VA Tribes Bill Reintroduced

Washington, D.C., March 9th – Congressman Jim Moran, Virginia Democrat, today reintroduced his long-standing legislation to grant federal recognition of the Virginia Native American tribes.  Last Congress, the legislation passed the House but action in the Senate was delayed. The House Natural Resources Committee is expected to hold a hearing on the bill next week—the first major action on the bill in the 111th Congress.

“The time is right to pass this bill. Virginia’s tribes have waited 400 years to close this sad chapter in our nation’s history,” said Moran. “These tribes, descendants of those that greeted the first English settlers at Jamestown, deserve the same rights afforded the 562 tribes that are currently federally recognized.”

Virginia’s Native American tribes played an integral role in the early history of Virginia, including helping the English settlers at Jamestown in 1607 survive their first harsh winters. Unfortunately, through much of the last 400-years, Native Americans have been brutally and systematically mistreated. 

Racial hostility against Virginia’s Native Americans culminated with the enactment and brutal enforcement of Virginia’s Racial Integrity Act of 1924.  The act empowered zealots, like Walter Plecker, a state official, to destroy records and reclassify in Orwellian fashion all non-whites as “colored.”  To call oneself a “Native American” in Virginia was to risk a jail sentence of up to one year.  Married couples were denied marriage certificates or even unable to obtain the release of their newborn child from a hospital until they changed their ethnicity on the state record to read “colored,” not “Native American.”   For much of the 20th Century admission to public school education was denied.  Even after federally enforced integration, states and localities refused to provide bus service to the public high schools.

“Driven off their land, having survived a ‘paper genocide’ at the hands of state officials in the 1920’s bent on erasing records of their heritage, the Virginia tribes are still being denied their rights as Native Americans," continued Moran. "This legislation is a long overdue part of the healing process.”
 
Unlike most tribes who were federally recognized after signing treaties with the U.S. government, the Virginia tribes’ treaties were with the Kings of England.  The most significant one occurred in 1677, well before the establishment of the United States.  Virginia’s tribes have received official recognition from the Commonwealth of Virginia, but the federal government has yet to follow suit.

Concerns raised by gambling opponents that this legislation would open the door to legalized gambling in the Commonwealth have also been debunked.  The legislation has been crafted to prevent gaming on tribal land.  

Virginia’s six tribes seeking recognition include: the Chickahominy Tribe, Chickahominy Indian Tribe Eastern Division, the Upper Mattaponi, the Rappahannock Tribe, the Monacan Tribe, and the Nansemond Tribe. 

Original cosponsors include: Gerald Connolly (D-VA), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Tom Perriello (D-VA), Nick Rahall (D-WV), and Bobby Scott (D-VA), Rob Wittman (R-VA).

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