Letters

The New York State Department of Transportation is waging a propaganda campaign to support its attack on the ability of the Shinnecock Nation to operate two advertising signs it calls monuments in the tribal territory known as “Westwoods.”

Revenue from the sale of the advertising is sorely needed to fund social programs on Shinnecock, exacerbated by the virus pandemic.

The DOT is threatening to demolish the two billboards/monuments, one operating and a second under construction.

As pointed out by Shinnecock attorney Tela Troge in a talk to supporters last week, the DOT errs in its assumption that the public will buy its assertions that the land where the highway signs are located is not Shinnecock Territory, and that the signs violate the federal Highway Beautification Act.

In fact, a 1640 “Indian deed,” the earliest treaty between the tribe and what is now Southampton Town, reserved the Shinnecock the rights to use that portion of their land. The land was never alienated to New York State or Southampton.

According to a February 8 Newsday report, a spokesman for the Department of Transportation said: “The state is required under federal law to control outdoor advertising adjacent to the federal-aid highway system in order to protect the safety of the traveling public.”

The Highway Beautification Act, passed by Congress in 1965, exempts Native American tribes. Since the monuments are in Shinnecock Territory, the act does not apply.

The tribe asserts that it has taken measures to ensure the safety of motorists passing through the area as the second monument is being constructed.

The action by the State DOT is just the latest in a long series of attempts to restrict the Shinnecock Nation from economic development on its own territory.

Anthony Ernst

Southampton