Talk:Narragansett people

Historically, they watch a large piece of land in
What does 'watch' mean in this context? --Bletch 19:35, 24 Sep 2004 (UTC)
 * I removed this paragraph as it seems factually inacurate and does not relate to the prior paragraph in any way.Gblaz 21:03, 25 Apr 2005 (UTC)

External links modified (February 2018)
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Narragansett name
I undid user Dilidor's reversion of my recent edits. The grounds he gave for his revert were that my edits were "original research"; however they were properly cited to sources. They improved the article by making the meaning of the name "Narragansett" more explicit, and giving more detail on archaeological site "R.I. 110", which was named in the previous version but its location not given, nor any reference provided.Wwallacee (talk) 11:03, 25 August 2018 (UTC)
 * The purpose of an encyclopedia is to outline what scholars have published in their research—not to do your own research. You have indeed cited original sources such as Roger Williams, and you do quote from older historical treatments from the 1800s, but you use those sources to draw your own conclusions rather than tell the reader what Roger Williams concluded. Your theories are interesting, but you need to be able to credit them to a published source, not put them forth here and then point to Williams to support your conclusions. —Dilidor (talk) 09:52, 27 August 2018 (UTC)
 * Not true. Actually, I quoted Williams from a widely accepted source on the history of the Narragansett district, namely Potter's The Early History of Narragansett. I did cite the original reference for Williams's quote, and provided a direct link to a scan of the manuscript, figuring this could be of interest to readers, particularly those familiar with the region being described. Admittedly Potter is a 19th century source (1835), but it assembles all of the earliest testimonials about the Narragansett people and is a reliable source on their customs at the time of their first encounter with the English.
 * I'm not sure what you mean by "my theories", it seems you are referring to the link with site R.I. 110. But this site was mentioned in the article prior to my edit - and the mention was not explained or even referenced.
 * I invite you to modify what you find objectionable in my edits, without another wholesale revert.Wwallacee (talk) 13:22, 28 August 2018 (UTC)

I've protected the page for a week to end the edit war. Please settle your specific disputes here before the protection ends. Thanks. -- SarekOfVulcan (talk) 13:37, 28 August 2018 (UTC)


 * I brought this matter to the administrators' noticeboard but the complaint was closed twice by a non-administrator on the grounds that it was a content dispute and should be resolved here.


 * My belief is that User:Dilidor is edit-warring and ignoring rules of civility by repeatedly reverting edits I made in good faith and have argued for on this talk page. I noticed in searching through the administraors' noticeboard that Dilidor has been involved twice in such uncivil edit warring in recent months: see here and here.


 * The current edit war began when Dilidor reverted wholesale a series of edits made by me, with no explanation other than a claim in the edit summary box that my work was "original research". I reverted his revert, referring the matter to this Talk page, where I replied to Dilidor's allegation of original research by showing that Dilidor had misread my citation, mistaking a citation to a reliable historian for a citation to an original document. I also pointed out that the prior state of the article was deficient, in that a historical claim was made without adequate reference and without even clearly explicitating its own argument. My added material was in large measure intended to remedy this deficiency.


 * I then made several new edits to address Dilidor's concern, making my reference to the accepted historian more obvious and moving a fair amount of material into footnotes so as to restore the concise flow of the article as it had stood prior to my edits.


 * Dilidor then reverted again, and left a note on this Talk page which was rude and did not acknowledge the substance of my defense of my edit. I reverted his revert a second time, leaving a more extensive justification of my position on this Talk page, in which I invited Dilidor to modify what he found objectionable in my edits, without resorting to another wholesale revert.


 * Dilidor nonetheless reverted wholesale a third time, and with no further explanation other than the "all-caps" statement in the edit summary: "THIS IS ORIGINAL RESEARCH". This was both unreasonable and uncivil.


 * Minutes later an administrator, SarekOfVulcan, blocked the page to new edits for a week.


 * I request that this page be restored to the state of my last edit and that Dilidor modify whatever part of this he objects to, as well as give clear justification on this page for his actions.


