Land where Native American tribe narrowly avoided annihilation at the hands of colonists is handed over to their descendants

The land will become the site of annual ceremonies for the indigenous peoples who once called it home

On a frozen December day in 1675, the combined colonial militias from Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay and Connecticut – more than 1,000 men, along with a sizeable cohort of Pequot and Mohegan warriors – marched toward the Narragansett tribe's main encampment near South Kingstown, Rhode Island.

The bitter cold turned a body of water surrounding the encampment to ice, changing what would normally be a natural moat thwarting the ambitions of the tribe's enemies into a natural walkway, practically an open door for the colonial militia.

Narragansett Indian Tribe Chief Sachem Anthony Dean Stanton participates in a ceremony in a wooded area, in South Kingstown, Rhode Island, on land believed to be the site of the Great Swamp Massacre (AP)

The Narragansetts had been officially neutral in what would later come to be called King Phillip's War, a conflict that pitted colonists and their indigenous allies against other colonists and their allied indigenous groups. The colonists saw the Narragansetts’ attempts to remain at peace as a dangerous wildcard, and feared they would eventually join their enemies. They decided to strike first.

So they marched across that icy path and entered the tribe's main settlement, where they killed anywhere between 300 and 1,000 or more Narragansett non-combatants. Women, children, elderly and the sick – none were given consideration. The colonists burned the tribe's winter stores and drove the few survivors out into the frozen wilderness beyond the borders of their encampment, leaving the group all but annihilated.

John Brown III, the Narragansett Indian Tribe medicine man and historic preservation officer, told the Boston Globe that the attack – now called the "Great Swamp Massacre" – was his people's "greatest defeat."

“The loss there was immeasurable, not in the form of fighting people but in the form of the fact that non-combatants were attacked — old men, women, and children were attacked and destroyed,” he said. “For us, when you take the generations that come before us and the generations that come after us, there is no greater loss.”

Now, almost 346 years later, the land that was once home to the tribe's encampment will be returned to the Narragansetts.

The Rhode Island Historical Society has returned the land where the Great Swamp Massacre took place to its original inhabitants.

“The return of the property is in itself historic,” Mr Brown said. “For many years, the Narragansetts were visitors to a place that was theirs. Now that this has happened, we know we can go back to a place of our forefathers, where there was happiness and sorrow, and we can go there as rightful owners.”

On Saturday, a group of about 35 visited the site for a ceremonial transfer of the land to the Narragansetts. Prior to that event, members of the tribe would visit the site in an annual commemoration. That pilgrimage began in the 1930s thanks to the efforts of Princess Red Wing, a scholar and member of the tribe.

It took more than four years of work to legally return the land to the tribe, as it was held in a trust, which complicated the transfer. C Morgan Grefe, executive director of the Rhode Island Historical Society, told the Boston Globe that the group was "very happy" to finally return the land to the tribe.

“We take our responsibility seriously when we are given anything — a collection or a land deed — to make sure we are doing right by the donors,” Ms Grefe said. “This was an opportunity to do the right thing and the ethical and moral thing for this community.”

Mr Brown said the Narragansetts planned to use the site for annual ceremonies, and said the tribe was pleased to once again be in possession of the land.

“At this juncture, it is historical, a turning of the page,” he said. “The land is back where it should have been.”