Shinnecock Reservation Residents Furious Over Fee For Coopers Beach

SOUTHAMPTON, NY - As summer visitors flock to Coopers Beach, regularly named as one of the most beautiful in the world, members of the Shinnecock Indian Nation are outraged that they are being charged the same fee as non-residents to park.

Residents of Southampton Village are able to park at Coopers Beach for free, but non-residents must pay $40 per day or $225 for the season, for parking and admission.

And that's something that Shinnecock Indian Nation members take issue with.

Former Tribal Chief Lance Gumbs said the beach was given to the village by the Shinnecock Indian Nation.

"Now you're telling us we can't go?" he asked. "That beach is part of our history."

Dyáni Brown, a member of the Shinnecock Indian Nation, agreed. "It's outrageous. For one thing, they're trying to charge us to access" the beach, she said.

The Shinnecocks, she said, never relinquished the rights to use oceans and beaches, yet the village is charging those who live on the Reservation a fee. "They're impeding the way we practice our culture," she said.

Brown added that there are treaties that outline the terms of the land transfer. "We still have the right to fish there, to practice our religion, to access the beach," she said.

Even when a deer is caught, she said, the English traditionally were able to keep the body while members of the Shinnecock Indian Nation kept the skin.

"There's a historical acknowledgement of that sharing," she said.

It's not only Coopers Beach that the village has begun to "monetize", Brown said, but also, inlets and other areas, where permits are now required where they hadn't been before.

Brown added that the many members of the Shinnecock Indiean Nation who took part in the recent July 4 parade in Southampton Village, including firemen and EMTs, are proof that they are very much woven into the fabric of the Southampton Village community.

"But they say we are outsiders, because of a border that they put us behind, to put us on the Reservation," Brown said, adding that children from the Reservation attend school in Southampton and contribute to the school budget. "But at the same time you're not going to welcome them to the beach that their ancestors welcomed you to," she said.

Brown added that village residents are afforded the right to access the beach for free because they pay taxes.

"We don't pay taxes because you have the land, you took all of that," she said. "Our compensation for staying behind that border is that we don't have to pay land tax."

Southampton Village Mayor Mark Epley responded Thursday: "As I told representatives of the Shinnecock Nation, Coopers Beach costs money to operate. We maintain the beach, pay lifeguards, beach attendants, remove trash, maintain a parking lot, etc. This all costs a lot of money and people who utilize Coopers Beach should help cover the cost. Why are they not upset about any of the town beaches or the county parks?"

Photo courtesy of Fordel Willis.