Sandwiched between two rows of suburban Long Island homes, a fenced-off tract of grass looks like any other nondescript construction lot. Step inside, however, and the ground reveals its true nature: faint slabs of rock and gravestones belonging to a centuries-old Indigenous family cemetery, long obscured by time and intentional neglect.
"When we started working here seven years ago, it was nothing but trees and trash—there were couches buried here, you name it," says Sandi Brewster-walker, an octogenarian Montaukett tribal historian and guide. She bends down to pick up a discarded beer bottle tossed over the fence by nearby homeowners. "It’s been a project."
For Brewster-walker, this place is sacred ground. It is the resting place of at least 80 members of the Montaukett tribe. Since she began serving as executive director a decade ago, uncovering lost history and setting historical records straight have become her life’s obsession.
Yet, this small, rehabilitated burial ground in the town of Babylon stands in stark contrast to a sweeping historical injustice: the legal erasure of the Montaukett Nation by the State of New York. Despite overwhelming bipartisan support from the state legislature, bills to formally reinstate the tribe have been repeatedly vetoed by successive governors. The core issue is not a lack of historical evidence, but a complex web of real estate interests, political maneuvering, and a historical legacy of institutional racism that continues to stain New York jurisprudence.
Detailed Chronology: From Ancestral Prosperity to Judicial Erasure
Deep Roots and Early Contact
Long before the expressway traffic snarls, luxury sports cars, and sprawling waterfront estates of the Hamptons, the Montauketts thrived across the easternmost reaches of Long Island. Archaeological records indicate that their Algonquian-speaking ancestors arrived approximately 10,000 years ago. The surrounding seas provided an abundance of fish and oysters, while rich woodlands brimmed with wild game and furnished materials for wigwams, longhouses, and dugout canoes. These watercraft allowed the tribe to establish extensive trade networks and military alliances stretching into southern New England.
When English settlers arrived in the early 17th century, the native Montaukett population was estimated at upwards of 10,000. Within decades, however, intertribal warfare, introduced diseases, and predatory colonial practices decimated their numbers to about 500.
The Mechanism of Dispossession
In his definitive study, The Montaukett Indians of Eastern Long Island, historian John A. Strong debunks the myth that the tribe simply "vanished," asserting that this narrative was systematically manufactured to clear the way for commercial expansion.
Colonial powers enforced deeds as permanent property transfers, whereas the Montauketts understood them as reciprocal agreements for shared land use and resource rights. Settlers bypassed local tribal bands, isolating a single Montaukett sachem to sign away vast tracts of land. As disease and intensified raids by rival tribes left the Montauketts increasingly dependent on English protection, they were compelled to cede more territory to pay mounting debts.
By the late 19th century, land accumulation accelerated. When plans were announced for a Long Island Railroad extension to Montauk, developer Arthur W. Benson began buying up vast tracts to create a summer resort, bypassing tribal consent entirely. Families refusing to relocate saw their properties forcibly razed.
The 1910 Judicial Declaration of Extinction
In 1896, Montaukett Chief Wyandanch Pharaoh filed a lawsuit to reclaim tribal territory. However, state policies of the era operated on the premise that Native Americans would be "better off if they abandoned their traditional identity." State courts weaponized prevailing racial stereotypes against the tribe.
In the devastating 1910 Pharaoh v. Benson trial, state Supreme Court Judge Abel Blackmar declared the Montauketts legally "extinct." The judge ruled that because the tribe had culturally assimilated and intermarried with freed Black residents and other minorities, their blood had "become so mixed that in many of them Indian traits were obliterated."
This verdict was handed down despite a prior U.S. Supreme Court ruling under which the nation qualified for federal recognition, and a 1906 memorandum from the acting commissioner of Indian Affairs explicitly acknowledging the Montauketts as "an existing Indian tribe." In an instant, the Montauketts lost their legal status, ancestral lands, and right to compensation.
Supporting Context & Metrics: Eugenics, Real Estate, and Political Hurdles
The 1910 judicial ruling against the Montauketts occurred at the epicenter of the American eugenics movement. That same year, the Eugenics Record Office was founded in Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island, with the explicit goal of "improving" the genetic quality of the population by eliminating the "unfit" and "degenerate." By the 1920s, an estimated one out of seven Long Islanders belonged to the Ku Klux Klan, while federal redlining and infrastructural planning by autocratic urban planner Robert Moses intentionally limited minority and lower-income access to recreational areas and beaches.
