LI native nations oppose national group's plan to exclude state-recognized tribes

The National Congress of American Indians, an influential group of native nations, is voting at its annual convention this week on a constitutional amendment that would lessen the status of state-recognized tribes in the organization, drawing the ire of Long Island’s tribal leaders.

Debate on the amendment will occur Tuesday and Wednesday before a scheduled vote at the NCAI’s annual convention in New Orleans. Long Island’s tribal leaders at the conference said they plan to express strong opposition to the measure, which would give member status only to federally recognized tribes.

At least 24 state-recognized tribes across the nation would be affected by the resolution, which is expected to be put before a vote on Thursday. The Washington-based congress sets national Indian policy, advocating on issues such as opposition to the use of Native American mascots.

Passage of the amendment “would mean we’re second-class citizens in our own community,” said Harry Wallace, chief of the Unkechaug Indian Nation at the Poospatuck reservation in Mastic. The state-recognized tribe, whose history predates Colonial America, is one of the tribes whose status under the amendment would be reduced to “associate member,” without the right to vote in the congress.

In a letter he penned in advance of the vote, Wallace wrote the congress, known as the NCAI, “is poised to further the erasure of Native Nations — to finish the white man’s work.” He wrote the proposal “flies in the face of NCAI’s origin, which was to vigorously defend against any efforts to terminate the First People’s of this county.”

The NCAI, in a statement to Newsday on Monday, declined to comment on Wallace’s statement specifically, but noted, “There is a process for any Tribal Nation member of NCAI to submit proposed changes to the governing documents and that protocol was adhered to. This is the reason why the proposed amendments are currently being discussed now.”

Also standing in opposition to the constitutional amendment were members of the Shinnecock Indian Nation, a federally recognized tribe whose status is not impacted by the rule. The tribe, whose sovereign nation is in Southampton fronting Shinnecock Bay, was until 2010 a state-recognized tribe.

Lance Gumbs, a Shinnecock leader who is also northeast regional vice president of the NCAI, said he stands with state tribes who oppose the congress’s resolution.

“It’s a very dangerous precedent they’re setting,” Gumbs said. “They’re effectively saying the only way you’re an Indian is if the federal government recognizes you. That’s insane.”

Tribal chairman Bryan Polite said the Shinnecock Nation would stand in opposition to the amendment.

"NCAI was founded to be the unified voice of tribal nations," Polite said in a speech Monday before the congress. "The amendments being proposed to 'purge' NCAI of state-recognized Tribal Nations is the antithesis of that goal."

The measure also could potentially impact the Montaukett Indian Nation, which is awaiting final approval of a bill passed by the State Legislature to restore its state recognition. The Montaukett tribe’s status was shattered by a 1910 state Supreme Court ruling that declared the tribe extinct, despite members of the nation in court at the time seeking return of their ancestral lands. Hochul and former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo have previously vetoed the bill.

A spokeswoman for Hochul said the governor “is reviewing the [Montaukett] legislation.”

Sandi Brewster-walker, a historian and author who is executive director of the Montaukett nation, said the tribe also opposes the measure. “I think it’s very important” that state-recognized tribes remain full members of the congress, she said. “We are all in this together whether state- or federally recognized or a historic tribe.”

By Mark Harrington

mark.harrington@newsday.comMHarringtonNews

Mark Harrington, a Newsday reporter since 1999, covers energy, wineries, Indian affairs and fisheries.