Gov. Hochul on LI says Montauketts can't 'circumvent' recognition process

Gov. Kathy Hochul earlier this month accused the Montaukett Indian Nation of attempting to “circumvent” the process of regaining their state recognition through legislation, even though the tribe has been working with her Department of State for years to restore its status.

When Hochul was on Long Island on Jan. 9, she was asked what it would take for her administration to approve the Montaukett’s status, after she vetoed a bill that would have cleared the way for it three days before Christmas.

Loss of the Montaukett’s status followed a 1910 state court decision that favored developer Arthur Benson in allowing an annexing of tribal land in Montauk, while declaring the tribe “disintegrated.” The decision has been criticized by tribal leaders, historians and lawmakers as racist, and Hochul’s citing of the ruling in a 2023 veto was widely criticized.

The Montauketts, Hochul told Newsday, “must go through the normal process. You can’t circumvent that with legislation. They’re required to go through the Department of State to meet certain criteria. I’ve encouraged that route.”

Told that the Nation had been told that it had provided all requested information, Hochul said, “Let me ask the Department of State what’s missing.”

Sandi Brewster-walker, executive director of the Montaukett Nation, declined to comment, but last month expressed exasperation with the governor following the sixth veto of the tribe’s recognition (former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo also vetoed the bill three times). Hochul and her team have “disrespected the nation and seem to be looking for reasons not to recognize us."

Former Assemb. Fred Thiele, who sponsored six iterations of the bill for more than a decade, called Hochul “misinformed.”

“The Montauketts have done everything to justify reinstatement and more.” Referring to the 1910 state court decision that allowed the annexing of tribal land in Montauk, Thiele said, Hochul is “on the wrong side of history again."

Theile noted the state has no formal process for recognition of a tribe whose status was wrongly removed. “Recognition has been granted by legislation in every other case in New York history,” including the Unkechaug Nation’s returned status in 1978.

“The so-called process was invented out of whole cloth by then-Gov. Cuomo’s first veto 10 years ago,” Thiele said.

Despite the state’s claims, Thiele noted, the Montauketts met with Hochul’s senior staff starting a year ago and provided “every single piece of information that was requested.” The tribe has said that a staff attorney for Hochul raised the issue of potential land claims before her veto and that it was used to justify the veto.

In the end, Thiele said, “the burden of proof should be on the governor to demonstrate that recognition of the Montauketts was not wrongly taken away in the first place more than a century ago.”

By Mark Harrington

mark.harrington@newsday.comMHarringtonNews

Mark Harrington, a Newsday reporter since 1999, covers energy, wineries, Indian affairs and fisheries.