Indian tribe seeks equal footing on Hamptons - USATODAY.com: Members of the Shinnecock tribe are used to the incongruity: a pocket of working-class Native Americans living on a sometimes-shabby reservation amid the wealth of Long Island's Hamptons resorts.Their tax-free cigarette shops are down the road from designer boutiques and gourmet caterers.
Their health clinic building once served as the pro shop for the Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, a bastion of privilege built on land dotted with their burial mounds.
Their struggling oyster farm lies across Heady Creek from the oceanfront estates of millionaires.
Now the tribe — recognized by New York state in 1792 — is evolving from a local anomaly to a regional power. After 32 years of trying, the Shinnecock Indian Nation is one legal hurdle away from becoming a federally recognized Native American tribe.