 * -Wwallacee (talk) 18:02, 3 September 2018 (UTC)

The block has expired; I have now reverted the page back again to its state as of my last edit. (N.B.: I forgot to log in before making the change, so it was logged to an I.P. address.) I also changed the order of words in the disputed citation again, to emphasize that it comes from the work of a historian, and is not original research.

The substance of the matter in contention is the name "Narragansett" and whether it is associated with a particular piece of land. Prior to my edits, the article did already assert this, but without explanation and without any reference. I have supplied an explanation and a reference, and this should stand unless somebody else can improve upon them. Simply to revert to the prior state is not an improvement and looks to me like an attempt at ownership of content.

-Wwallacee (talk) 05:28, 5 September 2018 (UTC)


 * , could you please re-lock the article (perhaps indefinitely)? Instead of following your instructions above and your fellow administrator's instructions at ANI, Wwallacee merely waited out the lock period and then re-inserted his desired version. Softlavender (talk) 05:54, 5 September 2018 (UTC)
 * NOTE: I have renamed this thread to a neutral, topic-based title. Softlavender (talk) 06:02, 5 September 2018 (UTC)

I have re-crafted the "Name" section using a quotation from a recent work by a reputed anthropologist, who specialized in the Narragansett people. Recall that the block quote from Roger Williams had been previously labeled "original research", as had quotations from 19th century historians. However, the Roger Williams quote had been reintroduced after having been reverted. Rather than remove the quote, I placed it in a footnote where it can still be sourced by afficionados, along with other citations to sources. I trust this will defuse the issue of "original research", leveled against my edits. Overall it will be clear from any before-and-after comparison, that my edits have improved the state of this page.Wwallacee (talk) 10:56, 25 October 2018 (UTC)
 * What constitutes original research is an editor drawing inferences and conclusions from the research of some source. Your latest edit is a significant move away from the OR which caused our disagreement earlier. I have done a large-scale edit on it, moving Williams back to the beginning where he belongs (rather than relegated to a footnote), and where his work serves as a nice introduction to the blockquote which you added. Conversely, I've relegated your speculations on the geographical location into a footnote because it borders on original research—and you'll recall that it was this bit of pinpointing which caused the disagreement in the first place. You cite an authority, but it is not a citation, if you comprehend the distinction. I have also hidden another incomplete citation under the first citation needed note; you or someone else merely put "op cit." which is not a valid citation.
 * The main issue seems to be an understanding of how to utilize sources without crossing into the gray area of drawing inferences and conducting what constitutes original research. But I think the article is progressing in a good direction. —Dilidor (talk) 18:10, 25 October 2018 (UTC)


 * Dilidor, I have made a few more stylistic changes, while keeping the same substance. Here is my rationale: We should proceed in scientific fashion from facts to inferences, and from solid inferences to further inferences. Since the Narragansett language died out, we should go to the earliest written spellings, and then explain the meaning of the word based on phonetic analysis. (However, given that the Narragansett nation still survives today and that members are trying to revive the language, I thought it would be more respectful to begin with their own account of the name.) Then, once the meaning of the name is established, we can move to the location that this name refers to, and finally to the archaeological discovery.
 * With regard to the archaeology, I added a link to the documentary, and I think this would be of enough interest to the general reader to warrant it being placed outside of footnotes. I also tried to make more explicit the link between Roger Williams's statement and the discovery of this site. -Wwallacee (talk) 08:48, 9 December 2018 (UTC)

Rev. Harold Mars
I want to notify all editors of this page that I created a page for the Rev. Harold Mars, but its status is uncertain because the page is "underlinked". I would add more links to it, but I'm afraid there are no places to do so other than this page, and the reason is that the Narragansett tribe as a whole is underrepresented on Wikipedia. For instance, the only entry for "Narragansett Church" concerns an Anglican church located in the town of Narragansett. But the Narragansett Indian Church has no page, in spite of its crucial importance in establishing the continuity of the Narragansett nation and ensuring its recognition by the U.S. government.

I am hereby creating an orphan page for the Narragansett Indian Church and I urge other editors familiar with this history to create a page for it. I also urge the creation of other pages regarding the history of the Narragansett people, and the addition of links to Rev. Mars, in order to keep his page active. -Wwallacee (talk) 13:16, 9 December 2018 (UTC)