Montaukett Recognition Bill Again Passes NY Legislature

New York State lawmakers have passed a bill that would recognize the Montaukett Nation — a proposal that Gov. Kathy Hochul and her predecessor have vetoed a total of six times.

Tribal leaders thanked outgoing state Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. (D-Sag Harbor) and state Sen. Anthony Palumbo (R-New Suffolk) for their persistence in pushing for the bill’s passage yet again.

“We sincerely hope the New York State governor will sign the bill, this time,” Chief Robert Pharaoh said. “This is our 114th year in our struggle for reinstatement of our recognition and we are still here!”

If successful, the Montaukett Indian Nation would be the third Native American tribe on Long Island to win state recognition and the first to do so in more than two centuries. The state formally recognized the Shinnecock Indian Nation, whose territory is in Southampton, in 1792 and the federal government followed suit in 2010. The Unkechaug Indian Nation, who call the Poospatuck Reservation in Mastic home, were recognized by the state in 1777, but have not won federal recognition. The Shinnecock and Unkechaug are among nine tribes recognized statewide.

The Montauketts have been fighting for acknowledgement since the tribe lost a Suffolk County court ruling in which a judge stripped them of their land and erroneously declared the tribe extinct in a controversial 1910 ruling.