Stand with the Shinnecock: An Open Letter to the People of New York State
Stand with the Shinnecock: An Open Letter to the People of New York State
The Issue
An Open Letter to Governor Kathy Hochul, Attorney General Letitia James and the People of New York State
Please Stand With the Shinnecock Indian Nation as We Defend Our Economic Viability and Urge the State of New York to Drop Its Litigation
To our New York State Neighbors and all those who recognize the sovereignty of Native Americans,
We, the people of the Shinnecock Indian Nation, one of the oldest self-governing nations in the country, pen this letter seeking your support for our continued economic viability as your neighbor. Specifically, we ask you to petition New York State Attorney General Letitia James and Governor Kathy Hochul to drop the harassing litigation detailed below so that we can express our existence and become economically self-sufficient, as we have always attempted to do in a cordial and professional manner.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
Unfortunately, the State of New York has embarked on a campaign to stifle the economic projects that would allow our Nation to prosper and maintain its economic self-sufficiency. The State of New York has prioritized the concerns of the billionaires in the Hamptons over the children and senior citizens of the Shinnecock Nation. We implore you to contact your representatives and ask that the State of New York cease its efforts to cut us off from the United States economy.
ABOUT THE PROJECT
We should provide some background on our economic project, a project in which we have taken great care to have minimal impact on our New York neighbors. We constructed two small tribal monuments on our tribal lands in the Westwoods out on Long Island. The Nation also left space for digital advertising on both monuments, and the revenue generated from those signs now comprises the majority of our tribal government’s budget. We provide meals to our senior citizens, salaries for our government employees, and education for our children with this much-needed revenue. And the signs have no impact on our neighbors. They occupy relatively little space and stand further from the highway than the trees that line the Sunrise Extension (New York State Route 27).
Yet, the State has decided that these signs should not exist. Further, we have been subject to attacks on our economic project, ranging from campaigns like "Keep the Hamptons the Hamptons", to the current litigation seeking court orders preventing us from operating the signs. The dubious, cynical PR campaign even suggests that the Shinnecock Nation, which preexisted the original colonial government of New York, is somehow not “native” to Long Island. This deeply saddens us and demonstrates how the state government refuses to deal with us in good faith.
STAND WITH THE SHINNECOCK TO DRIVE POSITIVE CHANGE
Today, we implore the good people of New York to help expose and arrest this egregious intergovernmental travesty. This ongoing litigation threatens our people and sets our diplomatic relationship back to a barbaric time when colonists imposed their will and lifestyle on our people and took our land. We are not asking for much from our neighbors. These signs do not interfere, threaten, or impede anyone. But we truly need the revenue generated for the vulnerable members of our community. Ultimately, the State’s position would drive more community members into federal welfare programs. We do not want that.
We want nothing more than to be a good neighbor to the good people of New York state. So, we urge you to take notice of this bad faith litigation in the Supreme Court of Suffolk County and to support us in asking New York State to drop it now. Our people deserve the opportunity to express our existence and become economically self-sufficient, as we have always attempted to do in a cordial and professional manner. Please ask your local representative to petition Attorney General Letitia James and Governor Kathy Hochul to drop this harassing litigation and let us be.
Thank you for reading our letter and pledging your support.
Sincerely,
The people of the Shinnecock Indian Nation
ADDITIONAL FACTS
Who are the Shinnecock People/What is the Shinnecock Indian Nation? The Shinnecock Indian Nation (the Nation) is one of the oldest self-governing tribes in the State of New York and was formally recognized by the United States federal government as the 565th federally recognized tribe on October 1, 2010 after a 32-year battle with the Federal Government that should have only taken two years, according to the statute. Historically, the language of the Shinnecock people is an eastern Algonquian dialect, and they have stewarded and occupied their aboriginal homelands in and around the Town of Southampton on the eastern end of Long Island from time immemorial. In their Algonquian language, the Shinnecock name roughly translates into English as "people of the stony shore.”
The Nation holds jurisdiction over tribal territory at Shinnecock Neck, a peninsula that juts into the Shinnecock Bay, encompassing approximately 900 acres, as well as land at Westwoods in Hampton Bays, encompassing approximately 100 acres along the Peconic Bay. There are currently over 1,589 enrolled tribal members and about half of the Shinnecock membership live on the Reservation at Shinnecock Neck.
