This week, I visited the Shinnecock Reservation in Southampton with a woman who leads Hamptons Community Outreach, a grassroots organization I've written about before.
If you’re more the banker than the carpenter type, it might be doing well to seek out a bright set of young people there, fund an education for them in finance, and assist them in setting up a bank that can operate on the reservation according to tribal law. What you’re describing sounds like a lack of capital, among other things, and giving them the ability to produce wealth among their own, without recourse to the people who’ve ripped them off in the past, would be useful long-term, as well as empowering.
There's an entire network of community development financial institutions that operate by and for native populations. Here's the network. They do everything from savings programs to mortgages to loans to equity to business development etc. https://nativecdfi.net/
My cousin is co-founder of a business that helps people start small businesses and get capital they would be unable to obtain through more conventional means. I'll send you details
David, it’s always energizing to witness your interrogation of self. Every post is about what a meaningful and ethical life asks of you—and, by extension, of us all. Perhaps I would see this more often if I had a place of worship, but religion is not for me. Reading and writing open other paths to the fundamental question.
Great article. Made me think. About helping others and about the stock market.. one we can control, one we can’t. One benefits both the giver and the recipient, the other…
"Often you have to be satisfied with playing defense" - so good, David. I always learn so much from your posts and appreciate your perspective. I was especially intrigued by this post because of Shinnecock's and William Merritt Chase's ties to one another. https://parrishart.org/exhibitions/william-merritt-chase-the-shinnecock-years-2/. Thanks for describing what you experienced. Really great.
I am really impressed that you have the thought and then put into action a system to force you to keep paying into charity, when others would be cutting back. You have truly wonderful values. And I never heard of this reservation either, but left NYC 50+ years ago. My English husband was much less surprised about its existence, but equally impressed with your values.
The prayer circle must have been a wonderful, and possibly powerful, conclusion to your visit to the Reservation. I’ve had the privilege of working in the health centre of one of our local indigenous bands and one of the things that stuck me, and has carried on as I continue to treat the families from that community, is their strong tie to family and the ancestors.
Best way to redirect charitable giving would be to outlaw NGOs, all of which are tax deductible and all of which are anti-liberty. Then charitable giving could return to those who need it to succeed, rather than those intent on destroying everything free.
For years I worked for NGOs that helped adults (mostly women) and children escape horrific abuse at home. Explain how a family needing help to escape to freedom is anti-liberty? Or did you mean that the (mostly) men who abused them were no longer free to do as they pleased?
Also, churches and places of worship are also tax-exempt. Curious how they fit into your anti-liberty rubric?
Interesting. One of the issues with the reservation systems, at least in Canada (I assume its the same in the US) is the collective ownership issue, and lack of private property, which does not incentivize maintenance and repair and all the other good behaviors associated with private property. In a sense, its genuine communism in action - wide scale Tragedy of the Commons. Something to consider.
People on the Reservation seem to own their property under the auspices of the Tribal authorities so I don't believe the disrepair of their houses has anything to do with a Tragedy of the Commons. These families have every incentive as anyone else to improve their living conditions.
OK thanks. In Canada, then, it looks like the reservation system is different. The following is a bit of 'right-wing' perspective, but it presents some facts about ownership.
In the case you mentioned, though, you say they cant get loans because the houses cant be used as collateral, so something possibly similar is going on.
If more people would take the time to understand our Native, indigenous cultures and values, we might learn enough to take positive actions about our relationship with the planet on which we live. Good on you, David, for your continuing good work and philanthropy.
I may have recommended "Braiding Sweetgrass" by Robin Kimmerer. If not, well worth a read. Also I am now into "Hospicing Modernity: Parting With Harmful Ways of Living" It's not an easy read but the message is clear about what needs to change in how we understand and deal with "other" in our lives. It will be hard to summarize my response in a post but I may give it a shot in the coming weeks.
