Posted on 07/11/2010 8:05:43 PM PDT by Free ThinkerNY
From a distance the teardrop-shaped peninsula looks just like any other bit of the famed Hamptons shoreline. Thick woods crowd down to the water's edge, and through the trees houses and roads can be glimpsed.
But this land is not part of the Hamptons, neither is it really part of the United States any more. This patch – in the middle of the playground to Manhattan's social elite – is proudly and fiercely Native American country.
Almost four centuries since their first contact with the white man and after a 32-year court battle that has just ended in victory, the tiny Shinnecock tribe has now been formally recognised by America's federal government.
The decision means that the Shinnecock, numbering some 1,300 members, many of whom live in deep poverty compared with their wealthy neighbours, can apply for federal funding to build schools, health centres and set up their own police force. It means their tiny 750-acre reservation is now a semi-sovereign nation within the US, just like much bigger and more famous reservations in the west.
In order to qualify the Shinnecock literally had to prove that they existed, submitting thousands of pages of tribal records. It was a process that has left a bitter legacy. "Why do we need federal recognition to show we are who we are?" said Shinnecock leader Lance Gumbs as he sat in his office in the community centre. "It's a humiliating, degrading and insensitive process. Why do Indian people have to go through that? No other peoples are treated like that."
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
Oh man,what a nice piece of property.
750 acres is plenty of room to build a resort hotel, casino, tax exempt tobacco outlet, shopping mall and upscale housing for all the tribe to be financed by the income of said enterprises.
Oh good God.
Maybe Dr. Hank can be their medicine man.
Perfect place for a casino, cheezy mall, tax exempt smokes, a bordello, alligator wrestling attraction hopefully next to Martha StewRat’s house.
Up to that moment I had no idea they had been a real tribe.
They appear to have been the first people to realize that American Indians had a very high death rate in the presence of Europeans and Africans and sought a way to evacuate all Indians from the East.
They were considered ZENOPHOBIC by everyone, but they convinced Jefferson.
Long Island is surrounded by two gambling meccas. I can’t imagine the town that will want a casino.
“The decision means that the Shinnecock, numbering some 1,300 members, many of whom live in deep poverty compared with their wealthy neighbours, can apply for federal funding to build schools, health centres and set up their own police force. It means their tiny 750-acre reservation is now a semi-sovereign nation within the US, just like much bigger and more famous reservations in the west.”
Wonder what they plan on doing when big brother goes broke.
I can’t imagine the indians will give a **** what the town wants.
I knew somebody who knew about one tribes casinos. The investment banks fall all over themselves to lend them billions in bonds to build the biggest casino they can build.
Right is right; don’t know the particulars of this one other than what I read here.
The history of the US is fraught with jacking the natives over.
A deal is a deal.
The Shinnecock “Indians” are now of about 60% Black ancestry, about 15% White, about 10% Indian and about 10% Hispanic.
5%, who knows.
Like Obama...........
The Shinnecock “Indians” are now of about 60% Black ancestry, about 15% White, about 10% Indian and about 10% Hispanic.
5%, who knows.
Like Obama...........
Who better to take land from than than liberal elitists?
>> The history of the US is fraught with jacking the natives over.
We should have forced them to assimilate instead of giving them reservations (a.k.a. casino property).
Those are fake Indians because their bloodlines have been so diluted - just like Hawaiians who claim to be “native” but are in reality a mix of Chinese, Japanese, Puerto Rican, Portuguese and what ever settled on the islands in the 1800s. It’s all a big scam if you ask me.
The US government was nice enough to let the 1,000 year lease last over 80 years after it was technically illegal, since the 1703 lease was with the English government and not the US or state government.
However, it does appear the land grant from the mid-1800s ought to be legitimate even today. That appears to be the 750 acres they are now entitled to.
I couldn’t be happier with the idea that liberals will be skewered by some of their own medicine.
btt
I’m just saying the towns will put up a fight. And Long Island towns know how to fight.
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