Gov. Hochul vetoes bill to give Montaukett tribe state recognition

ALBANY — Gov. Kathy Hochul on Friday vetoed a bill that would have granted the Montaukett Indian Nation on Long Island state recognition.

Hochul said the tribe so far has failed to provide the historical documentary proof needed for the legal designation. But she said the state will continue to work with the tribe to compile the necessary information.The bill Hochul vetoed Friday would have ended the need for that additional documentation.

The recognition can be important to a tribe in seeking the right to negotiate business deals with the state involving sovereignty, cultural protection and other issues.

State Sen. Anthony Palumbo (R-New Suffolk), a co-sponsor of the bill, said the Democratic governor’s veto failed to correct “this historic injustice.”

“The bipartisan measure passed unanimously in the State Senate this year and we were hopeful the new governor would finally sign this important legislation into law,” Palumbo said.

Similar measures were vetoed three times by former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, which prompted the process to show the legal history of the tribe and its connection to state government.

A 1910 court ruling had declared the tribe dispersed and “disintegrated” and so it couldn’t receive state recognition.

The vetoed legislation cited the Montaukett tribe’s long, culturally rich history on the East End of Long Island until the tribe was “declared to be extinct.”

“The Montaukett Indians had been formally recognized by the State of New York, until their acknowledgment was questionably removed in 1910” in a land claim, the bill states.

“It has now been well over a century since the courts of New York State declared that the Montaukett Indians no longer existed,” the bill stated. “This misdeed has been perpetuated over all these years despite the fact that the members of this sovereign Indian nation have continued to live in our community."

Tribal sachem Robert Pharaoh, whose family has led the tribe for centuries, said he will submit a letter of intent in January to the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs to begin submission of documents in re-applying for federal recognition. Pharaoh had filed for federal recognition decades ago, but a federal decision in 2015 updated the process.

Montauketts have been fighting for recognition for 112 years, tribal leaders said,

With Mark Harrington.

By Michael Gormley

michael.gormley@newsday.com@GormleyAlbany

Michael Gormley has worked for Newsday since 2013, covering state government, politics and issues. He has covered Albany since 2001.