Indian Nations Petition To Protect Unmarked Ancestral Graves

SOUTHAMPTON, NY — Indian Nations on Long Island are imploring lawmakers to protect unmarked ancestral graves statewide.

According to a petition, "Tell NYS Lawmakers: Pass the Unmarked Burial Site Protection Act!" organized by Harry B. Wallace, Chief of the Unkechaug Indian Nation, Becky Genia and Tela Troge of the Shinnecock Nation, and the Long Island Progressive Coalition: "Burial sites are being unearthed on Long Island and upstate New York, and no protections or provisions for securing the remains are in place."

New York is one of only states that does not have protection against unmarked burials, the petition reads. The other two are New Jersey and Wyoming.

"Any human remains found on private lands are not protected from desecration and/or destruction. The bodies can be destroyed with impunity and the funerary objects can be stolen and removed," the petition states. "There isn’t even a reporting requirement."

The Native American Graves and Protection Act, the federal law that protects remains on federal lands and institutions which receive federal funding, does not apply to privately held lands — and a corresponding state law is necessary to fill the gap left by existing legislation, the petition said.

The legislation, if enacted, will create a burial site review committee, whose responsibility will be to determine the appropriate solutions to inadvertent discovery and protect human remains from "unfettered destruction and desecration. Just as any development must take into consideration wetlands and endangered species protection, shouldn’t human bodies be afforded the same protection?" the petition asks.

The petition comes as the Shinnecock Nation says new graves have been found under a mansion in the Sugar Loaf Hill area of Southampton, Troge said.

In 2020, after months of protest by members of the Shinnecock Nation, the Southampton Town board acted to protect sacred burial grounds from development and desecration.

The Southampton town board voted unanimously in 2020 to approve the Graves Protection Act and the Shinnecock Hills Building Moratorium to protect areas believed to be ancient burial grounds; members of the Shinnecock Nation have long rallied to stop building in the Fort Hill and Sugar Loaf areas and other locations where they believe their ancestors are buried.

However, more must be done on a statewide level, Troge said.

"We need statewide legislation to fill the gaps that NAGPRA left when it was enacted in 1990. In the Hamptons, in particular, there is an overdevelopment crisis that is causing extremely sensitive burial areas to become prime real estate for building new mansions, pools and tennis courts," she said.

Troge added that While Southampton Town did pass burial laws in certain parts of the town, the local law doesn't fully protect the interests of human remains, the remains of individuals who are entitled to be undisturbed in their final resting places, she said.

"All across Long Island and across the state sacred burial grounds are under threat of development," Troge said. "We cannot continue to let the interests of modern builders and developers trump the interests of thousands-of-years-old burials."