The Shinnecock church is one of the oldest Protestant churches among
the American Indians, and the Shinnecock reservation near
Southampton was set up by the early settlers. The original deed was
dated December 13, 1640, and was renewed in 1703.
The Shinnecock tribe has for 300 years been
self-governing, and the tribe annually elects its trustees, who are
responsible to Southampton town.
When John Eliot translated the Bible for the New England
Indians his interpreter was Cockenoe de Long Island, a Montauk
Indian. His wife was Quashawan, head of the Shinnecock tribe.
The early ministers of both Southampton and East Hampton
were very active among the Indians. Abraham Pierson, a Southampton
minister, wrote a catechism for them and Thomas James, the East
Hampton minister, taught them.
In 1741 the Rev. Azariah Horton of Southold came as a
missionary to all the Long Island Indians, from the Society for
Propagating Christian Knowledge, with headquarters in Scotland. The
Rev. Mr. Horton covered an immense territory from Rockaway to
Montauk and taught them the Christian religion. There is no stone
set up as a memorial to his work on Long Island, but the Shinnecock
church, which he founded, stands as a memorial to him and his
successful labors among the Indians.
...went
to Great Britain to raise money for an Indian school. Dartmouth
College at Hanover, N.H., was the results of his efforts. Like many
others, this great Indian who accomplished so much for his people
and brought the Gospel to them in their own tongue, was buried in
obscurity and his grave is unmarked.
The first
schoolmaster at Shinnecock was Samson Occom, who was a grandson of
Uncas, the great Mohegan chief. In the summer of 1749 he came to
Montauk and through the Rev. Mr. Horton was engaged to teach school
on Montauk and at Shinnecock. By day he taught school and at night
made wooden spoons, gun stocks, etc. He preached three times on
Sunday and on Wednesday nights.
He studied
under Dr. Samuel of East Hampton for 10 years, and was ordained by
him in the East Hampton church, the first Indian to be ordained in
the Presbyterian Church in this country. Occom wrote many hymns,
one of which is a traditional melody the Indians declared they had
heard in the skies.
The Rev. Paul Cuffee was another Shinnecock Indian, the grandson of
Peter John. He was an eloquent preacher and Dr. Lyman Beecher was
enthusiastic about him. People came by stagecoach from Brooklyn to
hear him and it is said he was the one who established June Meeting
day which continues to be the Old Home day at the Shinnecock
reservation and also at the Poosepatuck reservation at Mastic.
Since the Rev.
Mr. Cuffee’s day, many men have served the Shinnecock tribe
faithfully. Jacob Corwin, the Congregational minister at Aquebogue,
gave much of his time to them. The Rev. William Benjamin came every
Sunday for 36 years and served without pay. Under the Rev. James
Young the Indian church became the responsibility of the Long Island
Presbytery. In later years the reservation has been served by the
Rev. Raymond Case, the Rev. William Newell and last by the Rev. John
R. Vaughn.
The treaty between the English settlers and the
Shinnecock Indians in 1640 established friendly relations that have
lasted more than 300 years.
The hurricane of 1938 lifted the Shinnecock church from
its foundation, but with the help of loyal friends the building was
made into a community house. The Board of National Missions of the
Presbyterian Church helped to provide a new church building which
today serves these people.