Shinnecock Nation Honors Oldest Woman On Reservation, Celebrates 95th Birthday

SOUTHAMPTON, NY - Harriet "Princess Starleaf" Crippen Brown Gumbs celebrated her 95th birthday in style at the Shinnecock Indian Nation Reservation on Sunday.

The party was held at the warehouse behind the Shinnecock Indian Outpost as a crowd gathered to celebrate her rich life.

Ms. Gumbs is the last of the 10 Crippen children that lived on the reservation and in the Village of Southampton, a proud citizen of the Shinnecock Indian Nation, a graduate of Southampton High School, graduated summa cum laude from Long Island University Southampton College with a degree in history/education and the Anitioch School's paralegal program, her son Lance Gumbs said.

She's also a proud member of the Southampton League of Women Voters, a tribal activist for women's rights, a native business pioneer, a teacher, lecturer and tribal historian, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and oldest living female tribe member, Gumbs said.

Southampton Village Mayor Mark Epley and Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman presented proclamations to Ms. Gumbs.

Tribal Trustee Terrell Terry and Shinnecock Nation Tribal Chairman Brian Polite "gave wonderful, heartfelt words," Gumbs said. "She is our mother and grandmother, great-grandmother and great-great-grandmother to 51 children. It was truly an honor to our family to see the over 175 people that turned out to help celebrate her life."

Photos courtesy of Lance Gumbs.