The nicely written piece focuses on the health benefits of removing mold and other bad elements from one's living environment. But there are undeniably other benefits as well. An improve physical environment can have important psychological effects as well. And it is these effects which can lead to a sustainable change and improvement in the trajectory of a child's life. While less documented than the wealth effect, the positive effect of an improvement in a child's environment is also real.
I grew up lower middle class on Long Island. The juxtaposition of the extreme wealth of the Hamptons and the extreme poverty of the reservation is obscene. My mother used to drive to the reservation to buy cheap cartons of cigarettes - a sad albeit understandable way to create a reservation economy. Thank you for drawing attention to this, David. And as well, to the plight of non-profit charitable organizations who rely on private support and suffer terribly during economic downturns.
Thank you for sharing with us this story of visiting a little-known corner of poverty in NY. And congratulations on finding a way to address a specific need in that community. I hope it works out for all involved.
I live in a corner of Appalachian Ohio, close to a large and well-funded university. The contrast between the rural poor and the wealthy students (as most, but not all, are) is stunning. Some years ago I ran a Peace Corps training program at the university for a small group of nurses heading to Mali, one of Africa's poorest countries.
(An aside -- poverty in most of Africa is not the same as poverty in the USA, because so many Malians and other Africans live only on the margins of the cash economy. They survive, rather, at the subsistence level, producing or gathering much of what they need in order to subsist on a daily basis. They often produce a little extra that allows them to barter or sell for cash, and thus purchase occasional market goods like salt, kerosene, or soap, and even occasionally a pot or tarp. End aside.)
One thing I added to the nurses' curriculum was a section on poverty in America, because I wanted them to be exposed to life on the margins before they went to Africa. They were all shocked by what they saw. Malnourished people living without indoor plumbing was the biggest shock to them -- they had never even considered this still existed in the United States. All of them called that a valuable part of the training program.
I mention this only to illustrate our micro-environment and how extreme it is.
Since moving here I have sought avenues for charitable giving. Our local church has a food pantry that is a life-saver for some neighbors, but I wanted something with a larger scope so I looked into food scarcity in the community. I discovered malnutrition was a problem, but so was obesity. And with the obesity, diabetes was also a problem, not surprising in an area where sugary drinks are a large part of the diet.
Despite this seeming contradiction, I still feel moved by the local hunger and malnutrition, so I started donating to a regional food bank. It's an imperfect response, and certainly only a partial solution, but for want of a better way to help, it is what we do.
County officials know about the seeming contradiction of malnutrition and diabetes existing side-by-side with poverty and hunger. I sense that they are less concerned with this than my wife and I are, so we support the tri-county food bank and wish we could find a better, more perfectly targeted way of helping out.
It's great to be able to hear about others' experiences in different parts of the country.
I think donating to food banks is very impactful. The food banks I'm familiar with get most of their food donated and many food banks also receive a great deal of volunteer time. So the dollars they get are really leveraged by the in-kind donations. I think it's a highly efficient way of having an impact.
The quality of the food, however, is a real issue. Not only is there often a conflict between calories vs. cost, but there's a nutritional education gap as well.
Yes, the quality of donated food is variable. All the more reason for us to donate to the food bank. People coming to the food bank might not choose what we have donated, but at least they have the chance to do so.
Alas, the educational gap regarding nutrition is the largest part of the problem. If your food is empty, sugar is a quick palliative. But it comes with diabetes and dental problems. It's a poor trade-off.
Wow. Your work sounds wonderful. Most Americans don’t know that we have severe hunger in many communities. And thank you for educating folks on the obesity epidemic as well. 🙏
I grew up in NJ, and I didn't know there was a reservation in NY. I have never heard of the Shinnecock nation. Thanks for raising my awareness.
I don’t remember in the New Testament where Jesus worried about giving a fish! It’s called charity!
I once heard a person who was worried if he gave to a charity that it would feed a drug addict.
Yes!
If you’re more the banker than the carpenter type, it might be doing well to seek out a bright set of young people there, fund an education for them in finance, and assist them in setting up a bank that can operate on the reservation according to tribal law. What you’re describing sounds like a lack of capital, among other things, and giving them the ability to produce wealth among their own, without recourse to the people who’ve ripped them off in the past, would be useful long-term, as well as empowering.
