Declining water quality in the Town of Southampton is a prime motivator for Rainbow Chavis, a member of the Shinnecock Nation who, if elected to the Southampton Town Trustees, would be the first Indigenous person to serve on that board in its 300-plus-year history.
“There is an increasing amount of pollution in the bays, the lakes, the ponds and other small inlets within the township,” said Chavis, who said that, for example, water quality issues in Noyac are “already becoming a health issue,” for residents there who have either ingested or went swimming in waters there and experienced illness.
“It’s dangerous, and people aren’t aware of it,” said Chavis, who attended public schools in Southampton and is the owner of Shinnecock Hemp Growers. Her mother, Becky Genia, is a tribal leader who has long fought for Shinnecock Nation goals to “purchase, preserve and protect” their land. “I learned a lot from her about how to demonstrate and advocate and the importance of that,” Chavis said.
She’s married with no kids but has nieces and nephews whom she says she “loves with all my heart,” and hopes her campaign can inspire them and others in the nation.
“Traditionally, my people are water protectors,” Chavis said. “This is what we grew up learning to do and what was embedded in us always — protect the water.” Tribal ethics and guidelines at the nation don’t allow for coastline development and promotes an ethic to “leave the natural habitats for the animals, the sea life, the aquatic life.” The Town Trustees, she said, could learn something from that, and from an Indigenous woman in their midst.
Ensuring access to waterways and protecting water quality are the twin pillars guiding the Trustees, and Chavis said she has spent some time wondering why nobody from the Shinnecock Nation has ever sat on the board, let alone run for a seat on it. She said she understood fully that the “relationship between the town and the nation hasn’t always been the best. However, I think we can agree on environmental and water quality issues.” That includes addressing longstanding concerns over cesspools both at the nation and in the town at large.
Chavis, who is running as a Democrat, said that win or lose, her campaign will have an enduring impact on local politics to come. “I’ve met so many people during this campaign, have built alliances, built a network and I will be working with these people regardless of the results.” She also hopes her campaign “inspires others from the nation to run for office.”
If she’s not elected, she hopes that an advisory committee would be set up within the Town Trustee matrix where the Shinnecock could provide their hard-won and oft-ignored wisdom to the board.
