Shinnecocks expect final word on recognition Tuesday

Leaders of the Shinnecock Indian Nation expect to receive a telephone call on Tuesday morning from the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, officially confirming that the tribe has been granted federal recognition—the critical step leading to a host of benefits and opportunities for the tribe, foremost among them the chance to operate a gaming facility.

Tribal leaders informed members of the tribe on Monday night of the impending decision and called on them to gather at 11 a.m. on Tuesday in anticipation of a call from R. Lee Flemming, director of the Office of Federal Recognition for the U.S. Department of the Interior.

A federal court had ordered the department’s Bureau of Indian Affairs last year to issue a final determination before Monday, June 21. The tribe had been expecting the call to come on Friday but learned on Monday afternoon that the call would be coming early Tuesday instead.

Tribal leaders could not be reached for comment on Monday evening.

The tribe’s federal recognition will not be finalized until after a 30-day period following the announcement, during which objections to the ruling can be filed. No objections were issued during a 60-day comment period after the BIA issued preliminary findings on the Shinnecock application in December 2009, which affirmed that the tribe met the criteria for federal recognition.

When the tribe is officially granted federal recognition, it will be immediately eligible to open a small-stakes gaming facility on its property. Tribal leaders have refused to rule out the possibility that the tribe could start some sort of gaming on its 800-acre reservation in Southampton but have said it is not an option they want to pursue.

Rather, they have made clear that they wish to identify a suitable site to begin development of what would be a much larger high-stakes casino operation, with accompanying hotel and entertainment facilities. Just last week, Shinnecock officials met with members of a task force formed by the Suffolk County Legislature to explore possible locations in the county for a sprawling casino development. The developers of the Enterprise Park at Calverton, on 95 acres of the former Grumman fighter plane testing facility, pitched the property as an ideal location. At least one member of the Tribal Trustees said the site carried many positives for a future Shinnecock casino.

A report prepared by a consultant to one of the tribe’s early investors in the 2001 claimed that a Shinnecock-operated casino on Long Island, because of its proximity to New York City, could be expected to grow to be one of the biggest in the world within 10 years.