- Everyone has heard of the Hamptons.
It's where New York's rich and famous get their summer on.
But these past few months,
the Hamptons has also been the home of a major dispute.
Michael Kosta has more.
- When you think of the Hamptons,
you think of pristine beaches, cold rose,
and dressing up as a caterer
to sneak into Billy Joel's Labor Day party.
But the Hamptons also have a dark side,
an ancient conflict between the white man and his mansions
and the Shinnecock, a Native tribe who live next door
on their ancestral lands.
Now the conflict is erupting again
as the Shinnecock have erected a giant tribal monument
on the only road into the Hamptons.
I went to find out how an Indigenous symbol
could raise tensions in a place
with the world's highest concentration of NPR tote bags.
- It is kind of an eyesore.
You know, you come here for its beautiful nature
and environment and to see that, it's just out of place.
- Very obtrusive and distracting.
- Okay--
- It's so big.
There's so much to kinda cover, from top to bottom.
- It's distracting and so it could be potentially dangerous
for any of the drivers.
- [Michael] Okay, it's potentially dangerous for drivers,
but that's not the main objection.
- I believe that it doesn't allow you to maintain
the purity of an enclave here.
- When white people start talking about purity,
even I get a little creeped out.
But many of these Hamptonites really believe the monument
infringes on their spiritual connection to the land.
To get the tribe's perspective,
I met with Chairman Bryan Polite.
And no, I'm not gonna make fun of his name,
that would be rude.
Bryan, thank you for sitting down.
I know you've had some bad experiences with the white man,
but I come in peace.
- Hey man, we're all about peace.
- The people of Southampton are saying
that due to your monument,
their way of life is under attack.
(laughs)
You're laughing, okay.
- That's just laughable.
We're a sovereign nation and they have no authority
to tell us what we can and cannot do on our tribal land.
- What was the reaction within the tribe
when the monument went up?
- Very happy.
We're the forgotten people of the Hamptons,
so now we have our marker on the Gateway to the Hamptons,
reminding people that they're all visitors on our land.
- Clearly, the monument is a source of pride,
but what is it?
Could it be a totem,
a rock carving or an ancient burial mound?
I couldn't wait to experience
this mysterious tribal monument for myself.
(suspenseful music)
Holy shit, it's a billboard.
(dramatic instrumental music)
I've never seen anything so big.
I mean, I have, but it's pretty big.
So these Natives are using capitalism
to ruin the white man's sacred way of living with nature.
Talk about cultural appropriation.
This tribal monument
looks a lot like an electronic billboard.
- If you ask anybody on the Shinnecock Nation,
we'll say it's a monument.
- Let's call it what it is,
this monument is your side hustle.
You're making some extra money on the side.
- It's a monument to our overcoming adversity
and saying that we're still here.
But also we need money for education, police department,
playgrounds, social programs,
so it'll have an immediate economic impact to the Nation.
- How much of this monument is economics for the tribe
and how much of it
is kind of a fuck you to the Hampton residents?
- Well, I think it's a little bit of both.
- Now, you see that's not very polite.
- Every time somebody builds
a McMansion on our ancestor's bones
or plays golf on our ancestor's bones,
that's a big F you to us, so if we can feed our people
and at the same time stick it to a town
that's stuck it to us for the last 375 years,
so much the better.
- Okay, so I just want you to know that no more golf for me.
- Thank you.
- [Michael] In response to the monument,
white people have been sharing
an important part of their culture, lawsuits.
Members of the tribal see these
as part of a long pattern of oppression.
- There's some restitution
and reparations that have to be made
and this sign is pointing to it, the time is now.
- It's horrible, the way we've been treated since 1640.
Yeah, I can go into town and I can mow your lawn
and I can scrub your toilet
and I can pretend like it's okay.
No more.
Come to my reservation
and see why this is so important to make a stand.
- [Michael] As a white man,
facing a 400 year legacy of injustice, racism, and poverty
made me feel like a total piece of shit.
But gazing across the bay at Calvin Klein's
$75 million mega-mansion, it hit me.
Maybe I could be the guy in that Kevin Costner movie
and bring a message of peace to the palefaces
and I knew the perfect way to reach 'em.
(mellow jazz music)
Problem solved.
(audience applauds) (audience cheers)
- Michael Kosta, everyone.
(upbeat jazzy music)