Tribe locked in power struggle over absentee chief
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The chief of a New England tribe who spends part of the year living in Florida won’t step down after being impeached, sowing division among the Narragansett Indians who are Rhode Island’s only federally recognized tribe.
Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas is calling his detractors “impostors” after they sued him in federal court seeking his ouster from the leadership role he’s held for nearly two decades. Dozens of tribal members gathered for an outdoor meeting to impeach the 55-year-old chief in October. When he refused to surrender his position, an elected tribal council sued him last month.
His residency has been a tribal controversy for more than a year. State voter records show his Rhode Island voter registration was cancelled in March 2015 because he moved out of state. Thomas said in an interview that the time he spends in Port Charlotte, Florida, isn’t a problem because he monitors tribal business remotely and maintains a residence in Providence.
“The chiefs are constantly travelling. Constantly. We use Skype, we use electronic communication, faxes,” Thomas said. “It doesn’t make a difference where I’m at. The job still gets done.”