Welcome

to the Montaukett Indian Nation -The Official Sovereign Governance of ALL Montaukett.

From before the historic Sachem Wyandanch to the present-day Sachem Robert P. Pharaoh, the Montaukett Indian Nation supported by our traditional lineal leadership has endured to survive European incursion, disease, war, subjugation, domestication, cultural decimation, racial discrimination, territory confiscation and judicial extermination.We are still here, healing the scars, preserving our traditions, our honor and our dignity, determined on our own terms to regain what was lost for the sake of our children and grandchildren – OUR NATION!

Facts About The Montaukett Indian Nation

by James “White Feather” Devine

Through a smattering of first-hand accounts, artifacts and folklore as well as the contemporary research of Gaynell Stone of SUNY Stony Brook and John Strong of Southampton College, we have glimpsed the culture but the true nature of the people has evaded us. This article is intended to touch the surface of the mystery of the Montaukett people and our history.

The Montaukett Indians, an Algonquian people, inhabited the region and area of the South Fork of Long Island for about 10,000 years prior to their interactions with European explorers and settlers. The vast and vibrant cultures of Native Americans were disrupted and largely destroyed by these interactions. Diseases, such as measles (sometimes deliberately inflicted) quickly eradicated nearly three quarters of the native population. The meaning of many important aspects of our culture was also eradicated with them leaving a substantial void.

Explorers like Henry Hudson and Adrien Block, for whom Block Island is named, found a largely friendly native population which for them made what they viewed as the untapped economic potential of the inland regions of what became New York and the coastal regions of Long Island Sound enticing and accessible. The settlers viewed the friendly natives as their intellectual, racial and religious inferiors. This allowed them to justify the many illicit and treacherous actions that characterized the Dutch administration under Willam Kieft.

The English settlers soon followed and eventually sent Lion Gardiner on a mission to establish an English fort at Saybrook. After completing his four year service (1635 to 1639), Gardiner found the native peoples of Long Island friendly enough to buy the island that today bears his name. The Montaukett leader, Wyandanch, saw in Gardiner an ally against ill treatment by the Dutch and perhaps a means of breaking the dominant hold of the neighboring Narragansett tribe. The relationship between Gardiner and Wyandanch was the high point of Montaukett-English relations.

In the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century, the Montaukett tribe was under pressure from all sides. At one point the tribal leaders, under threat of attack from the Narragansett tribe, signed a sham deed with East Hampton’s settlers as a protection. After the threat had passed, the people of East Hampton claimed the land as their own.

There was no longer enough land to sustain the entire tribe. The famous Mohegan missionary and preacher, Samson Occum, who had married into a prominent Montaukett family – the Fowler family, eventually led a large contingent of the people to Brotherton, New York. They were soon forced to leave that place also, and finally ended their quest for a permanent settlement in Wisconsin where they reside to this day.

In Montauk, the remnant of the tribe struggled to maintain their integrity, their dignity, and their land through starving times, ever-encroaching white settlers, and a decline brought about by use of alcohol. Lyman Beecher, minister of the East Hampton church, delivered a scorching sermon against the unscrupulous activity of his people’s use of alcohol to steal from the Montaukett people. But to little avail.

In the later part of the nineteenth century, the area was visited by the poet Walt Whitman who eventually became the source of speculation as to the value and usefulness of the land. No stable road existed at the time which explains why the famous Montaukett, Stephen Taukus “Talkhouse” Pharoah could beat a horse and buggy across the stretch of land that separated Montauk from the rest of the world. The extension of the Long Island Railroad seems to have provided Arthur Benson with his motivation for purchasing Montauk from its proprietors in 1879 – subject to the rights of the Montauk Tribe of Indians.

The right of the Montaukett “to sit upon the land” was guaranteed by deed. Benson attempted to buy rights from individuals, but never paid for them, and never lived up to the promise to allow the Montauk to retain residence on Montauk. When they attempted to return they found that their houses had been burned and they were forced off as trespassers. In the legal battle that ensued, the Montauk lost not only their land, but their identity. Judge Abel Blackmar declared that “…at the time of the commencement of this action there was no tribe of Montauk Indians…” subject to the laws and protection of the state. Efforts made in the state legislature to compensate the Montauketts failed. A famous photo of Montauketts seeking redress of their grievances from Congress shows how earnestly they tried to regain their status. No one listened.

The Montaukett Nation never became extinct and have maintained their government in the position and administration of Chief Robert Pharaoh. The Montaukett Indian Nation has over 600 members on its original tribal roll excluding the Wisconsin group. Upon the conclusion of an ongoing enrollment/census effort, the original tribal roll is expected to double or even triple.

We have vowed to fight as our ancestors did to restore our status and to regain our land and rights. We have declared that nothing, and no pretended chiefs or prophets, will divide us.