A Shinnecock cleric ponders effects of tribal recognition

Rev. Michael Smith gestures from the front row of the Shinnecock Presbyterian Church to a white marble font beyond the wooden pulpit. "I was baptized right there," says the 61-year-old pastor.

The church sits on the Shinnecock Nation's 800-acre reservation in Southampton, where symbols of the past are everywhere - reminders, Smith says, of the people and the values that helped the Shinnecock survive against difficult odds. "For centuries, our ancestors lived very simple lives," he said last week, a few days after the tribe was granted federal recognition. "That's what's enabled us to be here."

Now that the tribe has officially joined the ranks of the nation's federally recognized tribes, much stands to change for the Shinnecock. Tribal leaders and lawyers have already begun to tackle the mountains of paperwork seeking grants and loans for large-scale government operations such as tribal courts, housing, medical clinics and educational programs. Beyond those, the nation has talked to officials across Long Island about the construction of casinos.

Needs are many

Tribal members say their needs are great. Most of the roads across the reservation remain unlighted. Some of the homes that dot the land still have hand pumps for water. And while several new homes sit on the reservation, much of the housing stock is modestly built and in need of repair. Members of the nation have said for years that banks have been unwilling to write mortgages for homes on tribal land, which is held in common and not by individuals.

Smith, who was a trustee in the 1970s when some of the Shinnecock leaders first contemplated federal recognition, has been a thoughtful, reflective voice as the tribe enters this new phase of its history. He is worried the tribe will lose touch with its values once a casino is build. "It just seems this whole notion took off with the introduction of a casino," he said of the federal recognition process. "If we move in that direction, then how do we prepare ourselves for this perceived influx of cash?"

Late last month, the tribe's gaming authority spoke at a real estate conference of plans to "ideally" put three casinos across Long Island. Members of the authority also spoke of other projects and of creating new economic opportunity throughout the region. The plans were ambitious for a community where the median household income on the reservation was around $14,000 a year, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures.

Casino income benefits

"We have to be thoughtful and careful about the choices that we make," he said. "There are some positive things that will come - the medical services, the housing services, some of the basics. It's a matter of simply taking what we need. We always have to struggle with this balance of needs and wants."

But the needs here have been pent up over decades, and even those who most cherish the simple treasures of the reservation say there is much to be gained now that the tribe has federal status. Courtney Leonard, an artist who lives in a modest cabin on the waterfront, has come up against the limitations when she tried to find federal funding for an art school for young students.

"There was always an asterisk on a grant saying only federally recognized tribes were eligible," she said. "I'm hoping those things will no longer happen. We have hopes and dreams outside of any casino enterprise. There are people on the reservation who can afford to send kids to school and those who cannot."

Leonard's daughter, Ne'epa Wota'homon Hyde, was born Sept. 30, a day before federal recognition was finalized. The name in the Shinnecock's ancient language means "moon" and "strawberry." Leonard said she hopes new programs on the reservation will help her daughter have a better life.

"I'm hoping people will no longer shut doors that should never have been closed in the first place," she said.