Money, Grievances Clash in Haven of Rich (Shinnecock claim Southampton)

[DeepModem Mom]

WP:
Old Money and Old Grievances Clash in Haven of the Very Rich
Tribe's Lawsuit Seeks Return of 3,600 Acres of Prime Long Island Land

By Michael Powell
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, June 25, 2005; Page A03


SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. -- The Shinnecock Indians have a grand idea.

They want this wealthiest of Long Island beach towns to give back to the tribe about 3,600 acres, encompassing the posh Shinnecock Hills Golf Course and a few multimillion-dollar waterfront chateaus. Southampton's forefathers long ago obtained this land -- valued at a tidy $1.7 billion today -- from the Shinnecocks under questionable circumstances.

Or, alternatively, Southampton's town leaders could keep their land and allow the Shinnecocks to construct a $20 million casino on sandy bluffs overlooking Peconic Bay....

***

Several wealthy investors, including Detroit businessman Michael Ilitch -- who owns the Detroit Tigers baseball team -- are financing the tribe's legal battles, in hopes of persuading the town to yield on a casino.

None of this amuses the non-Indian natives. Many Southampton officials view the land claims as preposterous and the proposed casino as a disaster, threatening to bring gambling fever and more cars to the gridlocked reaches of eastern Long Island. They have rallied political support -- both of the state's U.S. senators, Charles E. Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton, oppose a casino -- and have hired a lawyer to fight the land claims in court....


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/24/AR2005062401497.html

[JoFerret]

1. Just what the East End needs

...a casino. How about a compromise...land...but you have to be good stewards of the land. No casino.

[mitchtv]

3. Ha , whites lecturing Indians about stewardship of the land

that's rich. Someone say rich? I wonder what those rich folks would say if it were Rockaway? Maybe the Indians could grow potatoes and ducks. Besides, who wants that 'element' in the Hamptons.

[KittyWampus]

2. Too Bad They Can't Be More Creative With Ways To Make Money.

They have a pretty large landholding as it is.

[fasttense]

4. Not as big a landholding as when white men first arrived in America. n/t

[KittyWampus]

5. Glib Answer That Doesn't Address Current Reality.