That's a really interesting idea. Access to capital is definitely an issue, not just for mortgages I imagine.
There's an entire network of community development financial institutions that operate by and for native populations. Here's the network. They do everything from savings programs to mortgages to loans to equity to business development etc. https://nativecdfi.net/
My cousin is co-founder of a business that helps people start small businesses and get capital they would be unable to obtain through more conventional means. I'll send you details
David, it’s always energizing to witness your interrogation of self. Every post is about what a meaningful and ethical life asks of you—and, by extension, of us all. Perhaps I would see this more often if I had a place of worship, but religion is not for me. Reading and writing open other paths to the fundamental question.
Thanks rona.
Great article. Made me think. About helping others and about the stock market.. one we can control, one we can’t. One benefits both the giver and the recipient, the other…
"Often you have to be satisfied with playing defense" - so good, David. I always learn so much from your posts and appreciate your perspective. I was especially intrigued by this post because of Shinnecock's and William Merritt Chase's ties to one another. https://parrishart.org/exhibitions/william-merritt-chase-the-shinnecock-years-2/. Thanks for describing what you experienced. Really great.
Thanks Mary for the comment and the link. "The Big Bayberry Bush" captures so well the natural beauty of the area.
Well. Done.
I am really impressed that you have the thought and then put into action a system to force you to keep paying into charity, when others would be cutting back. You have truly wonderful values. And I never heard of this reservation either, but left NYC 50+ years ago. My English husband was much less surprised about its existence, but equally impressed with your values.
Thanks Ann.
The prayer circle must have been a wonderful, and possibly powerful, conclusion to your visit to the Reservation. I’ve had the privilege of working in the health centre of one of our local indigenous bands and one of the things that stuck me, and has carried on as I continue to treat the families from that community, is their strong tie to family and the ancestors.
Donna, the values of ancestry and traditions are increasingly rare in America. Thanks for your comment.
I love the tight community of the Indian tribes. 🥰🙏
Best way to redirect charitable giving would be to outlaw NGOs, all of which are tax deductible and all of which are anti-liberty. Then charitable giving could return to those who need it to succeed, rather than those intent on destroying everything free.
For years I worked for NGOs that helped adults (mostly women) and children escape horrific abuse at home. Explain how a family needing help to escape to freedom is anti-liberty? Or did you mean that the (mostly) men who abused them were no longer free to do as they pleased?
Also, churches and places of worship are also tax-exempt. Curious how they fit into your anti-liberty rubric?
Interesting. One of the issues with the reservation systems, at least in Canada (I assume its the same in the US) is the collective ownership issue, and lack of private property, which does not incentivize maintenance and repair and all the other good behaviors associated with private property. In a sense, its genuine communism in action - wide scale Tragedy of the Commons. Something to consider.
People on the Reservation seem to own their property under the auspices of the Tribal authorities so I don't believe the disrepair of their houses has anything to do with a Tragedy of the Commons. These families have every incentive as anyone else to improve their living conditions.
OK thanks. In Canada, then, it looks like the reservation system is different. The following is a bit of 'right-wing' perspective, but it presents some facts about ownership.
https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/allowing-private-home-ownership-on-reserves-could-be-key-to-improving-well-being-for-natives-report
In the case you mentioned, though, you say they cant get loans because the houses cant be used as collateral, so something possibly similar is going on.
If more people would take the time to understand our Native, indigenous cultures and values, we might learn enough to take positive actions about our relationship with the planet on which we live. Good on you, David, for your continuing good work and philanthropy.
I may have recommended "Braiding Sweetgrass" by Robin Kimmerer. If not, well worth a read. Also I am now into "Hospicing Modernity: Parting With Harmful Ways of Living" It's not an easy read but the message is clear about what needs to change in how we understand and deal with "other" in our lives. It will be hard to summarize my response in a post but I may give it a shot in the coming weeks.