Good neighboring is important to us as we know, as we have for over 400 years, that our neighbors and we are “stronger together.”
READING/VIEWING LIST
- Shinnecock Website The official website for the Shinnecock Indian Nation
- The East Hampton Star Shinnecock Indian Nation Defies Court Order "(The) land belongs to the Nation and New York has always treated it as restricted-fee lands against alienation and encumbrance. It is and was and will be within our right to have those monuments out there.” Lance Gumbs, Vice Chairman, Shinnecock Indian Nation
- New York Times First Female Leader in Centuries Returns a Tribal Nation to Its Roots Lisa Goree took the helm of the Shinnecock Nation in April, as the Long Island tribe navigates disputes over burial grounds and projects to build a casino and a gas station.
- 27East Q&A: Rock Star Roger Waters Talks About His Connection To South Fork, And The Shinnecock (Regarding the Monuments "There’s something about the fact that they’re on both sides of the road. They’re a gateway now, they really are. And it also reminds us that [Route] 27 runs straight through Indian land. And let us never forget that." Roger Waters
- Long Island News 12 Pink Floyd's Roger Waters helps Shinnecock Nation in second billboard battle with state "Let it go. Let these people live." Roger Waters
- American Indian An Island Divided: Generations in the Hamptons' Shadow, the Shinnecock's Struggle for Sovereignty Sees Light Mark Hirsch, a senior historian at the National Museum of the American Indian, details the nation's fight for freedom and its unwillingness to stand down for its right to use its land for the betterment of its people and future generations.
- The Daily Show A Monumental Dispute in the Hamptons Michael Kosta explores the conflict between wealthy Hamptons dwellers and the Shinnecock, an indigenous tribe nearby.
- New York Times Why a Hamptons Highway Is a Battleground Over Native American Rights "The summer crowd comes here to escape the metropolis, only to find this urban element at the gateway to the Hamptons." Jay Schneiderman, Southampton’s town supervisor
2,200
The Issue
An Open Letter to Governor Kathy Hochul, Attorney General Letitia James and the People of New York State
Please Stand With the Shinnecock Indian Nation as We Defend Our Economic Viability and Urge the State of New York to Drop Its Litigation
To our New York State Neighbors and all those who recognize the sovereignty of Native Americans,
We, the people of the Shinnecock Indian Nation, one of the oldest self-governing nations in the country, pen this letter seeking your support for our continued economic viability as your neighbor. Specifically, we ask you to petition New York State Attorney General Letitia James and Governor Kathy Hochul to drop the harassing litigation detailed below so that we can express our existence and become economically self-sufficient, as we have always attempted to do in a cordial and professional manner.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
Unfortunately, the State of New York has embarked on a campaign to stifle the economic projects that would allow our Nation to prosper and maintain its economic self-sufficiency. The State of New York has prioritized the concerns of the billionaires in the Hamptons over the children and senior citizens of the Shinnecock Nation. We implore you to contact your representatives and ask that the State of New York cease its efforts to cut us off from the United States economy.
ABOUT THE PROJECT
We should provide some background on our economic project, a project in which we have taken great care to have minimal impact on our New York neighbors. We constructed two small tribal monuments on our tribal lands in the Westwoods out on Long Island. The Nation also left space for digital advertising on both monuments, and the revenue generated from those signs now comprises the majority of our tribal government’s budget. We provide meals to our senior citizens, salaries for our government employees, and education for our children with this much-needed revenue. And the signs have no impact on our neighbors. They occupy relatively little space and stand further from the highway than the trees that line the Sunrise Extension (New York State Route 27).
Yet, the State has decided that these signs should not exist. Further, we have been subject to attacks on our economic project, ranging from campaigns like "Keep the Hamptons the Hamptons", to the current litigation seeking court orders preventing us from operating the signs. The dubious, cynical PR campaign even suggests that the Shinnecock Nation, which preexisted the original colonial government of New York, is somehow not “native” to Long Island. This deeply saddens us and demonstrates how the state government refuses to deal with us in good faith.
