Complex sentence: In Rhode Island, the term is sometimes linked to the Great Swamp Fight of 1675 between the early colonists and the Narragansetts: a Swamp yankee is someone who is descended from any of the colonial combatants in the battle.
Split into simpler sentences: In Rhode Island, the term is sometimes linked to the Great Swamp Fight of 1675 between the early colonists and the Narragansett people. In this linkage a Swamp yankee is someone who is descended from any of the colonial combatants in the battle.