Forgotten Tribes on Verge of Federal Recognition
Unlikely Champion Ushers Bill Toward Congressional Votes

By Timothy Dwyer
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, May 3, 2007

U.S. Rep. James P. Moran Jr., an Irish American native of South Boston -- the one in Massachusetts, not Virginia -- might seem on the surface the most unlikely of people to lead the fight for six Virginian Native American tribes to be officially recognized by the U.S. government. After all, he represents Northern Virginia, and not one member of the six tribes lives here.

But Moran took on the mission about 12 years ago after a personal appeal by an Alexandria woman.

"Thomasina E. Jordan, who had Indian blood in her, came to see me one day," recalled Moran (D-Va.), whose district includes Alexandria, Arlington, Falls Church and parts of Fairfax County. "She had to be carried in because she was so ill. She held my hand and made me promise to do this. And she died the next morning. So this has been my 12-year rosary."

For seven years, the legislation, which Moran named after Jordan, has never gotten out of committee. But last week the House Natural Resources Committee approved the bill granting federal recognition to the six tribes, which can trace their ancestry to the English landing at Jamestown. Moran said he expects the House to approve the legislation, perhaps as early as this week, and hopes the Senate will approve it, too.

The six southeast Virginia tribes are the Chickahominy, the Chickahominy Eastern Division, the Upper Mattaponi, the Rappahannock, the Monacan and the Nansemond.

One reason the bill had not been approved is that some lawmakers were concerned that once the tribes were recognized by the federal government, they would seek to open casinos in Virginia. The bill won approval after the committee passed an amendment forbidding the tribes from conducting gambling operations. The tribes agreed to be subject to Virginia law in relation to gambling activities.

"This means that the Virginia tribes would be treated the same as any private citizen, interest or municipality in Virginia as it relates to gaming activities," Moran said in a statement announcing the committee approval. "Virginia law currently allows bingo for charitable purposes. No tribe has pursued this option."

Gene Adkins of Providence Forge, Va., chief of the Chickahominy Eastern Division tribe, said it has been a long fight to be acknowledged.

"It is important to me because I feel that going back to 1607, history says we were here long before the settlers came, and I think federal recognition is a part of who we are and what we have been trying to do," he said. "We helped the settlers, gave them food and eventually lost our land to them, and we should be recognized."

Moran said the tribes were once affirmed by the ruling government, but that was England, long before the Revolutionary War and the creation of the United States.

"Currently 562 tribes in the United States have received federal recognition," Moran said. "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."

Moran said the tribes were nearly eliminated demographically by Virginia's Racial Integrity Act of 1924, which required residents to destroy existing census records and reclassify all nonwhites as "colored."

"Virginia was a very racist environment then, and they [Native Americans] were not allowed to go to schools or to hold jobs," he said.

He said that married people were denied marriage certificates and that some families were unable to obtain the release of their newborn children from the hospital unless they agreed to check the "colored" box on the form and not insist on claiming their Native American heritage.

"I would say that it only has been in the last 30 or 40 years that we have been able to pick up and go on with our culture, go on with being Virginia Indians in Virginia," Adkins said. "In the last few years, I have noticed that there are some people who are a little more supportive of us, people who have said they would help us and have helped us out."

Adkins said the six tribes were never interested in pursuing gambling operations once they received federal recognition. "I think the gaming has been something that bothers those who have opposed the bill," he said. "We didn't want to do gaming. We would never put in a casino. We just wanted help with our sovereignty."

Adkins said that there are about 3,000 members of the six tribes, most of whom live in the Jamestown area, and that it would mean a lot to the tribes to gain recognition during the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown.

Moran said the timing would be fitting.

"Our goal is for the Virginia tribes to share that spotlight, proudly representing a living history of the commonwealth as Virginia's fully recognized Native American tribes," he said.