With the Montauketts legally erased, developers moved in unchecked. In 1925, Carl G. Fisher purchased 10,000 acres of former Montaukett land for $2.5 million to build "the Miami Beach of the North." Today, the East Hampton–Montauk corridor represents some of the most expensive real estate in the United States, with average home listings approaching $3 million.
The Veto Cycle
To date, eight separate bills recognizing the Montaukett Nation have passed both the New York State Assembly and Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support. Yet, every single bill has been vetoed—three times by Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo, and four times (and counting) by current Governor Kathy Hochul.
Year after year, tribal leaders submit thousands of pages of historical documentation, genealogical trees, and answers to exhaustive state questionnaires, only to receive a late-December phone call from Albany informing them of a veto.
Former Democratic state assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr., who sponsored multiple reinstatement bills, does not mince words:
"It’s one of the most racist court decisions in the history of New York State jurisprudence… There’s a wrong that needs to be corrected, and we shouldn’t be making them go back to square one to prove something that we already know is true."
The Land Claims Myth vs. Reality
The primary underlying resistance from Albany centers on fear of land claims. However, tribal leadership has repeatedly emphasized that they are not seeking to evict homeowners or file massive property lawsuits.
Robert Pharaoh, hereditary chief of the Montaukett Indian Nation, clarifies the tribe’s true objective:
"I don’t want to throw anybody out of their houses, and I’m not looking for any big pieces of land. The only thing I want is a piece of property big enough that I can put a museum or cultural research center on, and maybe put up a natural Indian village outside. That’s all."
Instead, political analysts suggest that state resistance is tied to real estate lobbying power and the protection of lucrative commercial interests, including the proliferation of downstate mega-casinos where sovereign tribal competition is viewed as an unwelcome economic variable.
Official Statements and Institutional Responses
The divide between legislative intent and executive action remains vast.
Governor Kathy Hochul’s Administration:
In an official statement to Press, Ken Lovett, a spokesman for Governor Hochul, defended the administration’s stance:
"Gov. Hochul is committed to supporting and strengthening relationships with Indigenous peoples and Nations across New York State… [She] takes seriously the responsibility of determining whether to recognize a Native American tribe, which would be a sovereign nation. That includes ensuring any claims of tribal leadership can be substantiated."
Despite these assurances, tribal advocates point to the November 2023 veto—announced during Native American Heritage Month—as a low point in state-tribal relations. Furthermore, when a bipartisan bill reached Hochul’s desk last year, the Governor’s Office claimed it could not locate years of submitted documentation, forcing last-minute scrambles and ultimately resulting in another veto based on "still outstanding questions and issues."
The Shinnecock Parallel:
The enduring struggles of the Shinnecock Indian Nation—landed cousins of the Montauketts in eastern Long Island—serve as an instructive precedent. Sixteen years after securing federal recognition, the Shinnecock continue to face intense state and local opposition to commercial and economic development initiatives, resulting in millions of dollars spent on litigation over digital billboards, gas stations, and fisheries.
Lance Gumbs, vice chairman of the Shinnecock Nation’s Council of Trustees, highlights the systemic roadblocks:
"‘We’ll work with you, we’ll work with you.’ You know how many years we’ve heard that? That never happens. It never comes to fruition… There has been this concerted effort by the town and the state to keep us subservient."
Future Outlook: Persistence Overcomes Resistance
Despite decades of bureaucratic stonewalling, the Montaukett Nation refuses to fade into oblivion.
Sandi Brewster-walker and tribal leaders are already preparing their next strategic moves. If the current legislative package fails to secure executive approval, the strategy will pivot toward drafting comprehensive New York State Indian law reform that removes recognition authority from the sole discretion of the governor. Simultaneously, preparations for pursuing federal recognition are underway.
As Brewster-walker looks out over the restored burial grounds and reflects on the road ahead, her resolve remains unbreakable:
"They think I’ll give up sooner or later. Well, I’m not giving up—and I’m preparing other people behind me. Every time we get vetoed, we get stronger. This is a matter of justice, of right and wrong, and we’re not going to be erased."