"History repeats itself. Here it is 2005 and the Shinnecocks are looking for parts that will benefit them. We're still talking about this. It's fascinating," said Scott Strough, a Southampton Town trustee.
Mr. Strough was referring to a request made on Monday by Charles Smith, a Shinnecock trustee, who has asked the Southampton trustees, the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation, and the federal government for the baleen, tail, and fins of the big finback for the tribe's museum on Montauk Highway just east of Southampton College.
Finbacks are filter feeders and since long before Europeans arrived here have cruised close to the South Shore for the small fish, squid, and plankton that school here in the spring and fall. They can grow to 70 tons. Aerial surveys have found 14 fin whales in the area during the past few months.
There is nothing new about local Native Americans asking the powers that be for whale parts. It's a tradition that began over 300 years ago.
The records of the Southampton and East Hampton trustees and the oral history of the Shinnecocks reveal that when English settlers first arrived here in the mid-1600s, they observed the native method of going after the whales that migrated close to shore off the South Fork. Using canoes, the Indians would stab the whales with spears and wait for them to die from loss of blood and then tow them ashore to be butchered. Or, they would harvest meat from beached whales, which were common.
In Europe, whales were already being harvested for their oil and "bone," the baleen strainers in the mouths of many species of whale that separate small fish from the vast amount of water they take in. The oil, which was "tryed," or cooked, out of the blubber was used for lamp oil, the flexible baleen for buggy whips and even women's corsets.
It was not long before the settlers formed small whaling companies and employed Montauketts and Shinnecocks as oarsmen and harpooners. The contracts between settlers and Indians, 100 of which were recorded 1670 and 1685 with the towns of Southampton and East Hampton, stated that the English would harvest the oil and bone. According to John Strong, a professor of social sciences at Southampton College who has written extensively about the Indians of Eastern Long Island, it was agreed that the Indians would be permitted to keep the whales' tales and fins for ceremonial feasts. The parts represented the power of the beasts.
In 1687, whaling companies working out Southampton and East Hampton produced 3,604 barrels of oil, 31.5 gallons to a barrel.
Between then and now, the 19th century whaling industry fished whales of all kinds to near extinction. Montauketts and Shinnecocks served on the whaling ships.
In 1972, whaling was outlawed by international agreement, and in this country the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and the Endangered Species Act, made it illegal to possess the teeth and bones of whales to preclude their sale. However, the federal government makes exceptions for organizations that want to use the parts for research or educational display.
"We wanted the tails and fins. We are discussing using them as a teaching tool not only for people from the outside, but for our own children. As a historical teaching tool. It's been so long since it's been done," Mr. Smith said. Just how to preserve, mount, or otherwise present the tail and fins is a topic under discussion. "Even the process of doing it could be a learning tool. It's a spiritual, a cultural thing," Mr. Smith said.
"We are working with them," said James Cassin Jr. of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration office of law enforcement in Bellport, who was on the scene to make sure the whale was not disturbed. Mr. Cassin said he had encouraged the Shinnecocks to make application to the Department of Commerce, his administration's parent agency, and indicated that officials there did not see a problem with the request.
As of yesterday, the plan was for the Riverhead Foundation to keep the parts until the paperwork was done. It is expected that the Shinnecocks will be given the parts, although there is some question about whether federal permission is even necessary.
East Hampton and Southampton Town Trustee records contain the agreements among settlers, Montauketts, and Shinnecocks in which the Indians were guaranteed the tails and fins of whales. For instance, East Hampton owned the whaling rights, as a common trust, from Napeague west to the Southampton border.
John Courtney, attorney for the East Hampton trustees, said it was possible the Shinnecocks could claim the whale parts under pre-Revolution laws that were subsequently recognized by the state and federal constitutions.
Mr. Strough said, "Even if such [old] agreements are implied, it is the consensus of the board that we don't want to restrict them. We are working with the Shinnecock nation. They can have it. We have a [beach] easement, carving up whales on it is a traditional use. It's our jurisdiction. We find ourselves imposing our authority like years ago. It's come full circle historically."
Fred Havemeyer, another Southampton Town Trustee and a former fisherman, said that abrasions on the whale's mouth and back seemed to indicate that the animal had run afoul of longline fishing gear. Riverhead Foundation scientists performed an on-site autopsy yesterday.
Whatever is left of the whale after the autopsy is complete and the parts for the Shinnecocks are taken away, will be buried on trustee property east of where it came ashore.