Opening from On This Site - Native Long Island

Indian Island Site

In 2005, storm erosion at Indian Island County Park exposed ancestral burial material and artifacts. Shinnecock and Unkechaug people worked with public officials around repatriation and protection. Precise exposure locations remain withheld to protect ancestral burials. When a 2005 storm eroded the beach at Indian Island and exposed ancestral burials, the Shinnecock and Unkechaug Nations worked alongside local officials to respectfully repatriate the remains. This cooperative effort highlights the vital, ongoing responsibility of contemporary Indigenous communities to actively protect and honor their ancestral resting places. In 2005, Heavy rains and high waves uncovered what might be an important early American Indian burial site at Indian Island County Park in Riverhead, N.Y. The site was discovered by a park supervisor after the Peconic River bank eroded in stormy conditions....