The Narragansett Dawn

The first tribal periodical in New England may well have been The Narragansett Dawn, published between 1935 and 1936 by an activist known as Princess Red Wing. Though it ran for less than two years, this magazine--produced during the heady days of the "Indian New Deal" issuing from Washington, D.C.--is an important piece of literary history. It included essays calling for tribal unity and reorganization; poetry and traditional stories; language lessons; and letters from its many readers, including Eleanor Roosevelt.  

The University of Rhode Island has made a full run of The Narragansett Dawn available on its library's website.  For more on Princess Red Wing, see our cluster of contributions from the Tomaquag Museum, which she helped found.