STAND WITH THE SHINNECOCK TO DRIVE POSITIVE CHANGE
Today, we implore the good people of New York to help expose and arrest this egregious intergovernmental travesty. This ongoing litigation threatens our people and sets our diplomatic relationship back to a barbaric time when colonists imposed their will and lifestyle on our people and took our land. We are not asking for much from our neighbors. These signs do not interfere, threaten, or impede anyone. But we truly need the revenue generated for the vulnerable members of our community. Ultimately, the State’s position would drive more community members into federal welfare programs. We do not want that.
We want nothing more than to be a good neighbor to the good people of New York state. So, we urge you to take notice of this bad faith litigation in the Supreme Court of Suffolk County and to support us in asking New York State to drop it now. Our people deserve the opportunity to express our existence and become economically self-sufficient, as we have always attempted to do in a cordial and professional manner. Please ask your local representative to petition Attorney General Letitia James and Governor Kathy Hochul to drop this harassing litigation and let us be.
Thank you for reading our letter and pledging your support.
Sincerely,
The people of the Shinnecock Indian Nation
ADDITIONAL FACTS
Who are the Shinnecock People/What is the Shinnecock Indian Nation? The Shinnecock Indian Nation (the Nation) is one of the oldest self-governing tribes in the State of New York and was formally recognized by the United States federal government as the 565th federally recognized tribe on October 1, 2010 after a 32-year battle with the Federal Government that should have only taken two years, according to the statute. Historically, the language of the Shinnecock people is an eastern Algonquian dialect, and they have stewarded and occupied their aboriginal homelands in and around the Town of Southampton on the eastern end of Long Island from time immemorial. In their Algonquian language, the Shinnecock name roughly translates into English as "people of the stony shore.”
The Nation holds jurisdiction over tribal territory at Shinnecock Neck, a peninsula that juts into the Shinnecock Bay, encompassing approximately 900 acres, as well as land at Westwoods in Hampton Bays, encompassing approximately 100 acres along the Peconic Bay. There are currently over 1,589 enrolled tribal members and about half of the Shinnecock membership live on the Reservation at Shinnecock Neck.
Good neighboring is important to us as we know, as we have for over 400 years, that our neighbors and we are “stronger together.”
READING/VIEWING LIST
- Shinnecock Website The official website for the Shinnecock Indian Nation
- The East Hampton Star Shinnecock Indian Nation Defies Court Order "(The) land belongs to the Nation and New York has always treated it as restricted-fee lands against alienation and encumbrance. It is and was and will be within our right to have those monuments out there.” Lance Gumbs, Vice Chairman, Shinnecock Indian Nation
- New York Times First Female Leader in Centuries Returns a Tribal Nation to Its Roots Lisa Goree took the helm of the Shinnecock Nation in April, as the Long Island tribe navigates disputes over burial grounds and projects to build a casino and a gas station.
- 27East Q&A: Rock Star Roger Waters Talks About His Connection To South Fork, And The Shinnecock (Regarding the Monuments "There’s something about the fact that they’re on both sides of the road. They’re a gateway now, they really are. And it also reminds us that [Route] 27 runs straight through Indian land. And let us never forget that." Roger Waters
- Long Island News 12 Pink Floyd's Roger Waters helps Shinnecock Nation in second billboard battle with state "Let it go. Let these people live." Roger Waters
- American Indian An Island Divided: Generations in the Hamptons' Shadow, the Shinnecock's Struggle for Sovereignty Sees Light Mark Hirsch, a senior historian at the National Museum of the American Indian, details the nation's fight for freedom and its unwillingness to stand down for its right to use its land for the betterment of its people and future generations.
- The Daily Show A Monumental Dispute in the Hamptons Michael Kosta explores the conflict between wealthy Hamptons dwellers and the Shinnecock, an indigenous tribe nearby.
- New York Times Why a Hamptons Highway Is a Battleground Over Native American Rights "The summer crowd comes here to escape the metropolis, only to find this urban element at the gateway to the Hamptons." Jay Schneiderman, Southampton’s town supervisor
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Supporter Voices
Petition created on December 26, 2024