The Pawtucket Times
Jo C. Goode
08/31/2004
CUMBERLAND -- The construction of sections of the 1.4-mile Monastery
Loop Trail has disturbed "potentially significant archaeological resources"
that indicate the property could have numerous Native American artifacts, a
preliminary study says.
The Storrs, Conn.-based Public Archaeology Survey Team has determined
that four sites within the project were exposed during what it called
"premature trail construction." But the surveyors recommended a more intense
probe to determine whether the areas are isolated deposits or the tip of a
much more tantalizing archaeological iceberg.
"Regardless," the study said, "given the density of the materials
identified ..it appears likely that significant archaeological resources are
present in the immediate vicinity of the trail. The meadow section in the
southwest of the project area also appears to contain potentially
significant archaeological resources that have been affected by the trail
construction."
In July, the state ordered that work be stopped on the $35,000 Loop
Trail. The project, funded by a state Department of Environmental Management
grant, had required an environmental impact study be complete before work
could start on the 1.2-mile handicap-accessible trail. This was apparently
overlooked.
To comply with a federal law, Pare Engineering Corp. invited PAST to
conduct an assessment of the site in March. But trail construction was more
than half-finished before the survey began on July 13, the study said.
Tools and projectile points made of stone, shell and bone were
observed by PAST, accompanied by archaeologists from the Rhode Island
Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission and the state Department of
Transportation, during the"emergency walkover," the study said.
The surveyors deemed over 1,670 meters of the Monument Trail to have
either a high or moderate level of "archaeological sensitivity," most of it
in the western portion of the trail loop, the study said. To determine the
actual significance of the site, PAST recommended sinking about 150 small
"test pits" in the designated areas.
A high level of archaeological sensitivity was also accorded to an
area adjacent to the Nine Men's Misery Monument, due to the likelihood that
it is a burial ground for American soldiers killed in fighting with Native
Americans in 1676, during King Philip's War. But the study said the area
should not be disturbed because it may contain human remains.
Reacting to the report Monday, members of the Seaconke Wampanoag tribe
seized on the findings as evidence that the town "has disturbed a
significant Native American site." In a prepared statement, Chief Wilfred
"Eagle Heart" Greene said the find was further evidence of the validity of
the tribe's ancestral claims to land that includes the town-owned Monastery
Grounds off Diamond Hill Road - and then some.
"The Seaconkes have long held that this area was and is one of the
last areas used by the Wampanoag Indians before and after the King Philip's
War," he said. "This land had been deeded to the Wampanoags during early
Colonial times. This report supports the Wampanoags' contention that this
land was, and is, a deeded Indian reservation of substantial significance in
both Colonial and Indian history."
The tribe filed suit against Cumberland and the city of Woonsocket in
U.S. District Court last year, claiming that it is the rightful owner of
some 34 square miles of land in the two communities, including most of
Cumberland. The suit was thrown out earlier this year by Chief U.S. District
Judge Ernest Torres, citing a 1975 land settlement with the Narragansetts
that gave other tribes six months to file land claims.
The decision is on appeal to the First Circuit Court of Appeals in
Boston, which has scheduled oral arguments for Sept. 17. Greene the PAST
report will be used to bolster the tribe's position during that hearing.