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The Shinnecock Indian Nation is a federally recognized tribe of historically Algonquian-speaking Native Americans based at the eastern end of Long Island, New York. This tribe is headquartered in Suffolk County, on the southeastern shore. Since the mid-19th century, the tribe's landbase is the Shinnecock Reservation within the geographic boundaries of the Town of Southampton. Their name roughly translates into English as "people of the stony shore". https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinnecock_Indian_Nation
The People
The Shinnecock people have been living on Long Island for approximately 13,000 years. They were once part of a larger group that inhabited all of the island, which also was part of an even larger group that included all of New England.
The Shinnecock people understood the traditional methods that would sustain their people and others off the lands and water. Expert fisherman, hunters and farmers, life on Long Island must have been a paradise for many thousands of years. Almost all modern fishing methods were used by the indigenous people of the island. The Shinnecock and their sister tribes were master whalers. Some of their canoes could hold about 100 people. This skill set proved extremely valuable throughout history.
The Shinnecock people traditionally spoke a dialect of the Algonquian language. It is important to understand that the term Algonquian refers to the language and not the name of the people. Though there is an Algonkin tribe in Canada.
The tribes of New England are known as "first contact tribes". This term refers to the fact that those tribes were the first to come into contact with the European settlers. The first Europeans to venture around Long Island were the Dutch. Then the English. First contact was made on Long Island at a place that is now called "Conscience Point" which is located in the town of Southampton.
Although there is a myth that there were originally 13 tribes on Long Island, it is their belief they were actually one people according to their standards. They had several villages and certain designated areas that were to be stewarded by a Sachem or "Chief". The Sachem of an area did not own the lands that he oversaw as much of the world perceives land occupation. Instead his duty was to protect the lands and the people that lived on it. A Sachem was to insure the protection and nourishment of his community. The "bands" of Sachems on Long Island acknowledged a greater Sachem that coordinated with all of them. During the time of contact, that Sachem was based in Montauk, home of the Montaukett people. One of the most well known and influential Sachems was Wyandanch. He was the head of all of Long Island during much of the initial contact period. His home was Montauk and his people the Montuaketts oversaw what is now Easthampton Town.
The people of Shinnecock once oversaw all of what is now Southampton Town. During the early stages of European settlement, there were villages in the area. The indigenous people were free to move and live where they chose. As colonization progressed, the lands were in many cases stolen by the European settlers. Resulting in several land claims. The first land claim by the Shinnecock and Montaukett people was in 1662 when Quashawam, a Sunq Squa or woman Chief, daughter of Wyandanch, filed a complaint with Southampton Town. The complaint stated that she would like to sue for the occupation of lands the Dutch and English resided on that were not paid for. This was not resolved until 1686 and was the start of the major oppression of indigenous people on Long Island.
As the Indigenous people were pushed out of their homelands in Southampton town, a greater movement of oppression began on Eastern Long Island in the late 1600's. This was known as "The Great Awakening". During this time, Shinnecock people were forced into the English way of life. Forced to have English names and clothing. Forced into Christianity and the Church. Though many Shinnecock people taught their traditions underground, it proved very detrimental to their traditional way of life.
Throughout the centuries the oppression intensified. The United States began what is known as the "Residential Boarding Schools". Indigenous people all across North American were stripped of their children. The children were forced into these boarding schools and were severely punished if they upheld any traditional practices. Hundreds of children died while held at them. Many Shinnecock people were residents at these institutions. In some parts of Canada they were not abolished until the 1990's.
Slavery and indentured servitude was also very prevalent for much of the history since "contact". After originally offering to help the settlers learn to live off the lands, many Shinnecock people were eventually enslaved or became indentured servants. Most serving as the deckhands on whaling ships due to their expertise as seamen. Very few came to hold the title of "Captain". One of which was a Shinnecock man named Ferdinand Lee, Shane's great, great, great grandfather. He sailed around the world before wrecking in the Arctic.
Despite all of the hardships faced by the Shinnecock people and millions of other indigenous people across North America, they are still here, and strong. There are now only two recognized tribes on Long Island. The Shinnecock Nation and the Unkechaug Nation. The Unkechaug are based on the Poospatuck Reservation in Mastic, New York and are currently state recognized.
