Free Republic

For the legion of rich and famous in New York, the unofficial start of summer means migrating east by luxury vehicle to the Hamptons, that slice of exclusivity at the end of Long Island. But this Memorial Day weekend they were greeted with a jarring new sight along an otherwise piney, bucolic stretch of Sunrise Highway, the main artery leading to the Hamptons: two six-story illuminated billboards being hastily constructed by a local Native American tribe just in time for the high season. Tall enough to rise above much of the tree line of this state roadway, the twin billboards...

From a distance the teardrop-shaped peninsula looks just like any other bit of the famed Hamptons shoreline. Thick woods crowd down to the water's edge, and through the trees houses and roads can be glimpsed. But this land is not part of the Hamptons, neither is it really part of the United States any more. This patch – in the middle of the playground to Manhattan's social elite – is proudly and fiercely Native American country. Almost four centuries since their first contact with the white man and after a 32-year court battle that has just ended in victory, the...

NEW YORK — The Southampton, N.Y.-based Shinnecock Indians (search) on Tuesday fired the first arrow in their battle to reclaim ancestral lands — filing a federal lawsuit seeking the return of 3,600 acres of prime real estate "stolen" by the state a century and a half ago. The 1,300-member tribe also is asking for monetary damages — conservatively estimated at $1.7 billion — and 150 years of back rent and interest in what it called "the largest Indian land claim ever filed." The suit is seen by many locals as an attempt to force favorable action on the Shinnecocks' bid...

Shinnecock Indians In Suit Over Hamptons AP Jun 13, 2005 7:39 am US/Eastern (1010 WINS) SOUTHAMPTON, Long Island The Shinnecock Indians are threatening a lawsuit - claiming they were given title to 36-hundred acres of land in the Hamptons back in 1703 -- and now they want it back. The land includes Southampton College, the Shinnecock Hills Golf Course and some of the most expensive real estate on Long Island's east end. Attorney John Peebles - who represents the Shinnecock Indians - says he will file a lawsuit in U-S District Court in Central Islip this week seeking the land...