Fight for Federal recognition
The 2003 Thomasina E. Jordan Virginia Indian Federal Recognition Bill (HB-1938, S-1423) seeks Federal acknowledgement for six Virginia tribes: Chickahominy, Eastern Chickahominy, Monacan, Nansemond, Rappahannock and Upper Mattaponi. The Pamunkey and Mattaponi are going through the BIA for federal recognition. In 1999, the Virginia General Assembly passed a resolution (HJ-754) asking Congress to grant Federal recognition to the Virginia tribes, and in 2002, bills were introduced in both the House and Senate.
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“For almost 400 years, Virginia attempted to diminish our presence. After 1700 we were pushed onto increasingly smaller pieces of land and by the mid 1900s Virginia was attempting to document us out of existence. The fight to maintain our identity was a struggle our Mothers and Fathers fought well…” [Testimony of Kenneth Adams Chief of the Upper Mattaponi Indian Tribe. Hearing on S.2694, the Thomasina E. Jordan Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal Recognition Act of 2002]
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“In more recent times, this racial hostility culminated with the enactment and brutal enforcement of Virginia’s Racial Integrity Act of 1924. This act empowered zealots, like Walter Plecker, a state official, to destroy records and reclassify in Orwellian fashion all non-whites as “colored.” To call yourself a “Native American” in Virginia was to risk a jail sentence of up to one year.
Imagine a married couple unable to obtain the release of their newborn child from the hospital until they change their child’s ethnicity on the medical record to read “colored,” not “Native American.”
Or, imagine being told that you have no right to reclaim and bury your ancestors once you learn they were being stored in a museum vault.
Or, imagine your frustration upon finding your legal efforts to appeal a local water issue in federal court because you’re told your suit has no standing since your tribe doesn’t exist.
Or, imagine being told that the only reason you’re seeking federal recognition is to establish a gambling casino.
Or, imagine the Indian mission school that your grandparents and your parents attended receiving federal recognition as a historic landmark, but yet you and your daughters and sons not recognized by the federal government as Native Americans.
Mr. Chairman, these are just a few of the examples of the indignities visited upon the members of the six tribes present here today. [Statement by Rep. James P. Moran on Legislation (S. 2694) Granting Federal Recognition to Six Virginia Tribes October 9th 2002 before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs]
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Leaders of Virginia's American Indian tribes said Nov. 23 that the nature and level of the tribes’ participation in the 400th anniversary of Jamestown depends on whether they get federal recognition before the events in 2007.
Six of the eight Virginia tribes have been seeking federal recognition from Congress since 2000, but the legislation has gone nowhere. Tribal leaders said they deserve federal recognition if they are expected to represent all American Indians at the Jamestown festivities.
“We'll be there, but if we're not federally recognized we won't be very happy participants,” said Kenneth Branham, chief of Virginia's Monacan Nation. “It will be a disgrace for this country and this state.”
Branham said at a news conference that a protest is among the tribe's possible options at Jamestown if recognition is denied. The tribes also could scale back their involvement in the ceremonies
.“I'm so afraid that after 2007, if we’re not federally recognized, they'll say, ‘Thank you for participating. We'll see you in 50 years,’ ” Branham said.”1Bobbie Whitehead, “Virginia Supreme Court grants Mattaponi appeal in reservoir case,”Indian Country Today (April 01, 2005).