Rudolf Haffenreffer Jr. (1874-1954) was a successful beer magnate during the era of regional breweries, including Narragansett, which was once the dominant brand throughout New England.
In 1903, he purchased 376 acres of oceanfront land in Rhode Island, which happened to be where “King Phillip’s War” had both started in 1675 and ended in 1676 with the death of Metacomb (King Phillip). Haffenreffer discovered a number of Indian artifacts on the property and acquired others on trips through the Western states—in 1928 he constructed the Haffenreffer Museum of the American Indian to house and display his collection.
Unlike most collectors at the time, he developed a close relationship with local Indians, including hiring them to serve as educational interpreters in his museum. When he died in 1955, he left the museum and the land to Brown University, understanding that Brown would continue the museum and preserve the undeveloped land so that the public could enjoy both. And for sixty years, Brown did that— creating an Anthropology program around the museum and preserving the 376 acres of land for the public to enjoy.
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It should be noted that this is historically significant land. While not mentioned much, “King Phillip’s” war was the most bloody war in Colonial history, with a level of carnage and destruction similar to what happened in portions of the South during the Civil War. Entire towns and Indian villages were simply abandoned—and often burnt flat. So, persons of all races have an interest in seeing “King Phillip’s Seat,” a large quartz rock formation that served as a gathering place, and the Rhododendron swamp where “King Phillip” made his last stand—essentially where it had all started and ended.
It’s a historic battlefield, not unlike Gettysburg, and for 60 years, Brown University both preserved it and kept it open to the public, as they had promised Haffenreffer they would.
And then in 2017, a group of “Indians” built an encampment on the land, demanding that Brown give the land to them—and after a month of this, Brown capitulated and agreed to do so, recently deeding the most significant 255 acres to the Indians for their exclusive use, with the remainder being sold to the local municipality.
This raises several issues, starting with the fact that I doubt it was what Rodolf Haffenreffer had in mind when he willed it to Brown University in the 1950s. Like the rest of the Ivy League, Brown simply isn’t what it once was, and I can’t help but wonder what past donors would think of these institutions as they exist today.
More importantly, appeasing criminal thugs—which is what trespassers are—sets a terrible precedent. What do universities intend to do when everyone resorts to such illegal practices to advocate policies they prefer? Or will there be a flagrant use of selective enforcement—and what will be the consequences of that?
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But “the land was stolen”—yes, it was stolen—from Elizabeth and Isaac Byfield.
It was stolen from them because they were not considered properly loyal to the Patriot cause during the Revolutionary War. The Treaty of Paris that ended the war involved an American promise to either compensate them or return their stolen land to them. Hence, if the land being “stolen” means that it must be returned, this means that it must be returned to the descendants of the Byfields, not the Indians.
It gets better—according to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, the “Indians” who got the land aren’t even real Indians—that neither the Federal Government, the State of Rhode Island, or even the Narragansett Tribe recognize them as being Indians. The Cherokees claim that the group was organized in 1994 as a nonprofit, and the Cherokees wrote an editorial in their tribal newspaper objecting to Brown University making “a full agreement with a group that doesn’t have an official claim to being an Indian tribe.”
So, thuggery works—even though they have no legal right to even call themselves “Indians,” a month-long illegal encampment on Brown University’s land got them 255 acres of prime shorefront real estate – and denied everyone else access to a historically significant site. Thuggery clearly works.
Is this a message that a university really ought to be sending to impressionable young people?
Image of Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology on Wikimedia Commons
