If my memory in my history lesson is correct, I think it was Manhattan the settlers bought for $24
That is correct. And as bad as the Knicks were back then, I'm sure they were thrown in for free...
Shinnecock Tribe Plans Suit, Claiming Land in Hamptons
By BRUCE LAMBERT
Published: June 12, 2005
The Shinnecock tribe on Long Island says it will sue in federal court this week, claiming ownership of thousands of acres of prime Hamptons real estate worth billions of dollars. Based on property values, the case would rank as one of the biggest Indian land disputes in history, experts say.
Tribal leaders say their suit seeks to reclaim 3,600 acres in Southampton that include the Southampton College campus, the Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, where the United States Open is played, and the bayfront resort community Shinnecock Hills.
The tribe says it will also file a second suit, within a month, claiming much more of Southampton - possibly the entire town, which has 57,000 residents, major parks, Grabeski Airport, Suffolk County's jail and courts, many businesses and spectacular oceanfront homes.
The suits will be filed in United States District Court in Central Islip against New York State, Suffolk County, Southampton and others.
Several officials said they had not seen the suit and declined to comment on it. But Gov. George E. Pataki's office, in a statement it released Friday, said, "We will take whatever steps may be necessary to protect the interests of property owners and taxpayers on Long Island."
The legal action comes as the Shinnecocks, who are now based on an 800-acre reservation, have been pushing to open a casino on nearby land that they already own - a move that has been stridently opposed by neighbors and local officials. That project is tied up in court.
The tribe's property claim also rises as Governor Pataki and legislators are trying to resolve numerous other Indian disputes. On Thursday, he proposed a settlement of the Akwesasne Mohawk claims upstate.
On the East End, the heritage of the Shinnecocks, renowned for whaling and carving seashells into wampum, dates back 3,000 years. They long predated the first European settlers, who arrived in 1640, as well as the trophy waterfront homes, and summering entertainment celebrities and Wall Street tycoons that have become synonymous with the Hamptons.
"We only seek what is due us," said Randy King, the chairman of the Shinnecock Indian Nation's trustees.
He denounced what he described as "hundreds of years of lies, broken promises and exploitation."
Mr. King said the tribe would like "to settle these issues" and find a "win-win solution." The tribe has about 1,300 members, with roughly 500 living on the reservation, and its leaders say they desperately need better housing, jobs, health care and schools.
United States Representative Timothy H. Bishop, a Democrat who represents the area the tribe is claiming, called the planned litigation "both alarming and unacceptable," and said, "State law is very clear, and has been for over a century, on the boundaries of the Shinnecock Reservation."
Though recognized by the state for two centuries, the Shinnecocks are struggling to win federal tribal status from the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs, a process that could take years. Federal certification should assure the tribe's right to have a casino; as it stands, the lack of certification could pose a hurdle for its land claims.
The contrasting prosperity on the surrounding land that the tribe once occupied is not lost on the Shinnecocks. One trustee, Charles Smith, said, "From my house, I can see other houses where the garages are as big as my house."
The lawyer devising the tribe's legal strategy is John M. Peebles of Sacramento, whose firm, Monteau & Peebles, specializes in Indian issues.
The first lawsuit stems from a lease for the 3,600 acres that Southampton gave the Shinnecocks in 1703, which was supposed to last 1,000 years. But in a deal that the State Legislature approved in 1859, white residents used a fraudulent Indian petition to break the lease, Mr. Peebles said, enabling railroad construction and land development. Such a change of Indian rights requires Congressional approval, however, and that was never given, he said.
The second suit, for far more land, will be based on a more general argument that the Indians once occupied the area and are entitled to its return, Mr. Peebles said. Both cases have ample precedents, he said. The tribe also seeks damages for the decades it was deprived of the land.
"We have been good neighbors to the very people who stole our ancestral land for their own financial gain," Mr. King said.
Kevin Gover, a professor of Indian law at Arizona State University and a former assistant secretary of the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, said the Shinnecocks had a strong case for federal status and a viable claim on the land, "though I'm not saying they'll necessarily win."