Earth care front and center

Shavonne Smith, environmental director for the Shinnecock Indian Nation, told attendees at the Presbyterian Church Coffee Hour Oct. 1 about projects undertaken to tackle threats to the environment.

The special guest speaker at the Presbyterian Church Coffee Hour Oct 1, Ms. Smith said she is one of about 1,300 Shinnecock tribal citizens and has lived and worked at the Shinnecock reservation for most of her life.

She described several ongoing environmental projects that have attracted government funding for the tribe, including remediation of potentially contaminated building sites and dumps (known as “brownfields”) and oyster and clam restoration. She also described community programs on food sovereignty that teach young people how to hunt, as well as techniques for preparing and cooking venison, clams and mussels that have always been important food for the Shinnecock. 

Ms. Smith described her background in biology, environmental science and shellfish restoration, and how it complements the tribe’s emphasis on traditional knowledge, self-teaching and elders teaching the young.

Ms. Smith also described a number of even more ambitious environmental projects that the Shinnecock have undertaken since they were federally recognized in 2010, after 30 years of litigation. These include maintaining natural wetlands and beaches, when local development of the waterfront with bulkheads threaten to erode their land. The tribe is also involved in a program of community gardens and a funded program of shellfish restoration.

Ms. Smith had been invited by the Earth Care Team of the church — Karin Bennett, Alison Binder, Colleen Smith, Amy Taylor, and led by Marilynn Pysher —  as part of a speaker program launched to have the Presbyterian Church certified as an Earth Care Congregation.

According to the church, an Earth Care Congregation is one  “committed to the ‘Earth Care Pledge’ and accomplished a specific number of actions toward caring for God’s earth in four ministry areas: worship, education, facilities and outreach.”