Opening from On This Site - Native Long Island

West Fire Island: Native Coastal Homeland, Private Parcels and Federal Ownership

West Fire Island belongs to a living Native coastal homeland. Records of company parcels and federal acquisition show later control of the island; public conservation ownership is not the same as returning Indigenous land or jurisdiction. Private subdivision and government conservation are different forms of land control. Neither makes the Native history of this coast disappear, nor establishes that land or authority was returned to a Native nation. Which island is this? West Fire Island is a small island in Great South Bay, northeast of Saltaire on the outer barrier beach. It lies between Sexton Island and East Fire Island. It is separate from the long ocean-facing Fire Island barrier and from places called West Island on Long Island’s North Shore. Fire Island Draft General Management Plan / Environmental Impact Statement: Map 3-C, Transportation A coastal homeland before private...