The League of Iowa Human & Civil Rights Agencies

More than 200 years late — 31 if you count from the tribe’s petition — the federal government has acknowledged that the Shinnecocks of Southampton, Long Island, are an Indian tribe. Settling that question raises new ones. The Shinnecocks will almost certainly try to build a casino — they have been lobbying as hard for one as they have for recognition — but how big, and where? The “where” is an especially interesting question. Casinos are usually built on reservation land. The Shinnecocks live on the East End of Long Island, a national depository of wealth, privilege and privacy. When the tribe jumped the gun a few years back and bulldozed part of its property for a bingo hall, the not-in-my-backyard opposition erupting from the dunes and privet hedges was ferocious. And that was just a skirmish.

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