Members of the Shinnecock Indian Nation gathered at Southampton Town Hall on Long Island to demand protections for ancient burial sites and a moratorium on construction.
The protesters urged the Southampton Town Board to pass legislation that would protect sacred Shinnecock burial grounds. They want a moratorium on construction, so that archaeological surveys can be conducted - all part of a proposed Graves Protection Act that the Shinnecock Nation has pushed for, for years.
The activists say several decades of development on eastern Long Island have desecrated the graves of their ancestors. The Town agreed earlier this year to purchase and preserve 3 acres of land in Shinnecock Hills, but the tribe says more preservation needs to be done.
Public hearings on the proposed legislation have been postponed several times since February because of the pandemic.
