Hochul should sign bills to right wrongs for Indian nations

There is a simple reason that New York school districts must indeed stop using Native American mascots, team names, or imagery, as the state Education Department now requires.

Think of the effect.

“No longer will Native American children be subjected to a mockery of their heritage by the misappropriation of their culture while participating in sports and engaging in their day-to-day learning environment," Tela Troge, attorney for the Shinnecock Nation, told Newsday on Friday.

For a while now, we as a society have been more cognizant of the negative consequences of certain actions, whether it’s caricatured mascots or historical treatment of Native Americans. That’s why it’s also time for Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign two bills righting past wrongs to Long Island’s Indian nations.

One would restore state recognition and acknowledgment of the Montaukett Indian Nation, whose ancestors lived in territory that stretched west from Orient Point and Montauk to Hempstead and Wantagh.

How could a people with such a rich, centuries-old connection to the region lose their official status with the state, which comes with pride as well as some benefits like health care access?

The situation dates to 1910, when a state court removed the Montaukett’s acknowledgment and even declared the group to be extinct.

Yet today, there are more than 1,000 Montauketts around the country, and hundreds on Long Island, according to Sandi Brewster-walker, executive director of the Montaukett Indian Nation.

The other piece of legislation would protect unmarked burial sites, a sacred and solemn responsibility. New York is one of very few states lacking significant statutes to address what happens when a burial site is found, particularly on private land. That’s a real concern on Long Island, given that the sites are often to be found on shorelines or higher ground — precisely where development is happening.

As with Montaukett recognition, which has been sought by nation members and supporters for years, this law is a long time coming. Among its boosters is the National Congress of American Indians which, through a resolution, has urged the “immediate enactment of adequate unmarked burial site protection laws” in New York.

Past efforts to handle this issue on the local level have been commendable but insufficiently broad. It is a concern for many, including the Shinnecocks and the Unkechaug Indian Nation. Hochul has until the end of the year to sign these bills.

The last few years have been full of tension and controversy as we revisit American history in often painful ways. But these controversies don’t need to be so complicated. If a small, worthy change can have a positive effect for some Long Islanders who have wanted it for years — why wait?