Shinnecock Voices - Dan's Papers

Crossing Borders or Crossing Boundaries?

You’re sitting in yet another afternoon of the dreaded ‘trade parade,’ as you do every day, trying to make it to or from another job, in the ‘land of the elite.’ As a year-round resident of Southampton, you do this daily during the work week, so you are accustomed to the traffic. Today is different though; as someone who consistently navigates the backroads to get to and from work, you rarely use your GPS for actual directions, but on Mother’s Day, you’re running a bit late. You check your ETA to be sure you will be on time for your mom. To your shock, not only were the names of places different on this particular GPS route but so were boundary lines.

The semantics and issues of these changes are important, especially to the Shinnecock Nation people, because of the significance of our historical challenges from colonists and wealthy landowners to our ancestral territory.

We have often been at the forefront of East End’s politics. Over the past few years, the marketing billboards and the more recent clearing of land for a future Shinnecock-owned gas station and travel center have been making waves.  But an issue at the forefront of our Shinnecock citizens’ minds are borders and boundary lines of the Shinnecock Nation’s traditional lands. Over the last 500 years, these borders and boundaries have gradually reduced our original lands, both with and without the knowledge or approval of the Shinnecock people... to read more go to

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