Shinnecock Nation Fights Back Against Hamptons Billionaires Who Refuse to Respect Treaty Rights

Tela Troge, Shinnecock Nation activist and attorney joins the Freedom Side to share more about the fight to have Shinnecock treaty rights respected.

The Shinnecock Nation has been fighting since 1640 to retain their ownership of their ancestral land. Today the Shinnecock Nation owns only a fraction of their original lands, and now the town of Southampton, home of billionaires, refuses to honor their treaty rights.

One in five members of the Shinnnecock tribe lives below the poverty line in a mix of small homes and dilapidated trailers. Meanwhile, right across Shinnecock Bay, in a disgusting display of opulence, mega-mansions for the richest 1 percent are being built on top of ancestral burial grounds. One stretch is even called “Billionaire Lane.”

New York State has enforced this strict inequality, threatening the Shinnecock Nation with fines for just building billboard advertisements, and blocking them from building a gaming facility on their land.