Unkechaugs working to restore community center that fell into disrepair

The Unkechaug Indian Nation has begun work to reclaim a community center for a host of tribal services after the groundbreaking facility fell into disrepair over the past decade.

The center, opened amid fanfare in 2010, fell into disuse over the years because of a lack of funding, said Unkechaug senior land trustee Barry Miller Jr.

Miller led a group of 30 members of the tribe on the Poospatuck Reservation in Mastic to begin the work to restore the facility earlier this month. "We’re looking for positive change," said Miller. "We’re going to do what we have to do to get it where it needs to be."

They began clearing out material in the facility, which fell victim to vandalism over the years, including broken walls and windows, he said. The work is being helped by the Community Development Corp. of Long Island, a nonprofit group, said Miller. The tribe is hoping donations and grants can help fund the work.

The tribe broke ground for the community center in 2009, with a pipe ceremony to mark the occasion. The 8,500-square-foot facility was one of the region’s first green buildings, and plans at the time included services such as health care and physical therapy, day care, a 30-seat classroom, food panty and commissary. There was even a plan for a movie theater.

"It was state of the art," Miller said of the building’s clean-energy attributes. "It wasn’t able to reach its full potential."

Miller said the new plan foresees health and education services. He’d like to complete the work by year’s end, and begin launching services in the new year. Among planned services are a dental clinic, health clinic, boys and girls club, child and day care, and mental health services, Miller said.

"We’re looking for positive change," he said. "There’s a lot of history on this territory."

The state-recognized Unkechaug Nation has lived on its reservation for thousands of years, leaders say, and was visited by Thomas Jefferson in 1791. Jefferson met with "about 20 souls" living on the reservation at the time, and transcribed commonly used tribal words on a list kept in the National Archives.