A state judge will review the Town of Southampton’s request for a preliminary injunction to stop the construction project this week. The request comes weeks after the town filed a lawsuit against Shinnecock trustees.
In December, the board decided to sue the Shinnecock trustees in a 3-2 vote. The lawsuit alleges that the construction of the gas station and travel plaza violates zoning ordinances and state and local laws and creates a public nuisance.
Tela Troge, a Shinnecock attorney, said she’s disheartened to see the town continuing with the lawsuit and taking additional legal action. Troge said the town's behavior contradicts their claim they want to build a government-to-government relationship.
“It’s very alarming that the town is continuing with their litigation and acting in such an adversarial way instead of deciding to respect Indigenous sovereignty,” Troge said. “I think it's also damaging to any type of relationship that we may have wanted to have with the town in the past.”
The gas station and travel plaza will be constructed on a parcel of land known as “Westwoods” on Newtown Road. The lawsuit was filed after the town heard complaints from nearby residents, several of whom questioned the tribe’s sovereignty on the Westwoods property. In the injunction request, Southampton calls the Westwoods location “non-reservation” land.
Troge said the claim goes against the determination released by the U.S. Department of the Interior. In January, the department’s Bureau of Indian Affairs reaffirmed the Nation’s sovereignty in Westwoods. Assistant Secretary Bryan Newland confirmed the property is registered to the Nation, stating the land has been the Nation’s “aboriginal territory since time immemorial.”
“The federal government did a thorough review of all of Southampton’s records going back to before 1640 and based on that review determined that Southampton itself considers Westwoods to be an Indian reservation,” Troge said.
In the motion for preliminary injunction, the town claims it partly disagrees with the BIA determination. Troge said the comments in legal filings seem to contradict what various elected leaders have said in public forums. She said their augment hinges on proving that the area is not Shinnecock territory in an attempt to circumvent tribal sovereign immunity. But said it always had jurisdiction over the land.
“I think that it's disrespectful not only to Shinnecock but also to the constitution and the federal government,” Troge said.
Troge said the BIA determination was not released in response to the town’s lawsuit but resulted from a years-long request by the tribe. In 2019, the Nation began drafting research to confirm the determination, and in 2021, they submitted a request. Troge said the determination announced recently resulted from years of research by legal experts through the federal agency.
Councilmember Michael Iasilli was one of the dissenting votes on the town board that voted against taking legal action. In an email, Iasilli reaffirmed his opinion on the town's decision to take legal action.
“I believe that the BIA’s determination letter stands for itself, and we should be working government-to-government, as the Shinnecock Nation is a federally recognized tribe with rights to self-determination,” Iasilli said.
The Nation filed a motion to dismiss, citing tribal sovereignty. A state judge will review the motion in a court hearing in February. Other town board members could not be reached for comment.
This story has been updated.
