Opening from On This Site - Native Long Island

Osprey Road Burial Site Confrontation

After construction exposed a Native group burial on Shelter Island in October 2003, Shinnecock community members pressed town officials for respect, consultation, and stronger protection of ancestral remains. The confrontation became part of a broader effort to improve burial-protection law. Shinnecock advocates turned the disturbance of ancestors into a public demand for consultation, respect, and stronger burial-protection law. Construction on Shelter Island exposed ancestral remains in October 2003. Shinnecock community members challenged the handling of the burial and called on local officials to protect the ancestors and consult Native nations. Reporting the following year connected the confrontation with Shinnecock proposals for stronger laws governing Native burial places. The location is kept at the town level because the history concerns community advocacy, not public access to...