Occasionally, you hear a local man or woman dismiss the frequent claims by the Shinnecock Indian Nation that its members face discrimination as part of everyday life. But it's no delusion—the pall of discrimination hangs over the tribe. That point was emphasized once again by the outrageous shadowing of tribe members on their way to a Shelter Island Town Board meeting a couple of weeks ago by State Police.

Members of the tribe had told the Shelter Island Town Board that they would be attending the board meeting to protest the building of a horse barn on top of a Native American burial site, an act they consider a desecration. They didn't have to inform the board of their plans to attend the meeting, but they did, as an act of courtesy. That was above and beyond any required show of respect for the board, and tribe members conducted themselves with decorum at the meeting itself.

But the Shelter Island Town police chief mentioned to the State Police that members of the tribe were going to attend the meeting and suggested that troopers might want to attend the meeting to ensure order. He explained that he did not want his own police department to post a presence at the meeting because the man who built the barn was himself a town police officer.

What on earth led the police chief to think the Shinnecocks posed some sort of threat to public order? Shinnecocks said it was racial profiling that motivated his response, and it's impossible to argue with that assertion.

It went from bad to worse. State troopers were on the same ferry to the island that the Shinnecocks were on, parked in a lot next to Shelter Island Town Hall during the meeting, and then shared the same ferry back to the mainland with the Shinnecocks. That's unnecessarily intimidating. Town officials suggested that the ferry rides were a coincidence. That's inexcusably insulting.

"What were they anticipating, exactly?" asked Becky Genia of the tribe. That's a very good question. The tribe's representatives have always been respectful and peaceful in speaking their minds, despite the emotion that often drives their position. The only possible exception might be the rare incident when non-violent protest resulted in arrests—and, in the case of Ms. Genia, who was arrested during the Parrish Pond protests, an acquittal on the criminal charges. There have been strong words, but violence has never been part of the tribe's strategy or tactics.

Members of the tribe were exercising their basic right to take part in the political process, and they were treated like potential criminals when they did. And that is racial profiling, pure and simple. The tribe deserves a heartfelt apology from the town officials and police involved in this terrible error in judgment.

Copyright © 2003 The Southampton Press
All rights reserved.