Shinnecock << SHIHN uh ko >> are a native people of eastern Long Island in New York. The Shinnecock have existed in their original homelands for thousands of years. Traditionally, Shinnecock grew corn, beans, squash, and tobacco in small villages they lived in the year around. They hunted moose, deer, and other animals for meat and furs. They also fished and hunted whales from large, open boats in the waters around their lands. For shelter, they built circular, domed houses covered with woven mats. The Shinnecock marked time by observing the moon and seasons.
Like other groups in the region, Shinnecock often wove thousands of shell beads into wampum belts. These beads were made from quahog and whelk shells. Many northeastern Native Americans consider wampum sacred. They exchanged the belts as pledges to keep treaties and to assure friendships. They joined the nearby Corchaug and Montauk people to form the Montauk Confederacy. The Confederacy helped protect the groups from larger, more powerful groups. These included the Pequot and Narragansett tribes.
Traditionally, adult males collectively made decisions that affected the tribe. European settlers first met the Shinnecock in the late 1600’s. In 1792, New York passed a law that placed the Shinnecock under the rule of a group of trustees. The trustees were originally elected by tribal members. Since 1859, many Shinnecock have lived on a small reservation on Long Island. Today, there are about 1,600 Shinnecock. About half live on the reservation. In 2010, after a long struggle with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), the United States government designated the Shinnecock nation a federally recognized tribal nation.
