Whaling The commercial
whaling fishery in the United States is thought to have begun in the 1650s with a series of contracts between Southampton resident English settlers John Ogden, John Cooper and the Shinnecock Indians.The English settlers were primarily farmers at that time with very little experience on the seas. The Indians had an expertise at both seamanship and whale hunting which were necessary to commercialize the industry, known as "the whale design". The skill of the hunters had a direct impact on the number of whales harvested in a season, as a result, Shinnecock men were often contracted by the whaling companies months in advance and for years at a time. This arrangement was wildly successful, and the whale fishery was soon seen all over New England. So valued were the Indian fisherman that in 1708 the governor made a law stating, “Indians under indenture to whaling companies could not be arrested, molested, or detained in any way from November first to April fifteenth”. This version of whale fishing continued with Indian contract labor until at least 1746. The whaling industry declined sharply in the mid-1700s. Whales were no longer found near shore in their former abundance. The hunt for whales went worldwide, and the Shinnecock were still very valued within the industry well into the 1800s. On April 18, 1845 aboard the whaling vessel the
Manhattan, a Shinnecock Indian named Eleazar became the first Native American to enter into Japanese territory, anchoring in
Tokyo Bay.
Wampum The Shinnecock Indians are very closely tied to
wampum. In the early 1600s, the first recorded European reference of Long Island Indians comes from
Dutch official Isaack de Rasieres. He described Long Island as, "three to four leagues broad, and it has several creeks and bays, where many savages dwell, who support themselves by planting
maize and making sewan (wampum) and who are called… Sinnecox (Shinnecock)." The Long Island Indians are generally thought to be the largest producers of wampum in the colonial era with much of it being paid as tribute to larger or more powerful tribes. As wampum manufacturing grew during the 1600s, it became an official currency of the colonies until the early 18th century and it was the primary currency used in the
fur trade of the time. The need for wampum was so great that the Shinnecock and other Long Island Indians were included in the 1664
free trade treaty of Fort Albany as a means to secure unrestricted wampum from the Indians. The Shinnecock and neighboring Long Island tribes were keen to secure their access to the resource through treaties. In 1648, the Shinnecock,
Montauk,
Manhasset and
Corchaug tribes sold land which would become the
Town of East Hampton, New York. The treaty states, "(the tribes) reserve libertie to fish in all convenient places, for Shells to make wampum".
Powwow Every
Labor Day Weekend since 1946, the reservation hosts a
powwow, based on ceremonies beginning in 1912. The Shinnecock Powwow is ranked by
USA Today as one of the ten great powwows held in the United States. In 2008, the powwow attracted 50,000 visitors.
Cultural Coalition In 1972 the Shinnecock Native American Cultural Coalition (SNACC) was formed to establish a Native American arts and crafts program. Traditional dancing, beadwork, Native American crafts, and music are studied. A group called The Youngblood Singers was formed. Dedicated to learning traditional Algonquian songs, chants, and drum rituals, they travel throughout the Northeast performing at powwows and drum contests. The Cultural Enrichment Program is a sharing and learning process that the community has engaged in to ensure that the ideals and traditions of their ancestors are passed down through the generations. It involves sharing knowledge of food, clothing, arts, crafts, dance, ceremonies, and language. ==In popular culture==