The Shinnecock Nation is a federally recognized Tribe with ancestral lands extending from present day Easthampton, Massachusetts to Brookhaven, New York. Today the Shinnecock people live on 1200 acres of their homelands, including 900 acres on what is known as Shinnecock Neck—a peninsula that juts into Shinnecock Bay.¹ They rely on shellfish, seaweed, and crops for sustenance and income. As both land and marine farmers, the Shinnecock people are experiencing multiple climate change impacts and are using multiple adaptation strategies to address them.

Shellfish such as oysters and clams are vital to the Shinnecock community. The hard clam is particularly important to their culture, serving as a form of sustenance and a component for making jewelry, tools, musical instruments, and wampum. “[Clamming] is a part of who we are and how we identify….It is an activity that is easily passed down,” said Shavonne Smith, Director of the Shinnecock Environmental Department.

Clam populations have declined in Shinnecock Bay for decades, and ongoing reseeding efforts attempt to increase populations so that this source of food, revenue, and cultural traditions remains available. The threat of ocean acidification and its potential impact on the hard clam is a concern. If the hard clam does not survive, a portion of Shinnecock generational knowledge and traditions will be lost.

These closures affect members of the Shinnecock community, many of whom harvest shellfish year-round to feed their families. Smith wonders, “Is this indicative of what’s to come? Are we now going to be experiencing more closures?” Frequent closures could cause the Shinnecock to lose a cornerstone of their society, diet, culture, and traditions.

To adapt to climate change impacts, a small group of Shinnecock community members have formed the Shinnecock Kelp Farmers to grow sugar kelp (Saccharina latissima) in Shinnecock Bay. The Shinnecock have long harvested seaweed for insulation, food, medicine, and fertilizer, but actively growing sugar kelp on lines in coastal waters has additional advantages as a climate adaptation. Sugar kelp and other types of seaweed can store atmospheric carbon dioxide and pull nutrients from the water. Lower levels of nutrients entering waterbodies can help decrease the intensity of harmful algal blooms that lead to shellfishing ground closures.³ Sugar kelp can also help to elevate pH levels, which helps lower ocean acidity caused by climate change and promotes shellfish growth.⁴ Seaweeds can also be grown and harvested at different times of the year than other aquaculture products, and can be processed into fertilizer that can be applied back to the land to improve crop growth.

The Shinnecock rely on a small community garden to grow crops, including gourds, kale, bush beans, onions, sunflowers, pumpkins, and tomatillos. They hope to expand their production to a 3-acre farm plot and sell excess crops outside the community, but have concerns over saltwater intrusion, storm surge, soil salinity, and encroaching marshland. As Smith notes, “Marshlands are migrating further north [inland]. This causes concerns. How long will our farm be able to remain at its current site without implementing adaptive measures? Maybe we will only be able to plant in raised beds and we won’t be able to directly sow the land.”