Letters

I am totally blown away by the cruelty of the Southampton Town Council by continuing to bring frivolous lawsuits against the Shinnecock Nation [“Southampton Town Takes Department of Interior to Court Over Status of Tribal Land in Hampton Bays,” 27east.com, August 14].

This is yet another land grab on the part of Europeans who are new to this area. This not only causes the nation to bring counter-filings, which cost money, but delays them from creating income, creating infrastructure, on their own land.

Haven’t we done enough to Indigenous people in general and these neighbors in particular? Other sovereign nations are able to send all their kids to college, improve housing, and improve all their infrastructure by building money-making structures on their own land.

It is a disgusting irony that some residents of the town talk about the environment after polluting the bay. Our Indigenous neighbors have cared for our environment for thousands of years. They are now trying to clean up the waters by planting kelp and seeding with pollution-eating oysters. So, while people don’t want their enclave disturbed right next door, the Shinnecock are fighting poverty. This is hypocrisy at its worst.

You should be ashamed. Some of you only come out a few weeks a year and keep a full staff. There is not a jot of concern about your next-door neighbors who lived on Conscience Point before you arrived — and yet your town thinks your arrival defines your town. This is white supremacy at its most clear.

The Poor People’s Campaign believes that we should all work together for a just structure for all. If you don’t want to work with them, you place yourself as part of that unjust structure.

No wonder they wanted their seal taken down — and you blame them. You have learned nothing from history. There can be no peace without justice, and what you are doing is patently unjust.

Susan Steinmann

Mastic Beach