Dan's Papers - May 1, 2009 - Shinnecock Resurgence

The Shinnecock Indian Reservation is on the brink of receiving a preliminary announcement of federal recognition. Last week, a spokesperson for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Nedra Darling, said that a deadline has been set by the federal government to make an announcement one way or another about the recognition before November 10. So it can come at any time. Once that is announced, the wheels move quickly and final recognition follows in a matter of months.

The reservation first made its application for federal recognition in 1977. Ten years ago, realizing that nothing was happening and things were not likely to happen at The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) for another generation, they began a vigorous campaign to get to the to the "front of the line" for the approval.

It would be impossible for the Shinnecocks NOT to be recognized by the Federal government. The tribe has a long and well documented history, from the appearance of the first English settlers and the helping hand the Shinnecocks offered them - they taught them whaling, growing corn, how to build the early domed homes they lived in and how best to get through the cold winter. No shots were ever fired. It was a peaceful, neighborly welcome.

The Shinnecocks since then have played an important role in local history, mostly getting the short end of whatever stick was under consideration. Attempting a rescue of sailors aboard the four masted schooner Circassion that had wrecked on the rocks during a terrible winter ice storm in Mecox 100 years ago, dozens of young braves froze to death as the rescue went very wrong.

By the 1950s, when I moved here as a teenager, the tribe, consisting of about 600 people, was suffering great poverty on its Southampton reservation, governed by Tribal Elders who kept their business separate and secret from the Southampton community. They wanted nothing to do with the rest of America. Signs at the three entrances to the reservation said KEEP OUT. If you ventured in, you were chased out.

But I cannot think of a single group that has undergone such a great transformation as the Shinnecocks of Southampton have during the last 15 years. The doors have swung open. There have been a series of legal clashes with the American community that surrounds the 750-acre reservation - the tribe even sued several surrounding towns and organizations from time to time - losing practically all decisions on the grounds they did not have federal recognition status. But at no time did the Shinnecocks ever voluntarily back down from whatever they thought was right. And now, federal recognition is just around the corner.

Chief Lance Gumbs, one of the three tribal chiefs who spearheaded this community through the transformation, says that if nothing else, the plight of the tribe - barred from owning homes or getting credit cards or other services in America - was certainly brought to the forefront of this community, and as it soon turned out, to the BIA. This bureau and several judges were forced to look at a clearly defined tribe recognized by the state that is not recognized officially by the feds even after 30 years of trying. Last year, a judge put the Shinnecocks at the front of the line.

With recognition, the tribe will be able to receive loans and funding for all sorts of things it was not eligible for before. It will also be eligible to create a casino on Long Island at some future date.

Six months ago, the Suffolk County Legislature created a board to shepherd through such a resort casino, should the Shinnecocks gain recognition. Chief Gumbs is on that board. Suggested locations include a site near the Long Island Expressway near Yaphank, part of the old Grumman property in the pine barrens just east of Riverhead and the former Parr Meadows racetrack property north of the Expressway in Wading River. All proposals are in very lightly populated areas where jobs are scarce. All are in areas where highway construction could easily create easy access.

Just five years ago, police arrested Chief Gumbs as he ordered bulldozers to clear several acres of tribal-owned land in Hampton Bays, where it had been hoped the tribe might put a bingo hall. Three years ago, the tribe sued to take back all the land that it had given to the settlers in Southampton - land that would have included Southampton College, the Shinnecock Indian Reservation and half of downtown. It lost. But in continually losing, the Shinnecocks have won.

Ten years ago, the tribal chiefs decided that those running the reservation should be selected by democratic vote. Eight years ago, they decided that women should have the vote and that women could even be tribal chiefs. Five years ago, they created a public relations office on the reservation where people from the outside could make enquiries about things going on. The KEEP OUT signs came down. A health clinic opened up. Today, at large holiday dinners, they often invite and honor guests from the outside to come and partake with them. And this past week, there was more news.

Nishwe Williams, a 29-year-old squaw who lives on the reservation with her family, is reviving the Miss Teen Shinnecock Pageant. It was last held in 1996, and the winner of it was Williams herself, who was 16-years-old at the time. She told the Press about her wonderful memories of being crowned Miss Teen Shinnecock when she was a teen; about her pride in being a member of the tribe. "I want other girls to experience that same feeling," she said.

Fourteen girls from the reservation have already been chosen to participate in this pageant, which will be held on Saturday June 13. There will be two categories and two queens. One will be for high school girls in grades nine through 12, and the other will be for junior high school girls in grades six through eight. The winners will be judged by a panel of people from the Shinnecock Nation, from other tribes and from local political officials in the surrounding communities. The girls will be judged on etiquette, native dancing, regalia, evening wear, sportswear, dancing (both tribal and non-tribal), knowledge of American native history and talent, both native and non-native. They will be asked to perform a song, a poem or a dance of their choosing. The winners will lead the Shinnecock contingent in the Southampton Village Fourth of July parade, lead the entry parade to the Shinnecock Pow Wow on Labor Day Weekend and will enter the 2010 Miss Indian World Pageant, usually held somewhere in the Southwest.

Williams has already raised half of the expected $2,000 she will need to host this event. She anticipates spending $1,200 on the two crowns. The rest will be used for promotion and incidentals. On May 23, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., there will be a bake sale at the Shinnecock Community Center to help raise the final funds needed.

The Shinnecocks have come a long way and today, while maintaining their native traditions, play a major role in East End affairs. It's been quite an accomplishment.