Turtle Talk

The Department of Interior today issued a positive Proposed Finding to extend federal acknowledgment to the Shinnecock Indian Nation.  Under the federal consent decree governing the processing of the Nation’s petition, DOI must issue a final determination at some point between May 19 and November 13, 2010.  (Given the consent decree terms, the date will likely be in the middle of this range.)

Congratulations should be extended to the Shinnecock Nation’s members and leaders, and the Nation’s team, all of whom have worked long and hard to get the federal bureaucracy to acknowledge what the Nation has always known (and what a federal court determined in 2005).

Of note, upon federal acknowledgment becoming effective, the Nation will be eligible to game under IGRA.  The Nation’s Southampton, NY reservation, over which the State has continuously disclaimed jurisdiction, immediately will meet IGRA’s definition of Indian lands eligible for gaming.

DOI’s press release and the Proposed Finding should be available on the BIA’s website.