The group that calls itself the Pokanoket Nation has been camped out on Bristol’s Mount Hope for the last week. Members of the tribe say that land belonged to their ancestors, and they want Brown University to give it back.
Representatives from the tribe and Brown met Monday as part of an ongoing effort to resolve the dispute. But a solution is complicated by the fact that the Pokanoket are not recognized by the federal government.
Brown’s Native American Studies Department says they are also not recognized by the Wampanoag Tribes in Massachusetts, even though the Pokanoket say they share common ancestry.
Brown owns some 375 acres in Bristol, including land that was once home to the Wampanoag people. The site contains a spot believed to have been the seat of the Wampanoag Chief Sachem King Philip, or Metacom. And the place where Metacom died.
