12.17.07
Shinnecocks irked by Southampton blocking casino
BY MITCHELL FREEDMAN
mitch.freedman@newsday.com
Tribal Trustees of the Shinnecock Indian tribe Monday charged that Southampton Town was committing "cultural genocide" by insisting that the residentially-zoned land should be used only to build houses.
The charge by tribal trustees, during an interview on the reservation, comes a few days before a federal court was to accept the wording of a permanent injunction barring the Shinnecock from developing a casino on nearly 80 acres of land in Hampton Bays.
Southampton won its lawsuit to block the tribe from building a casino.
Trustee Frederick C. Bess said Monday that generations of Shinnecocks have taken part in weddings, dances and other community rituals on the tribe's Westwoods property.
"They can't tell us if we're breaking the law or not," he said. "Do we have to get a permit to build a bonfire?"
Trustee Lance Gumbs said that the traditional uses of the land would not be stopped. "We are going to continue to do them," he said. "If we have to go to jail, we will."
The Tribal Trustees also complained that the proposed injunction drawn up by the town contains language opposing any federal recognition of the tribe. They say such a clause would make it difficult to gain that status, which would allow the tribe to apply for special federal aid programs.
U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Bianco ruled in October that the Shinnecock Tribe did not have the right to build a casino on the Westwoods land, where its members have hunted, celebrated and conducted different ceremonies for generations.
The land, off Newtown Road, is several miles from the Shinnecock Indian Reservation on Shinnecock Bay.
After ruling in favor of the town, Judge Bianco ordered the two sides to come up with the wording for a permanent injunction to bar casino construction by Dec. 12. When they failed to reach an agreement on the language, he extended the deadline to Thursday.
Town Board member Linda Kabot, who will become supervisor, had scheduled a meeting with the Tribal Trustees last week, but canceled it.
Kabot said the Shinnecocks wanted to include language in the court order that spelled out the tribe's pre-existing uses of the land, uses which did not conform to existing zoning. "It was over-reaching," she said.
Kabot said that there are no town regulations that deal with tribal ceremonies or similar cultural events. "We only cover big activities like the Hampton Classic," she said.
BY MITCHELL FREEDMAN
mitch.freedman@newsday.com
Tribal Trustees of the Shinnecock Indian tribe Monday charged that Southampton Town was committing "cultural genocide" by insisting that the residentially-zoned land should be used only to build houses.
The charge by tribal trustees, during an interview on the reservation, comes a few days before a federal court was to accept the wording of a permanent injunction barring the Shinnecock from developing a casino on nearly 80 acres of land in Hampton Bays.
Southampton won its lawsuit to block the tribe from building a casino.
Trustee Frederick C. Bess said Monday that generations of Shinnecocks have taken part in weddings, dances and other community rituals on the tribe's Westwoods property.
"They can't tell us if we're breaking the law or not," he said. "Do we have to get a permit to build a bonfire?"
Trustee Lance Gumbs said that the traditional uses of the land would not be stopped. "We are going to continue to do them," he said. "If we have to go to jail, we will."
The Tribal Trustees also complained that the proposed injunction drawn up by the town contains language opposing any federal recognition of the tribe. They say such a clause would make it difficult to gain that status, which would allow the tribe to apply for special federal aid programs.
U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Bianco ruled in October that the Shinnecock Tribe did not have the right to build a casino on the Westwoods land, where its members have hunted, celebrated and conducted different ceremonies for generations.
The land, off Newtown Road, is several miles from the Shinnecock Indian Reservation on Shinnecock Bay.
After ruling in favor of the town, Judge Bianco ordered the two sides to come up with the wording for a permanent injunction to bar casino construction by Dec. 12. When they failed to reach an agreement on the language, he extended the deadline to Thursday.
Town Board member Linda Kabot, who will become supervisor, had scheduled a meeting with the Tribal Trustees last week, but canceled it.
Kabot said the Shinnecocks wanted to include language in the court order that spelled out the tribe's pre-existing uses of the land, uses which did not conform to existing zoning. "It was over-reaching," she said.
Kabot said that there are no town regulations that deal with tribal ceremonies or similar cultural events. "We only cover big activities like the Hampton Classic," she said.
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