Today, Shinnecock history and culture is very much alive. You can see the history in all parts of Long Island. It is important to understand that the Shinnecock people are still here today, and have their own story to tell. -Written by Shinnecock citizen and historian, Shane Weeks.
https://www.shinnecock-nsn.gov/who-we-are
Whaling and Wampum
Whaling
The commercial whaling fishery in the United States is thought to have begun in the 1650s with a series of contracts between Southampton resident English settlers John Ogden, John Cooper and the Shinnecock Indians.The English settlers were primarily farmers at that time with very little experience on the seas. The Indians had an expertise at both seamanship and whale hunting which were necessary to commercialize the industry, known as ye whale design.
The skill of the hunters had a direct impact on the number of whales harvested in a season, as a result, Shinnecock men were often contracted by the whaling companies months in advance and for years at a time. This arrangement was wildly successful, and the whale fishery was soon seen all over New England. So valued were the Indian fisherman that in 1708 the governor made a law stating, “Indians under indenture to whaling companies could not be arrested, molested, or detained in any way from November first to April fifteenth”. This version of whale fishing continued with Indian contract labor until at least 1746.
The whaling industry declined sharply in the mid-1700s. Whales were no longer found near shore in their former abundance. The hunt for whales went worldwide, and the Shinnecock were still very valued within the industry well into the 1800s. Notably, on April 18, 1845 aboard the whaling vessel the Manhattan, a Shinnecock Indian named Eleazar became the first Native American to enter into Japanese territory, anchoring in Tokyo Bay.
Wampum
The Shinnecock Indians are very closely tied to wampum. In the early 1600s, the first recorded European reference of Long Island Indians comes from Dutch official Isaack de Rasieres. He described Long Island as, “three to four leagues broad, and it has several creeks and bays, where many savages dwell, who support themselves by planting maize and making sewan (wampum) and who are called… Sinnecox (Shinnecock).”
The Long Island Indians are generally thought to be the largest producers of wampum in the colonial era with much of it being paid as tribute to larger or more powerful tribes. As wampum manufacturing grew during the 1600s, it became an official currency of the colonies until the early 18th century and it was the primary currency used in the fur trade of the time. The need for wampum was so great that the Shinnecock and other Long Island Indians were included in the 1664 free trade treaty of Fort Albany as a means to secure unrestricted wampum from the Indians.
The Shinnecock and neighboring Long Island tribes were keen to secure their access to the resource through treaties. In 1648, the Shinnecock, Montauk, Manhasset and Corchaug tribes sold land which would become the Town of East Hampton, New York. The treaty states, “(the tribes) reserve libertie to fish in all convenient places, for Shells to make wampum”.
Evidence of Shinnecock influence on the industry can still be seen today. A bull rake is a large clam harvesting tool created in the mid-1800s. It also goes by the name of a “Shinnecock rake”. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinnecock_Indian_Nation
https://www.cshwhalingmuseum.org/shinnecock.html
https://www.shinnecock-nsn.gov/presbyterian-church
https://www.americanindianmagazine.org/story/Shinnecock-Nation
https://www.southamptonhistory.org/
Shinnecock People
- Quashawam, Sunksquaw of Shinnecock, became Chief of the Shinnecock Indians after death of her brother, Nowedonah, about 1667.
- Chief Thunder Bird (Henry Bess)- Born Henry F. Bess, he was a former Riverhead garage operator who would play a vital role in preserving the Shinnecock identity on Long Island.
- Chief Red Fox (Charles Smith) - served for more than 30 years as a tribal leader of the Shinnecock Indians; served in the Army during World War II, fighting with the infantry in North Africa. He earned a Purple Heart and was honorably discharged from the Army in 1945.
- Squaska (Shirley Smith)
- Chief War Hawk (Harry Williams) - a respected elder and tribal leader; He joined the U.S. Army in 1943, serving in the European Theater of Operations during World War II
Photograph: Members of the Shinnecock Indian Nation; Chief War Hawk (Harry Williams), Morning Star (Denise Smith), Snow Flower (Mable Smith), Squaska (Shirley Smith), Heather Flower (Janet Barnes), Princess Nowedonah (Lois Hunter), and Chief Red Fox (Charles Smith).