Champlain family removed from tribe

Onetime Narragansett Tribal Council member Yvette Champlain claims the removal is retaliation for questioning how a $1 million payment from Harrah’s Entertainment was spent

By Katie Mulvaney
Rapid City Journal

SOUTH KINGSTOWN -- The Champlain family has been ousted from the Narragansett Indian tribe after they failed to produce documents proving their ancestry, Narragansett Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas said.

"The time frame has lapsed," Thomas said late last week. "Unfortunately, they could not prove out."

A vast family that ranges from eastern Connecticut to Pawtucket, the Champlains claim their membership became an issue after then-Tribal Council member Yvette Champlain questioned how the tribe had spent a $1-million payment from its casino partner, Harrah's Entertainment.

The Champlains received notice in early December that their files were missing "proper documentation," namely birth, death or marriage certificates linking them to the 1880 tribal roll. The tribe bases its membership on blood ties to the 324 Narragansetts who gave up all land claims in exchange for citizenship and $15.43 each.

The Champlains were given 30 days, which was later extended to 120 days, to produce the records, or they would be removed from the tribe. That time is up, Thomas said.

In the past, the Champlains used land deeds, wills and even names written in Bibles as well as vital records to trace their ancestry, said Yvette Champlain, of Norwich. Now 41, she is listed as 229 on the tribal roll accepted by the federal government when the tribe won recognition in 1983.

She is among those who argue that it is near impossible to use birth, death and marriage certificates to prove a link to the 1880 roll because Indian mothers often didn't give birth in hospitals or keep typical records. They claim they've been told that the original records they turned over in 1983 and again when the tribe reviewed its rolls a decade later have disappeared.

They question whether tribe members, including Thomas, can produce records connecting them to the 1880 roll.

It's a view shared by Roger Joslyn, a New York-based genealogist who has worked with other tribes on membership issues.

"The further back in time, the less likely you are" to find the records. . . . "The 1880s on back is when you start getting into trouble," Joslyn said yesterday. "I would question whether the people who are requesting this can come up with the same documents they are requesting."

When asked if all members had the requisite birth, death and marriage certificates, Thomas said "yes."

Further, he added, two families, or about half of the 119 people whose lineage was questioned in December, had submitted the records. He would not name the families.

The Champlains assert that challenges to their ties arose just weeks after Yvette Champlain questioned Thomas and other tribal leaders about how the tribe had spent $1 million from Harrah's, which wants to build a casino in West Warwick with the Charlestown-based tribe. At that time, Yvette, who requested receipts for spending, had been elected to a four-year term on the Tribal Council.

Thomas claims the timing of the membership review was coincidental and that it came at the tribe's direction. He said he will detail the spending for members of the tribe.

According to an accounting the chief gave to The Journal last week, the tribe has received $988,333 from Harrah's since last April. The largest sums went to a powwow in Westerly, $150,000, and to the tribal police force, $200,700. Tribal youth programs received $82,000; $90,000 went to lawyers; $75,000 to establishing a tribal court and $20,000 to build a sweat lodge; most of the remainder has been spent on miscellaneous expenses including helping tribal members pay taxes and avoid foreclosures.

"All of these things benefit the tribe, and they were all ratified by the tribe," Thomas said, addding, "I understand their anger. But these accusations are out of line . . . I'm sorry she can't find her paperwork."

He did not return a phone call yesterday seeking a more detailed breakdown of how the money was spent.

Yvette Champlain and her family remain convinced that her questioning led to their removal.

"For the best interest of the people, I questioned, I asked for accountability," she said. "If the Narragansett tribal members do not stand up, are they going to let this happen?"

She said her family had sent an appeal letter to the tribe, but had not gotten a response. They have been not been given their due process, she said.

"When you lose one Narragansett, you shouldn't be losing any," she said. "I am who I am and he can't take that away from me."

With reports from staff writer Paul Davis.