Southampton - The culmination of the Shinnecock Tribe's 31 years of struggle is at hand, as the tribe has received preliminary confirmation for becoming a federally recognized Native American Tribe.

Tribal member Fred Bess displaying the official Shinnecock seal during its unveiling in 2008. Photo from file

The very fight for recognition is somewhat of a contradiction for the Shinnecock, tribal member Lance Gumbs, one of the main forces in the movement, explained during an interview at his Shinnecock Indian Outpost on Old Montauk Highway. "Federal recognition is a license to be an Indian," Gumbs said sarcastically, "Historically, just as you would license your dog, we have been licensed now." However, with recognition comes a number of benefits, such as land protection, funding and economic opportunities. "Federal recognition now brings federal funding to improve the quality of life for Indian people," he said, explaining that currently, as all of the Shinnecock land is held in common trust among the tribe, no one can get a mortgage for a house since there is no collateral to offer the banks. With recognition comes HUD (housing and urban development) grants, cheap loans and funding assistance for things as fundamental as plowing the roads after a snowstorm.

Federal recognition also "entitles you to the protections of the federal government," Gumbs explained, as "at any time the State could say we're not a tribe," though that is unlikely. "It opens a lot more doors and resources that the tribe can utilize. Land protection, grave protection, and then there's the funding," Gumbs said, noticeably conflicted with the idea of taking the government's help, "The handouts," as he called them.

Besides handouts, recognition also brings economic incentives to build sustainable jobs. "We looked at a lot of forms of economic development that are tribe sustaining," Gumbs said, "We looked at a paint factory for Mattel Toys, looked at gas stations with convenience stores," but none compared to the "cash cow" that a gaming casino could deliver. The Shinnecock, living on a patch of land between Old Montauk Highway and the South Shore, "don't have the vast Natural Resources that tribes out west have," he explained, "When you look at our limited land base, what can we do with the little bit of land that we have that is nation sustaining." The answer seems to be gaming.

Tribal member and former Shinnecock Trustee Lance Gumbs at his shop on Old Montauk Highway, discussing the long road to federal recognition.

Gumbs was quick to squash assertions that the Shinnecock's push for federal recognition was directly related to their desire for a casino. "People want to associate our quest for recognition with gaming," he said, however "gaming didn't come into effect until 1988," whereas the Shinnecock began their pursuit of recognition in the late 1970s. Recognition is a necessary step in getting a casino, but the latter is not the true goal. A gaming casino seems to be an inevitable consequence of recognition for the Shinnecock, though as of yet there are no official plans and a site has yet to be chosen. "It's going to be wherever it can go," according to Gumbs.

Tribal elders dancing at the Powwow. Many have spent a good portion of their lives waiting for recognition.

There are three paths to recognition: a congressional decree, a ruling from a district court judge (which Gumbs asserted they had, though it did them little good) or going through the time-consuming Federal Acknowledgment Process (FAP). "They want you to go through the process and they want you to fail," Gumbs contended. The Shinnecock will be the 565th Native American tribe to gain federal recognition, though Gumbs cited a study that said that 73 percent of tribes that are currently in the federal registry would not make it through the process today.

For Gumbs and the Shinnecock it was less a matter of whether they'd make it than how long. From the beginning, New York State has recognized the Shinnecock as one of the many separate and distinct tribes that lived within the boundaries of the state before it was conceived and documents dating back to colonial times show that the King of England was well aware of the tribe and their place within the settlements. With that knowledge and a strong presence in the Southampton community, it was only a matter of time; time, however, seemed to be taking its time.

The official fight for recognition began back in 1977-1978, when the FAP program was first instituted. The Shinnecock "were the fourth tribe to sign up," according to Gumbs, though there were many others who got through the door first. When Gumbs took over the fight in 2003 after being elected to the Tribal Council, the process wasn't scheduled to begin until 2022. "It got to the point where we were losing all of our people and knew we had to jump start the process," he said, having successfully knocked almost 20 years off the process.

Gumbs, surrounded by fellow members of the tribe, got the call at 4:04 p.m. on Tuesday, December 15. "They really dragged it out," he said, amused by the adherence to ceremony that kept them waiting another 10 minutes after decades of struggle, "They couldn't just tell us, they had to introduce everyone on their side of the phone" and read the entire proclamation before getting to the good part. "Based on the evidence reviewed," an official from the Bureau of Indian Affairs reported, "the petitioners exist as a tribe within the meaning of federal law."

The process isn't over just yet - there is a 90-day comment period wherein any interested persons can submit concerns or complaints before the recognition becomes official, however only four tribes have gotten to the preliminary stage only to be turned away. Once the final recognition comes through, expected sometime mid-spring, the real celebration will begin, with a full-out bash on the Shinnecock reservation. "We've been getting calls from all the other tribes," Gumbs said, "They've all said they'll be here" for the party.

The women of the Shinnecock Nation gracefully make their way through the procession.

"Right now there are still 204, wait, 203 tribes still waiting for recognition," Gumbs said with a wry smile, still coming to grips with the realization of three decades of perseverance.

Gumbs was clearly proud with gaining the designation, though he asserted that, "We were Shinnecock the day before the decision, we were Shinnecock the day of the decision and no matter what that decision was, we were going to be Shinnecock after the decision, either way."

Even with all the conflicting emotions that come with being recognized by the federal government, Gumbs was clearly moved by attaining the goal, "The Shinnecock Nation exist as a tribe," he said with a long-off, starry look in his eyes.