There are a lot of problems with being a Native American in Rhode Island. For one thing, there are buildings I can’t enter because my headdress keeps getting tangled up in ceiling fans. Okay, I don’t really wear a headdress, but maybe I should. That way, people would realize that I am a proud member of the Narragansett tribe.
Only recently, I was at the Tomaquag Museum’s Cranberry Thanksgiving in Charlestown when a sweet, elderly woman came up to me. We had a pleasant exchange, but – for some reason – she felt the need to say, “You don’t look like an Indian to me, but I guess you are.”
I wasn’t thankful for cranberries right then, but I was thankful I was raised not to bust an old woman in the chops when she insulted me. Since I didn’t look like her version of what an Indian should be, I was glad I didn’t need her approval to be a Native American. You can’t go by looks anyway. Going to school in Rhode Island meant nearly constant fights with some knucklehead who called me the N-word. And that ‘N’ didn’t stand for native. But then I moved to the Navajo Nation in Arizona, where I met my wife. But some Navajos asked her why she married a white man! I guess my race depends on which side of the Mississippi River I’m on.
Being a Narragansett in Rhode Island isn’t for the faint of heart. I’ve been denied apartments which I am sure was due to race. As a minority, you grow used to seeing the look in someone’s eyes when they see you in person – and don’t like what they see. But it goes with the territory, I suppose.
I used to write a nationally syndicated column for Gannett News Service. They promised I could write about any topic I wanted. I quickly realized they wouldn’t run my column unless it was Indianrelated. I was told I wasn’t being “Indian” enough. I told them to look someplace else for their Uncle Tomahawk. Needless to say, that ended my syndicated column-writing days. Then, I moved back to Rhode Island and found myself working for my hometown paper, the Westerly Sun. It went well for years – until I wrote a column about how the Narragansetts had been mistreated by local politicians. The Sun’s publisher told me that my ethnicity was a problem. The next day, I was fired. So, which is it? Am I too Indian or not Indian enough? •
John Christian Hopkins is a member of the Narragansett Indian Tribe. He is a descendant of King Ninigret, and the great-nephew of Ellison “Tarzan” Brown. His tribal name is Standing Bear. A former member of the Narragansett Tribal Council, Hopkins is an author, journalist and country music radio host. He is married to Sararesa (Begay) Hopkins, a member of the Navajo Nation.
