Fight for treaty rights
King William Reservoir project
Today the Mattaponi are calling on the Treaty of 1677 to save their river and their shad hatchery operation and in essence their way of life. In the late 1990s the state of Virginia proposed the King William Reservoir project to meet projected water needs through the year 2040. This would involve building a dam across Cohoke Creek, a small tributary of the Pamunkey River located between the Pamunkey and Mattaponi Rivers in King William County. The Mattaponi Indian tribe claim that this project would kill the fish spawning in tribal waters and the flooding associated with the project will inundate a portion of the land protected by the Treaty of 1677 which stated: “…That no English shall Seat or Plant nearer then [sic] Three miles of any Indian Town; and whosoever hath made, or shall make any Incroachment upon their Land shall be removed from thence, and proceeded against as by the former Peace made…”
The state argues that the tribe has virtually ignored the treaty by allowing development within the three-mile boundary and thus have forfeited their treaty rights. Within that zone today are 150 homes and other structures, several churches, a school and the King and Queen County Courthouse, besides public roads and cemeteries, among other structures. The Attorney General (Jerry Kilgore at the time) stated that “…the treaty does not grant them rights to the land.” The tribe maintains that it has conducted its affairs in accordance with the treaty, for example, every fourth Wednesday in November, they pay tribute to the Virginia governor, as required in the treaty, by presenting him with game, deer or wild turkey.
The tribes lawsuit was dismissed by the Newport News Circuit Court and the Virginia Court of Appeals so they took it to the state Supreme Court.
Today, the fight is still in the courts and the outcome undetermined, but if history is any determinant the Indian people will lose again.
The fight continues.