SATURDAY-SEPT. 24: Experience American Indian cultural traditions at the Chickahominy Fall Festival & Pow Wow.
In March 1964, two Chickahominy tribe members in Charles City County worked on a small farm. Leonard Adkins (left) also was a teacher, and Wilfred Holmes was a student. An article that accompanied this photo reviewed population trends among Virginia’s Indian tribes.
Brandon Adkins of the Chickahominy Indian Tribe dances with others during the Dominion Christmas Parade , Dec. 5, 2015
ABOVE: Gordon Atkinson (left) and Shawn Atkinson (right) lifted a deer presented to Gov. Terry McAuliffe by Mattaponi Chief Mark Custalow during the 340th annual Tax Tribute Ceremony at the Executive Mansion on Wednesday.
LEFT: Hailey Shingleton, 8, looked at a deer presented to the governor in lieu of paying taxes. The offering dates to a 1600s treaty with such Virginia tribes as the Mattaponi and Pamunkey.
Mattaponi women dance after the Pamunkey and the Mataponi presented their annual tribute to Gov. Terry McAuliffe at the Executive Mansion Wednesday, November 22, 2017.
The U.S. Senate passed a bill Thursday granting federal recognition to six Indian tribes in Virginia, clearing a hurdle that brings chiefs and elected officials closer to a goal decades in the making.
The bill, which passed the House last year, now goes to President Donald Trump’s desk.
The change in status makes federal money available for housing, education and medical care for the Chickahominy, the Eastern Chickahominy, the Upper Mattaponi, the Rappahannock, the Monacan and the Nansemond tribes.
“I’m on cloud nine,” Upper Mattaponi Chief Frank Adams said after returning to King William County from Washington.
“It’s a tremendous battle that we fought and a tremendous victory that we won,” said Adams, whose tribe includes about 560 members along the upper reaches of the Mattaponi River in King William.
But tribal representatives caution that the battle will not be over until Trump signs the bill.
“We’re not getting our hopes up too high yet given the president still needs to sign it,” said Wayne Adkins, first assistant chief of the Chickahominy (currently on leave) and president of the Virginia Indian Tribal Alliance for Life, or VITAL.
The six tribes formed VITAL as an advocacy organization soon after starting their quest for recognition in 1999. Thursday’s vote was the first time legislation reached the Senate floor, much less passed.
“It’s a big day for us,” said Adkins, whose tribe represents about 825 residents in Charles City County.
In Virginia, only the Pamunkey Indian Tribe, based on a reservation in King William, has federal recognition, but through an administrative process at the Office of Federal Acknowledgment in the Indian Affairs arm of the U.S. Department of Interior. In contrast, the legislation would grant recognition through an act of Congress and the president.
The bill’s sponsors say the legislation rights a long-standing wrong for tribes that were among the first to greet English settlers in 1607.
Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, D-Va., forced a surprise vote on the bill Thursday afternoon by unanimous consent.
“Boy, oh boy, this is the day we get things right on a civil rights basis, on a moral basis and on a fairness basis,” Warner said on the Senate floor.
The six tribes covered by the bill were part of the Powhatan Nation, a confederation of eastern Virginia tribes known for Pocahontas who, according to legend, saved the life of Capt. John Smith. Kaine said several chiefs traveled to England in the spring to commemorate Pocahontas, including a plaque dedication ceremony at the church where she is buried.
“They were treated as sovereigns, treated with respect and all they’ve asked is to be treated the same way by the country they love,” he said.
The quick passage came as a surprise to representatives of the Virginia tribes, said Lee Lockamy, chief of the Nansemond Indian Tribe, based in Suffolk with about 300 members in the South Hampton Roads region.
“It is really good,” he said. “It kind of opens a lot of doors with the original Powhatan tribes.”
Better access to health care is at the top of the list for the tribes, as well as access to grants to help pay for improvements to tribal facilities or build new ones.
Eventually, Adams hopes to build a health care center within a short drive of all the tribes in the Tidewater region, including the Upper Mattaponi and Mattaponi in King William, the Chickahominy in Charles City and the Eastern Chickahominy in New Kent County, and the Rappahannock based in King and Queen County, with residents also in Essex and Caroline counties.
“I envision health care as our number one priority, especially for elderly residents,” he said.
There are more than 500 federally recognized Indian tribes, and many had to navigate an expensive and time-consuming administrative process through the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs. It effectively precluded the Virginia tribes because of gaps in their records.
A state law, the Racial Integrity Act of 1924, required that births in the state be registered as either “white” or “colored” with no option available for Indian. The result is what historians have described as a “paper genocide” of Indian tribes.
Other key documents were lost in Civil War-era fires.
Delays also resulted from the tribes’ unique place in history: They made peace with England before the country was established and never signed formal treaties with the U.S. government.
The practical advantages of gaining federal recognition through Congress include money for staff members to improve tribal operations and attract economic development, Adkins said. The tribes also are looking for money to fund education through scholarships.
In addition, they want the opportunity to petition museums and colleges to return Indian remains removed in archaeological work, but Adkins said there’s a larger purpose behind their nearly two decades of effort.
“The bigger reason is just for pride,” he said, “to be recognized for who we are.”
This report includes information from The Washington Post and from Times-Dispatch staff writer Michael Martz.
