Shinnecocks welcome festivalgoers, help with event

The 600 or so members of the Shinnecock Indian Nation who live on the tribe’s Southampton reservation are no strangers to hosting a large crowd in their backyard.

Every September, the tribe holds a powwow, which draws tens of thousands through its winding roads to congregate on a central field for a celebration to honor the 565th federally recognized tribe in the United States.

The Labor Day weekend event features traditional dances, food and regalia and celebrates the rich history of the East End tribe, which traces its roots to Long Island back thousands of years.

But this weekend, the tribe is hosting a different sort of event: the Escape to New York festival and all the fanfare that has come to town with it. The music and arts festival was organized by Fred Fellowes, who saw it as an opportunity to introduce America to the experience of his popular Secret Garden parties in England.

“It’s sort of an out-of-this-world experience,” said Kristine Goree, 26, a member of the tribe who lives on the reservation. “You come down to watch the concert and you don’t feel like you’re in your home.”

Where the powwow features traditional Native American dress, Escape to New York is use your imagination -- including everything from promoters wearing bunny heads and a performance artist in a dress made of Metrocards to a group in "Where’s Waldo?" costumes.

Where the powwow grounds provide a stage for the drum-heavy music of the tribe, Escape to New York erected a stage that, in addition to performers, features a yellow taxi cab, a wire-frame bed and a washing machine. Rock music emanates from the speakers as the crowd lounges on the ground or dances in the field.

Large-scale art installations are nestled into the woods. A boxing ring was set up for spontaneous dance-offs.

“We know the experience of having a large crowd,” Goree said, adding that many non-tribe members make attending the powwow an annual tradition. “But this is very different.”

When the tribe agreed to lease the grounds for the Escape to New York festival, it was also given the opportunity to have its members work at the festival. About 50 tribe members have been volunteering - collecting tickets, helping to organize and direct media, and with set up and clean up.

“This has been a really fun experience,” said Shatahni Eleazer, 19, a tribe member who was volunteering at the festival. “I’ve never done anything like this before.”

Tucked away behind the main performance stage is Shinnecock Village, a spot for vendor booths run by members of the tribe, where they were selling Native American jewelry, clothing and crafts, as well as food.

Lance A. Gumbs, a former tribal chairman who currently serves as the vice president of the National Congress of American Indians, was running a booth that sold goods from “the four corners of Native America,” he said.

There were Wampum jewelry, a signature of the Shinnecocks and other North American tribes that is made from the purple interior of a clamshell; Navajo woven rugs and turquoise jewelry, and moccasins and leather goods.

Gumbs said the festival has been a positive experience for the tribe members, which benefit economically from running vendor booths and for the tribe as a whole, which has been able to educate people about the tribe.

“This is not a powwow,” he said. “They really don’t have a clue about who we are. Some people don’t even know they are on an Indian reservation, so this has been an opportunity for us."