Shinnecock Indians lay claim to valuable NY land


NEW YORK (Reuters) -- The Shinnecock Indian tribe said on Wednesday it was seeking billions of dollars for 150 years of back rent on land it inhabited for 12,000 years in New York state in one of the largest suits of its kind.

The area is part of the Hamptons, known as a summer playground for New York's rich and privileged classes who flock there to escape the heat of the city.

The tribe filed the lawsuit against New York State in the U.S. district court in Central Islip.

The suit, which also names the governor, a local railroad and the town of Southampton, lays claim to 3,600 acres of land encompassing the upscale Shinnecock Hills Golf Course and Long Island University's Southampton College.

The Shinnecock tribe's suit comes just days after New York State Gov. George Pataki urged lawmakers to settle a suit between the state and the Akwesasne Mohawks over 12,000 acres of land in northern New York.

The Shinnecock tribe, known for its whaling expertise and crafting "wampum" beads from sea shells, said they have inhabited the shores of Long Island for 500 generations and were swindled in an 1859 deal they say was forged with a group of unnamed private investors, wherein members of the tribe signed over their claim to the disputed land.

"We have been good neighbors to the very people who stole our ancestral land for their own financial gain," Randy King, chairman of the Shinnecock Indian Nation's trustees, said in a statement.

"Before every inch of our sacred lands are lost, we will fight," King added.

The suit does not name area homeowners and does not seek to "displace residents from their homes -- a consideration never shown to the Shinnecock," the statement said.

The tribe is seeking to be paid back rent and interest for the land but the actual dollar amount of the suit is difficult to pinpoint. Representatives of the tribe said it had assessed the value of the land last year at around $1.7 billion, but that figure was beneath fair market value and the actual amount claimed would be well above that.

A Pataki spokesman said the state had not yet reviewed the suit. "We will take whatever steps may be necessary to protect the interests of property owners and taxpayers on Long Island," Kevin Quinn, Pataki's spokesman said in a statement.

About 600 out of 1,300 Shinnecocks are now based on an 800-acre strip of land in the area.