In 1975, a group of Native Americans came together to form a powerful new force in Rhode Island Native America life. Incorporated as the Rhode Island Indian Council this organization’s by-laws set out to accomplish more than one ambitious purpose. Not only did they require the Rhode Island Indian Council to promote Indian culture to the citizens of Rhode Island, but also gave the organization the task of assisting the state’s Native American community, especially those who were urban and off-reservation, to achieve an increased standard of living and economic and social self-sufficiency.  It was the vision of its founders that the Rhode Island Indian Council goes beyond cordial presentations of Native American culture to a re-building of the economic and social infrastructure of the Rhode Island Indian community.

For the past 28 years, the Rhode Island Indian Council has diligently and resolutely pursued this mission through a wide range of strategies.  It has conducted a number of social service programs that have reached thousands of Native Americans, including initiatives on teen pregnancy, AIDS, tobacco use, and substance abuse.  It has developed a number of affiliated organizations to provide economic opportunities to Native Americans, including the American Indian Community Development Corporation and a development program for small businesses.  It has started companies, built housing, operated after-school programs, and lobbied ceaselessly on behalf of Rhode Island Native Americans to local and state government, and it continues to experience success.  The acquisition of the Algonquin House in 1994 is the most recent example, which has presented the Rhode Island Indian Council with both its most daunting challenge and its most exciting opportunity.

In this changing and challenging environment, the Rhode Island Indian Council continues to assist Native Americans in a number of ways.  It presents the cultures of the variety of growing tribal groups in Rhode Island, helping to increase understanding between Indians and non-Indians, and between the various tribes in the state. More importantly, the Rhode Island Indian Council helps an increasingly urban and poor Native American population through effective social service programs and progressive economic development programs that will help the community become self-sufficient.