Edward Gumbs
Shinnecock and African heritage
"Seek wisdom, not knowledge. Knowledge is of the past, Wisdom is of the future." --Lumbee proverb
THE SHINNECOCK INDIANS OF EASTERN LONG ISLAND.
The Shinnecock Nation is a federally recognized Indian Nation, located on the East End of Long Island adjacent to the Town of Southampton. Federal recognition was achieved October 1, 2010, after thousands of years of documented history on Long Island, and 32 years of struggle with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. As the 565th federal tribe, its banner has taken its place among other tribal flags at the U.S. Department of the Interior, BIA, Hall of Flags, Washington, D.C.
(c) Photo courtesy of Toba Tucker
The beauty of masculine energy balanced and focused is penetrating, if evenly directed and centered within the being. The power of a man's beauty of face, spirit and body is as mysterious a responsibility as any. It is what the boys in my family are taught at some point, in a way unique to each personality. It has to because sexual energies come with lineage, and if that lineage holds within itself generations of social responsibilities the elders (the fathers and uncles) have to teach by example first, by words later.
This young man brings it home. It is in his eyes, and in the way his right hand holds the sacred pipe, and how his body is poised to serve, to protect, and carefully begin a pipe ceremony. How a man holds a thing, a person, an idea, a trembling soul is the man. His looks into and upon the world(s) he sees tell a story of who he is to those important to his life. - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 2.15.13
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