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It would be ridiculous to argue that the original Virginia colonists
did not encounter native people: American Indians. But did you know
that none of the Virginia tribes have been recognized by the United
States?
It is as if the federal government of the United States decided that
maybe those native people weren’t really here first after all, but they
were here. A lack of “official” recognition doesn’t change the centuries
of history these tribes have in our state, nor the many contributions
these tribes have made to the history of Virginia and this Nation.
You may know these people as members of your local church, your
co-workers or your friends. They are members of the Chickahominy,
Eastern Chickahominy, Monacan, Nansemond, Rappahannock and
Upper Mattaponi tribes. And all they want is to finally be recognized
by the federal government.
Have you heard about this issue before? Are you wondering why
it’s still even an issue? Well, it’s a complicated history but a simple
answer: they lack the proper documentation to be recognized as official
American Indians. That is ironic. The US government is asking the
tribes that were here when the Europeans arrived to document their
existence!
It should be enough that these tribes lived in Virginia for over
12,000 years before the first colonists arrived. But it’s not. That is
because the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) requires a certain amount
of documents before official acknowledgement can be granted. The
tribe members don’t have that documentation, and it’s not because they
weren’t Virginia natives.
In 1677 the six tribes ceased hostilities with the Virginia colonists
and signed the “Treaty of Middle Plantation,” a treaty between the
leaders of the Virginia tribes and England. Because these tribes were
non-hostile and had signed treaties, it meant that the existence of the
tribes went undetected when the United States became a nation in
1776. Since the treaties were signed with England, and not the United
States, the new federal government did not recognize the treaty as
official. Unlike the many other tribes to sign treaties subsequent to the
formation of the United States, the Virginia tribes were not recognized
by treaty as their counterparts in the western states were.
These tribes, from the beginning, were the first to welcome the
colonists, but are among the last in line to receive any recognition.
Unfortunately, the tribes’ willingness to live peacefully withVirginia’s
colonists is exactly why they have been unrecognized since the nation’s
birth. But despite this unfair situation, the few records of the American
Indians in Virginia did exist, and were housed in eight courthouses
throughout the Commonwealth.
These records might have helped to provide enough documentation
for official recognition by the BIA but the complete destruction of six
of the eight courthouses during the Civil War also destroyed much of
the tribes’ official documentation.
Donald L. Ratliff
VP–Virginia Government and External Affairs
Alpha Natural Resources
One Alpha Place
•
Bristol, VA 24202
P.O. Box 16429
•
Bristol, VA 24209
276.619.4479 (office)
•
276.623.2891 (fax)
276.275.1423 (cell)
•
The tribes were punished again in the 20th century, for simply
existing. Their culture, history and pride were insulted completely when
the Virginia Racial Integrity Act was passed in 1924 upon the urging of
Walter Plecker, the first Registrar of Virginia’s Bureau of Vital Statistics
and founder of the Anlgo Saxon Club of America. Plecker instituted the
“one drop rule.” The official policy ofVirginia stated that residents could
only be one of two races: white or colored.And a single drop of non-white
blood meant you were “colored.” All other races, including American
Indian, were declared to be non-existent. For the five decades that the
Racial Integrity Act was in place the tribal members were not permitted
to put the race of American Indian on birth and marriage certificates.
Several Virginia Indians were jailed when drafted during World War I
and World War II for insisting that they were American Indian. Other
Virginia Indians reported to military entrance stations outside ofVirginia
so they could have “American Indian” on their dog tags.
In the five decades of these policies, the history of Virginia’s first
residents, who agreed to peacefully share the state with the colonists,
was wiped out. Under the Racial Integrity Act American Indian tribes
in Virginia weren’t just unrecognized, every attempt was made to
ensure their existence was completely obliterated. Some call this type
of action “paper genocide.” The tribe members may have been allowed
to live, but on paper their entire culture was officially wiped out.
The Virginia Racial Integrity Act had other consequence to the
Tribes as well. Their children were taken from them and sent to schools
away from their families so that they could not learn the “Indian” ways.
After grade eight, they were denied formal education and those who
wished to go further in education had to travel outside of Virginia or
be educated at schools run by the tribes themselves, often with the
assistance of friendly churches. College? Out of the question. Many
Virginia tribal members have in their possession letters from some of
Virginia’s most revered higher education instructions that explicitly
state, “because of your race, we cannot admit you.” Many of today’s
Virginia tribal leaders were educated at Bacone College, a traditional
Indian College located on Muskogee, Oklahoma.
But that was not all. Virginia also set out an aggressive plan to
sterilize the women of the Virginia tribes to prevent the birth of
additional children. This practice was most prevalent with the Monacan
Tribe located in Amherst County, Virginia.
See
VITAL
, continued on page 22
VITAL
First to Welcome,
Last to be Recognized
By William H. Leighty
Delegate
Chris Peace
Chief Ken Adams,
Upper Mattaponi
Tribe
Senator Jim Webb &
Chief Ken Adams