Thanks Gary.
Thank you, David. The journey you are on finding a way to integrate privilege with social awareness and concrete action is inspiring.
The nicely written piece focuses on the health benefits of removing mold and other bad elements from one's living environment. But there are undeniably other benefits as well. An improve physical environment can have important psychological effects as well. And it is these effects which can lead to a sustainable change and improvement in the trajectory of a child's life. While less documented than the wealth effect, the positive effect of an improvement in a child's environment is also real.
Mark, I agree with you that one's surroundings have an overall effect on personal well being. health to be sure but overall outlook too.
I grew up lower middle class on Long Island. The juxtaposition of the extreme wealth of the Hamptons and the extreme poverty of the reservation is obscene. My mother used to drive to the reservation to buy cheap cartons of cigarettes - a sad albeit understandable way to create a reservation economy. Thank you for drawing attention to this, David. And as well, to the plight of non-profit charitable organizations who rely on private support and suffer terribly during economic downturns.
Thanks Amy. And I agree that Scipio's comment made no sense.
David:
Thank you for sharing with us this story of visiting a little-known corner of poverty in NY. And congratulations on finding a way to address a specific need in that community. I hope it works out for all involved.
I live in a corner of Appalachian Ohio, close to a large and well-funded university. The contrast between the rural poor and the wealthy students (as most, but not all, are) is stunning. Some years ago I ran a Peace Corps training program at the university for a small group of nurses heading to Mali, one of Africa's poorest countries.
(An aside -- poverty in most of Africa is not the same as poverty in the USA, because so many Malians and other Africans live only on the margins of the cash economy. They survive, rather, at the subsistence level, producing or gathering much of what they need in order to subsist on a daily basis. They often produce a little extra that allows them to barter or sell for cash, and thus purchase occasional market goods like salt, kerosene, or soap, and even occasionally a pot or tarp. End aside.)
One thing I added to the nurses' curriculum was a section on poverty in America, because I wanted them to be exposed to life on the margins before they went to Africa. They were all shocked by what they saw. Malnourished people living without indoor plumbing was the biggest shock to them -- they had never even considered this still existed in the United States. All of them called that a valuable part of the training program.
I mention this only to illustrate our micro-environment and how extreme it is.
Since moving here I have sought avenues for charitable giving. Our local church has a food pantry that is a life-saver for some neighbors, but I wanted something with a larger scope so I looked into food scarcity in the community. I discovered malnutrition was a problem, but so was obesity. And with the obesity, diabetes was also a problem, not surprising in an area where sugary drinks are a large part of the diet.
Despite this seeming contradiction, I still feel moved by the local hunger and malnutrition, so I started donating to a regional food bank. It's an imperfect response, and certainly only a partial solution, but for want of a better way to help, it is what we do.
County officials know about the seeming contradiction of malnutrition and diabetes existing side-by-side with poverty and hunger. I sense that they are less concerned with this than my wife and I are, so we support the tri-county food bank and wish we could find a better, more perfectly targeted way of helping out.
Thanks Flier,
It's great to be able to hear about others' experiences in different parts of the country.
I think donating to food banks is very impactful. The food banks I'm familiar with get most of their food donated and many food banks also receive a great deal of volunteer time. So the dollars they get are really leveraged by the in-kind donations. I think it's a highly efficient way of having an impact.
The quality of the food, however, is a real issue. Not only is there often a conflict between calories vs. cost, but there's a nutritional education gap as well.
Yes, the quality of donated food is variable. All the more reason for us to donate to the food bank. People coming to the food bank might not choose what we have donated, but at least they have the chance to do so.
Alas, the educational gap regarding nutrition is the largest part of the problem. If your food is empty, sugar is a quick palliative. But it comes with diabetes and dental problems. It's a poor trade-off.
Wow. Your work sounds wonderful. Most Americans don’t know that we have severe hunger in many communities. And thank you for educating folks on the obesity epidemic as well. 🙏