David Martine, Cholena Smith, Chris Kretz, Connie Currie (l to r)

To honor Native American Heritage month here at the Project, we’ve got two interviews lined up regarding the Shinnecock Nation in Southanmpton. Connie and I sat down with David Bunn Martine (Director and Curator) and Cholena Smith (Education and Program Manager) from the Shinnecock Nation Cultural Center & Museum to discuss the history of the tribe and the operations of the Museum. Located at 100 Montauk Highway in Southampton, this is the only Native American-owned and -operated museum on Long Island.

Today in Part 1 you’ll hear about the origins and development of the Museum including their efforts to propagate the Shinnecock language. We also discuss the Shinnecock Powwow, the persistent challenge of stereotypes and, as a bonus, I finally get to use my knowledge of popular 19th-century German fiction writers.

Thanks also to Eileen Dugan, Education Coordinator at the Museum, for arranging these interviews.

Stay tuned for Part 2 in two weeks in which David will tell us more about Shinnecock history and the Native American experience in this country.

Stream in the player above or download audio.

Further Research

• The Shinnecock Nation on Facebook
• Native American Heritage Month
• Mashantucket Pequot Museum
• Native American Pow Wows
• languages.org/famalg.htm">Algonquian Language Family
• Wild West Germany (the life of Karl May via the New Yorker)
• Interview with Dr. Gaynell Stone on Long Island archaeology and Native Americans