Shinnecock nation plans to reopen powwow to public Labor Day
Lucille Bosley, of the Shinnecock Indian Nation, and Susan Marzan, of the Cherokee Nation, participate in the 70th annual Shinnecock Indian Nation Powwow on Sept. 2, 2016, in Southampton. Credit: Yvonne Albinowski
After a two-year pandemic-related hiatus, the Shinnecock Indian Nation Powwow is scheduled to return to a fully public event this Labor Day weekend, a tribal official said.
The cultural event is a vital contributor to tribal income, both to the government and to individual Shinnecock members who sell food and wares. The four-day event, which also features native music and dance, is held over the Labor Day weekend on the tribal reservation’s historic powwow grounds in Southampton.
Bryan Polite, chairman of the tribal trustees, said the nation is thrilled to reopen the event to the general public this year. The last two years saw partly virtual powwows with some limited on-site presence for tribal members only.
Polite said the tribe will keep careful watch on COVID-19 infection rates leading up to the event and cautioned that plans “could change if anything happens with the pandemic” between now and September.
Meanwhile, the tribal nation continues to work to finalize a set of regulations for adult cannabis sales from reservation shops. Polite declined to put a definite timeline on when sales could start, but he did not rule out finalizing regulations in the next month or two. Final rules and amendments must be approved by the tribal council and the tribe’s cannabis regulatory division.
Until that time, Polite said, “it’s currently against tribal law to engage in adult-use sales.” The tribe has issued letters to smoke shops telling them of the current rules, and cautioning against sales in advance of approved regulations. The tribe has separate plans to open a medical cannabis dispensary and a cannabis growing facility, which are “in the process of being built,” he said.
Even if adult cannabis-sale regulations are in place by September, Polite said marijuana won’t have a place at the powwow, which already bans the sale of alcohol. The powwow “is a drug- and alcohol-free event,” he said.
The tribe continues to move ahead on other ventures. It has met with community members in Hampton Bays about its planned 200-room resort and convention center on its Westwoods property, Polite said, and remains in contract talks with a developer.
And the nation awaits a meeting with the administration of Gov. Kathy Hochul on talks for a compact — a specific government to government agreement — to open a Class 3 casino in the state. Hochul in this year’s budget approved plans to license up to three commercial downstate casinos. The tribe and its partners have expressed interest in one of those licenses, either through a commercial license or through a compact.
The tribe’s separate plan for a Class 2 casino on its Southampton reservation still awaits an environmental review from the federal National Indian Gaming Commission, Polite said.
The tribe also is moving ahead with plans for a gasoline station/travel plaza on tribal land on Sunrise Highway in Hampton Bays, which will be tribally owned. “We are in the process of securing a loan for the gas station,” he said.
The only potential drawback: The tribe needs to work with the state Department of Transportation to advance the project, but the DOT continues to press a lawsuit over the tribe’s nearby roadside monument billboards.
“The DOT won't talk to us about anything until the [billboard] litigation is resolved.” Polite said, saying the tribe has urged the Hochul administration and the state attorney general's office to drop the suit. He said state concerns about the billboards causing accidents or bird deaths have proved unfounded.
Thus far, Polite said, the tribe has spent nearly $500,000 on legal costs defending itself against the lawsuit in state Supreme Court.
Glenn Blain, a DOT spokesman, said the agency "has received the preliminary documentation from the Shinnecock Indian Nation regarding the service area/gas station and we are reviewing it. We plan to contact them soon."
A spokeswoman for the attorney general's office declined to comment. Hochul's office didn't respond to a request for comment.
Mark Harrington, a Newsday reporter since 1999, covers energy, wineries, Indian affairs and fisheries.
