BestCraps.com

Shinnecock Nation fights final battle for tribal recognition

Posted on August 3rd, 2010

News Sponsored by Online Vegas Casino

Rated 5 Stars by BestCraps.com

Read Review

Visit Casino

Download Software

————————————————

For 32 years, descendants of the Shinnecock Nation of New York fought relentlessly for federal recognition as a historical Indian tribe and acknowledgement of their claim for ancestral rights over their tribal lands. The tribal community dwelled around the coastal areas of Southampton on Eastern Long Island and westward to the eastern border of the Town of Brookhaven thriving from the bounty of the sea which for thousands of years provided their means of subsistence. In recent years, however, rainstorms forced the Shinnecock tribe to abandon their traditional livelihood and begun to explore Indian Gaming as an alternative way of ensuring self-sufficiency.

On June 14, 2010, the Board of Indian Appeals (BIA) issued a final determination that affirms federal recognition of the Shinnecock tribe as an Indian tribe. Some 1300 members of the Shinnecock group rejoiced over their much-awaited victory. However, ,exactly on the 30th day of the comment period on the BIA decision, two groups filed last-ditch appeals for the reversal of the Shinnecock’s acknowledgement once again putting at stake the tribe’s more than 30 years quest for recognition. One appellant, Robert Stevenson, claiming to be Montaukett chief, wanted all of Long Island Indian tribes to be part of the Shinnecock’s recognition under a Montaukett confederacy.

Shinnecock Trustee Randy King dismissed Stevenson’s claim. “If the people behind it had any legitimacy, they would have stepped forward earlier”, King opines. Montauk Tribe Chief Robert Pharaoh reportedly disowned Stevenson’s appeal. But another appeal, which some considered to be politically-motivated, was lodged by the Connecticut Coalition for Gaming Jobs which challenged the Final Determination as a “mis-determination” accusing that it was bankrolled by Gateway Casino Resorts. This is the second time that a Connecticut-based group assailed the Shinnecock Nation’s plea for federal recognition.

Led by Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, the Coalition argued that “the federal recognition process has been hijacked to primarily benefit casino investors rather than the individual tribe”. The group sought to prevent the Shinnecock casino in the New York metropolitan to compete with Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun as it would badly affect the casinos employees as well as the Connecticut tax payers. “The Connecticut Coalition for Gaming Jobs are (sic) an interesting party in this matter because their members will suffer irreparable harm should the Final Determination be upheld and casino gambling in the New York Metropolitan area be allowed to continue,” the appeal reads. Strangely, the Coalition’s members are linked to the state government and wealthy businessmen of Connecticut. The group’s spokesman, Matthew Hennessy, is theformer chief of staff of the defunct Mayor Eddie Perez who resigned in June upon conviction of corruption charges. Another personality associated with the group is Chris Cooper, former spokesman of Governor Jodi Rell.

Shinnecock tribal leaders and more than 100 tribal descendants flocked the US District Court in Central Islip Long Island asking the court to dismiss the cases against their federal recognition. Lance Gums, a Shinnecock trustee, decried that that this last-minute effort to strip his tribe’s status was coming from Connecticut. “Here it is again. They were against the Schaghticoke people and the Eastern Pequots and now they’re trying to step out of their boundaries and coming into our state and wanting to cause havoc and destruction here, but they’re not going to get away with this one,” Gumbs said.

For his part, Judge Bianco said he could not dismiss the appeals, although he ordered the BIA to expedite the review process. He asked them to set within 10 days a deadline to review the appeals, otherwise he himself would determine the date. Representative Tim Bishop wrote to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar conveying his support to the Shinnecocks’ federal acknowledgment. He said: “For the people of Southampton and the East End of Long Island, the decision of the federal government to acknowledge the Shinnecock Indian Nation is puzzling only in that it took so long to recognize what everyone who has grown up in this community has known all their lives – the Shinnecock Indian Nation is unquestionably an Indian tribe.”