined the Mohegan in Connecticut, and a few remained near Charlestown, R.I.