RI Indian tribe wants valuable ‘ancestral’ Navy land in Newport to expand reservation for free
By Eric Tucker, APThursday, March 25, 2010
RI Indians want valuable Navy property in Newport
NEWPORT, R.I. — Hundreds of acres owned by the Navy are up for grabs in Newport and its surrounding communities.
The Navy says it no longer needs the valuable 260 acres on Aquidneck Island and is moving to unload the property. The island communities envision the land as untapped economic potential for sweeping new development.
But the Narragansett Indian Tribe wants the land too. The tribe says the land falls under its ancestral footprint and that acquiring it would allow it to expand beyond its current reservation in Charlestown.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs has asked to acquire the land for free. Its request for the property is pending before the Navy.
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