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Newsday (Melville, New York) Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News January 18, 2007 Thursday
Anthropologist: Centuries-old document blocks a casino BYLINE: John Moreno Gonzales, Newsday, Melville, N.Y. SECTION: STATE AND REGIONAL NEWS LENGTH: 346 words Jan. 18--A Canadian anthropologist testified in federal court yesterday that the Shinnecock Indians signed 17th-century land deeds that now prevent them from building a casino in modern-day Hampton Bays. But lawyers for the tribe challenged Alex von Gernet with a fundamental question: Did the Shinnecocks of the 1600s read, write or even speak English when they inscribed X's on the documents in place of signatures? During seven hours of testimony, the University of Toronto professor said the Shinnecocks knowingly relinquished title to an 79-acre parcel known as the Westwoods during the pre-colonial era. They thereby forfeited the "aboriginal title" needed to establish gaming on the land, which they reacquired in 1922, say lawyers for the Town of Southampton and New York State, who wish to block casino construction. But Christoper Lunding of Manhattan, the Shinnecocks' lead attorney in the trial in U.S. District Court, Central Islip, produced a 1660s deed that he said showed agreements with the tribe were conducted through language barriers and the exploitation of illiteracy. "Is it a fair conclusion that the Indians that placed their mark on that document couldn't read English?" Lunding asked von Gernet, as he placed it on the courtroom's overhead projector. The professor said it was possible that some of the Shinnecocks read and understood the documents, written in the dense legal language of the time. But he acknowledged that the X's "favored illiteracy." Today, the Shinneocks are scheduled to call their witnesses, beginning with tribal Chairman Lance Gumbs and Yale University historian Katherine Hermes. Gumbs, who has declined to specify how large a casino would be, is expected to outline how gaming would provide economic opportunity for the tribe. Copyright (c) 2007, Newsday, Melville, N.Y. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News. For reprints, email
[email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. LOAD-DATE: January 18, 2007 LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
Page 2 Anthropologist: Centuries-old document blocks a casino Newsday (Melville, New York) January 18, 2007 Thursday
ACC-NO: 20070118-ND-0118-Anthropologist-Centuries-old-document-blocks-a-casino PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper JOURNAL-CODE: ND
Copyright 2007 Newsday
