Shinnecock Tribe Protests Building On Sacred Burial Site

SOUTHAMPTON, NY — Members of the Shinnecock Indian Nation are protesting the desecration of their ancestors' sacred burial site by a development given the green light by Southampton Town.

According to Tela Troge, a member of the Shinnecock Nation who responded to questions about the protest, the gathering began on Monday at Sugar Loaf, located on Montauk Highway in Shinnecock Hills, and will continue until building and construction ceases.

"Sugar Loaf is a New York State and Town of Southampton designated critical environmental area," she said. "It is the site of Shinnecock's most sacred burial area in the Shinnecock Hills and the site of the Shinnecock Contact-era fort."

The parcel in question, 513 Montauk Highway, Troge said, lays directly in the CEA area. According to the building permit, plans call for a single family two-story residence with an attached three-car garage, porch, deck, fireplace and unfinished basement. A Town & Country builder, whose sign is posted at the property, could not immediately be reached for comment.

"The developer is planning to build a two-story residential home on this sacred site and burial ground," she said. "The fact that the Town of Southampton authorized a subdivision and issued a building permit without consultation with the Shinnecock Nation shows that they are not respecting our interests in saving what's left of our sacred Shinnecock Hills — and particularly Sugar Loaf Hill," Troje said.

The Nation is working closely with the Southampton Town Attorney and the Community Preservation Fund Director to preserve the site and save what's left, she added.

Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman did not immediately return a request for comment on Tuesday.

Others spoke out in protest against the development. "It is in the nature of the Native American to resolve issues of conflict peacefully, from incidents like Wounded Knee to the more recent protests at the Dakota Access Pipeline," said Bryan Downey, who has photographed the Shinnecock tribe in recent years. "I’ve been working with Indigenous People for over six years now and forever supportive of their voice alone being enough to make an impact on this Nation. The Shinnecock will not change their ways, no more than we will change ours. In a perfect world, a Native development consultant should be involved in every excavation in the Southampton Township area. The consultant will or will not give the green light for that particular project."

The Shinnecock tribe's fight to protect their sacred burial sites was the focus of a recent PBS documentary, "Conscience Point."