After camping out for more than a month on Brown University land in Bristol, members of the Pokanoket Tribe have packed up and left. Where they go from here is unclear.

Brown and the Pokanokets signed an agreement last week that appeared to show they were moving in the same direction to identify ancestral tribal lands and transfer some of the university’s 400 acres into a preservation trust that would protect, steward and maintain the land while recognizing Pokanoket interests.

Days after Brown announced the agreement, the Pokanokets released their own statement to “clarify” what Brown had said.

Brown said their agreement will be “inclusive of all tribes with a historical interest in the land.”

The Pokanokets say that’s absurd, because no other tribes can make any reasonable claim to the land.

Brown said numerous Native tribes, such as the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head, the Mashpee Wampanoags and others, will be invited to take part in creating the new preservation trust.

The Pokanokets say no other tribe can make a claim to the “sacred lands of Potumtuk,” so the Pokanokets alone will charter and lead the trust.

Brown said that until the land transfers hands, tribal members will be allowed to visit the property “from time to time” for purposes related to the historical and cultural elements of the land.

The Pokanokets say they will be there frequently, maintaining a “consistent presence,” since the land is rightfully theirs.

The tribe’s official spokesman, Neesu Wushuwunoag, is director general for the Federation of Aboriginal Nations of America. On Wednesday, he went so far as to say that, if they chose to, the Pokanokets could take Brown to court and rightfully win all 400 acres, because “the law is on their side.” Instead, he said, they are choosing to move forward in good faith with Brown.

Here are some of the key areas where the Pokanokets and the university could be at odds …

Who has claim to the land?

Brown is being inclusive of all tribes in the region by inviting them all to participate in the process. Neesu Wushuwunoag said that’s just for show.

“None of these other tribes are going to have any input in the process, because none will be able to substantiate any claims to this land,” he said.

“Wampanoag was a term that King Philip used when he was trying to unite all the tribes together … They all decided not to fight in the war, so they’re not even Wampanoags. None of them are going to be able to substantiate their bloodlines.”

Neesu Wushuwunoag said the next step in the process will be to invite representatives from other tribes to a meeting to stake their claim to the land, including “clear and historic connections to these lands and bloodlines.”

“I honestly don’t think any of them are going to show up, because they’re going to be embarrassed if they try,” Neesu Wushuwunoag said.

Brown has offered to pay for a mediator to help sort through tribal interests in the land.

How much land will transfer?

The agreement states that Brown will ultimately transfer “an amount of land that is substantial, sufficient, and appropriate” to meet the university’s goals of conservation, preservation, and sustainable access to the land. It also states that Brown “acknowledges that th eMt. Hope lands to which it has record title in Bristol, R.I., are historically Pokanoket and that part of the land contains sacred sites that are important to the present-day Pokanoket Tribe and Pokanoket people.”

Asked what amount of land might transfer, Neesu Wushuwunoag suggested 275 to 300 acres might be appropriate.

“Brown understands that all of this is Pokanoket land,” he said.

Asked how the Pokanokets would respond if it were something significantly less than that, for instance 30 acres, he responded bluntly, “That’s foolishness.”

According to the agreement, Brown will conduct a cultural resources survey to determine what land will transfer and what land will remain with the university.

Who controls the land now?

While Brown stated that it will support occasional Pokanoket visits to the property for historical or cultural purposes, the Pokanokets are already asserting it is their land.

“It’s really up to Sagamore Po Wauipi Neimpaug how much they’re up there, but I would guess they’ll be there at least a couple of times a week,” said Neesu Wushuwunoag. “People need to know that’s Pokanoket land. If people are up there, they should be seeing Pokanokets, because it’s Pokanoket land.”

He added, “Brown was supposed to be stewards of this land, but they haven’t been. During this process, we’ve discovered grave sites that have been desecrated. Stewardship means removing trash from the shoreline, preserving trails, protecting the graves .. The Pokanokets just don’t trust anybody to do that the way they would do that.”

The Bristol land, located between Metacom Avenue and Mt. Hope Bay, accessible down Tower Lane, was donated in parcels over time to the university by the Haffenreffer family beginning in the 1950s. The property is home to the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology’s Collections Research Center, which holds more than 1 million ethnographic objects, archaeological specimens and images from all parts of the world, as well as a multipurpose outing center used for summer programs and environmental research.

See the full Pokanoket statement here.

See the full Brown University statement here.