The new Tribal Trustees of the Shinnecock Indian Nation say their daily priorities are dominated by the struggle to manage the many services provided to tribe members and the day-to-day issues of life on the reservation, rather than by the tribe's very public effort to secure permission to build a casino.

Though no longer spotlighted by former Tribal Chairman Lance Gumbs, who had spearheaded the effort to develop an East End casino before being unseated in the April 12 tribal elections, the new Tribal Trustees—Charles Smith, James Eleazer and Tribal Chairman Randy King—say that they would definitely continue the tribe's push for federal recognition and "economic independence."

But in the meantime, while the tribe's federal recognition effort wends its way through the courts, the new leaders say their elected positions make them responsible for dealing with far more immediate concerns without the aid of windfall profits from a casino, or the financial assistance from the federal government that federal recognition would bring.

Infrastructure on the reservation, health care for the tribe's elderly, and education for its youth are at the top of the priority list for the Trustees and the tribe they represent, they said in an interview at the tribal offices last week. If and when federal recognition is secured, those issues will still need to be managed soundly, they said.

"We have a lot of things here that need our attention every day. And a casino, or whatever you want to call it, isn't one of them," Mr. King said. "We have senior citizens, the family preservation center, health services, education, new roads, the oyster project. These are the things that we are dealing with on a daily basis."

The tribe is making strides with health care and education, the Tribal Trustees said, despite being regularly hamstrung by severe financial shortages. Federal recognition would provide them with important federal aid for such uses, regardless of the fact that it also is a prerequisite for developing a casino, they said.

The Trustees also said that the tribe has made advances in its relationship with the Southampton School District, which the Shinnecocks had long battled with over what they said was a lack of attention paid to the tribal community. They also downplayed tensions between the tribe's leadership and local politicians who have opposed the tribe's effort to secure federal recognition.

The Tribal Trustees, all of whom have served on the tribe's governing board in the past, said that they aren't reading much into the results of the tribal vote that removed Mr. Gumbs from power. In elections with such a small number of participants—about 180 members of the tribe voted this year—results can swing almost on a whim, they said, and little if any sort of message is sent by tallies. The tribe has not released vote totals from the election.

"We had a lot of respect for Lance and his work ethic," Chairman King said. "It's hard to put a finger on exactly why he wasn't elected again, but I wouldn't say that he necessarily did anything wrong."