The Shinnecock Indian Nation (the Nation) is one of the oldest self-governing tribe in the State of New York and was formally recognized by the United States federal government as the 565th federally recognized tribe on October 1, 2010.  Historically, the language of the Shinnecock people is an eastern Algonquian dialect and they have owned and occupied their aboriginal homelands in and around the Town of Southampton on the eastern end of Long Island from time immemorial.  In their Algonquian language, the Shinnecock name roughly translates into English as "people of the stony shore.”

The Nation primarily holds jurisdiction over tribal territory at Shinnecock Neck, a peninsula that juts into the Shinnecock Bay encompassing approximately 900 acres, and as well as land at Westwoods in Hampton Bays encompassing approximately 100 acres along the Peconic Bay. There are currently over 1,589 enrolled tribal members and about half of the Shinnecock membership live on the Reservation at Shinnecock Neck.