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Rising Tides, Rising to the Challenge: Shinnecock Indian Nation

The Shinnecock Nation faces a pressing existential threat from sea level rise. The Shinnecock are actively researching and addressing climate change while asserting the importance of Indigenous perspectives and contexts.

A low-lying, south-facing peninsula on eastern Long Island juts into Shinnecock Bay and is home to the Shinnecock Nation.  Most of the Shinnecock Nation lands are just above sea level. Superstorm Sandy’s storm surge caused flooding on these lands, including burial grounds, homes, and government buildings. The storm also significantly eroded bluffs at Shinnecock ceremonial grounds.

Sea level rise (SLR) is a pressing threat to the Shinnecock community, which has both a growing population and a limited land base. The 2013 Shinnecock Nation Climate Adaptation Plan includes an analysis that predicts how SLR will inundate Shinnecock Nation lands over time. Due to the predicted effect of SLR on the Shinnecock Nation lands by 2050, the Shinnecock Nation lands would likely flood at high tide, even without a storm. Under the same assumptions, a 100-year storm would flood nearly half of the entire peninsula.1

Highlights

  • The Shinnecock Indian Nation provides an Indigenous perspective on climate change research and adaptation.
  • Predicted sea level rise could render lands within the Shinnecock Nation uninhabitable.  Other climate-induced challenges include increased insect-borne disease, impacts to traditional harvest, and water quality degradation.
  • Partnership efforts to understand, predict, and adapt to climate change in the Shinnecock Bay include nature-based solutions such as living shorelines, increased monitoring, encouraging food security and sovereignty, and improving emergency response.

Adaptation Goals

The 2013 Shinnecock Indian Nation Climate Change Adaptation Plan has guided the Shinnecock Nation’s efforts to address the impacts of climate change. It sets forth goals that are relevant to communities across New York State. These goals include:

  • Reducing shoreline erosion with native plants and shrubs.
  • Researching SLR and flood resilience.
  • Improving community water treatment.
  • Reducing carbon footprint and performing an energy audit of all government buildings.
  • Improving air quality and forestry management.
  • Encouraging food security and sovereignty through traditional food systems.
  • Establishing an emergency management plan that includes response to extreme weather events.
Purple and white wampum beads on sand and in a purple and white clam shell with some beads strung together. This photo is located here:
Wampum beads made from clams. Photo by Shavonne Smith. 

Other Climate Impacts

Climate-induced concerns for the Shinnecock include increasing populations of biting and stinging insects, a rise in insect-borne diseases, and a higher rodent population. The Shinnecock are also facing challenges associated with well water potability, the effects of storm surge on the sandbar that protects the bay, and changes to the range and distribution of culturally and ecologically significant species such as whales and the hard clam, whose shells the Shinnecock use to make wampum. Higher levels of bacteria and ocean acidification affect the survival of these shellfish, which the Shinnecock traditionally harvest as part of their aquaculture business. The western side of Shinnecock Bay has experienced frequent algal blooms and poor shellfish survival rates. The eastern side of the bay, bordering the reservation, remains an optimal habitat for the clam.

Opportunity for Adaptive Management

Conservation organizations are working to improve the health of Shinnecock Bay ecosystems. The Shinnecock Nation and the Peconic Estuary Partnership have partnered to assess the bay’s vulnerability to climate change. Working with the Cornell Cooperative Extension Marine Program, the United States Geological Survey, and volunteers, they are restoring the reservation’s shoreline using oysters, eel grass, and boulder placement. The State University of New York Stony Brook’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences and Institute for Ocean Conservation Science initiated the Shinnecock Bay Restoration Program to improve water quality, increase monitoring, and demonstrate a science-based model for estuary restoration. The WAMPUM Adaptation Framework2 provides adaptation measures for SLR that are guided by Indigenous knowledge systems of frontline coastal communities.

Moving Forward

Further engagement between Indigenous nations; local, state, and federal agencies; and other stakeholders can help incorporate Indigenous knowledge into SLR adaption planning and response. By consulting Indigenous nations, these collaborations acknowledge the specific cultural, political, economic, and spiritual implications of SLR adaptation for Indigenous communities.3 The Shinnecock Nation offers a unique perspective on adaptation strategies based on their long history as a coastal people and their resilience through change.

For More Information

References

1. Shinnecock Indian Nation. (2013). Climate Change Adaptation Plan. https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2016-09/documents/shinnecock_nation_ccadaptation_plan_9.27.13.pdf

2. Leonard, K. (2021). WAMPUM adaptation framework: Eastern coastal Tribal Nations and sea level rise impacts on water security. Climate and Development, 13(9), 842–851. https://doi.org/10.1080/17565529.2020.1862739

3. Caldwell, C. (2018). Supporting cooperation between Tribes and climate scientists in the Northeast region [Final report]. https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/5ae0e481e4b0e2c2dd2ea3ae

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