“Adventures of a Wanderer: The Life and Lessons of Charles Lansing and The Narragansett Chief”

Jason Mancini, Executive Director, CT Humanities  

Silvermoon Mars LaRose, Assistant Director, Tomaquag Museum 

This presentation explores the research and contextualization of The Narragansett Chief; or, the Adventures of a Wanderer (1832) and offers an Indigenous perspective on the resurfacing of this account, which was written anonymously by Native American mariner, Charles Lansing. 

Following the dramatic reduction of Indian Country in southern New England and Long Island, many Native people adapted to changing legal and economic systems through participation in maritime labor, from shipbuilding to whaling. Although thousands of Indians and those of Indian descent worked in major customs districts, little is known about their lives at sea. 

The recovered narrative of Charles Lansing, a Narragansett descendant, provides rare insight into Native maritime experiences, global travel, ancestry, and the consequences of a tribal land dispute within the Narragansett community. Lansing’s account illuminates Native mobility, experiences of race and power, and Indigenous engagement with a rapidly changing world.  

Dr. Jason Mancini serves as Executive Director of Connecticut Humanities, leading initiatives in public history, placemaking, digital engagement, and community partnerships. He is co-founder of the Akomawt Educational Initiative and former Executive Director of the Mashantucket Pequot Museum. A scholar of anthropology and Indigenous histories, Mancini holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Connecticut. He is currently a Visiting Associate Professor of Slavery and Justice at Brown University’s Simmons Center and Scientist-in-Residence at Mystic Aquarium. Mancini also serves on several advisory and governing bodies, including Everyday Democracy’s Civic Health Advisory Committee, UConn’s Asian and Asian American Studies Institute Board, and UConn’s Tribal Educational Initiative. 

Silvermoon Mars LaRose is an enrolled citizen of the Narragansett Tribe and, as Assistant Director of the Tomaquag Museum, she is dedicated to the sharing of cultural education and the preservation of cultural belongings held in trust for future generations. She has worked in tribal communities for over twenty years in health, human services, and education. In her roles as an artist and educator, LaRose promotes Indigenous empowerment through education, community building, and the sharing of cultural knowledge and traditional arts. Silvermoon serves as secretary for the Charlestown Conservation Commission, The Rhode Island Council on the Arts, The Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission, and the Rhode Island Foundation Board. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, a minor in Justice Law and Society from the University of Rhode Island and continued her education in Rehabilitation Counseling at Western Washington University.