vance hawkins
08-17-2003, 04:13 PM
someone sent this to me or I cae by it somehow & I thought yall might be interested.
Msg said it was too long so I'll cut & paste it & place part of it in a second msg
Powhatan tribes battle for recognition
By WARREN FISKE, The Virginian-Pilot
© August 11, 2003
Last updated: 1:15 PM
KING WILLIAM -- Dawn came on a recent Saturday with a few Upper
Mattaponi Indians astir, setting up a yard sale on a gravel parking
lot off state Route 30.
Second-hand jeans, $2. Matching lamps, $15. Dog-eared paperbacks for
the coins in your pocket. All to defray their costs for lobbying in
Washington.
Four centuries ago, the Upper Mattaponi were members of the mighty
Nation of Powhatan, the legendary confederation of Eastern Virginia
tribes that met the first permanent English settlers in America. The
confederation's acts of welcome and war became the lore of history
and Hollywood.
Today, most of Powhatan's remaining Virginia tribes are in an
exasperating fight to win federal recognition from Congress and the
accompanying trove of grants for education, housing and health care.
They have encountered political opposition and a maze of regulations
that have made it all but impossible to legally claim their
existence.
The federal government recognizes 562 tribes from 32 states, but none
from Virginia.
At the same time Washington is denying status to Virginia tribes, it
is dedicating millions of dollars to celebrate their heritage.
Congress is underwriting a significant share of Jamestown 2007, an
international celebration of the 400th anniversary of the landing of
English settlers in the New World.
The irony is not lost on several Virginia Indian chiefs, whose tribes
are being asked to participate.
``It should be an embarrassment if we're celebrating the anniversary
of this country, and the people who met the first Englishmen were not
granted recognition,'' said Stephen Adkins, chief of the
Chickahominy.
``What's so befuddling to me is how you can celebrate our history and
not recognize our existence,'' said Kenneth Adams, chief of the Upper
Mattaponi.
The answers lie in a 326-year-old treaty Virginia tribes signed with
King Charles II, the state's legacy of racism and current concerns
that federal recognition could open the Old Dominion to Indian-run
casinos.
The tribes, with roughly 3,000 members in the commonwealth, have won
support from Virginia's two U.S. senators and Gov. Mark R. Warner.
Despite their efforts, bills that would grant Virginia tribes federal
recognition remain buried in congressional subcommittees.
So six of Virginia's eight tribes decided two years ago to use the
weapons of Washington and hired a lobbyist. The bills last year came
to $108,000, paid entirely from the proceeds of public powwows, craft
shows, seafood bakes and sports tournaments. The take from the Upper
Mattaponi's recent yard sale was about $200.
``We don't have any money. Virginia tribes never had anything,'' said
Adams, an airplane maintenance instructor who spent 24 years in the
Air Force, including a tour of Vietnam. ``But we're not going to give
this fight up. We're entitled to the same respect the United States
has shown for other tribes.'' Never before have Virginia tribes
fought with the U.S. government. Perhaps if they had, their current
problem wouldn't exist.
In 1677, the Powhatan nation signed a treaty with England that made
it subject to British rule. The Indians pledged to obey the king's
laws and to pay taxes in return for hunting and fishing rights on
their former lands. The natives also agreed to return all English
prisoners, while the settlers promised not to enslave Indians.
The tribes returned to their ever-diminishing lands and lived
peacefully. They were converted largely to Christianity by Baptist
and Methodist missionaries.
Nothing changed for the tribes a century later when the United States
was born. Virginia Indians remained peaceful. There was no need for
the new government to seek its own treaty.
But that wasn't the case with many tribes outside Virginia that
objected to the new nation's rapid expansion. They fought bloody wars
to preserve their lands. Many of the defeated tribes were granted
federal recognition upon signing treaties and relocating to
government-assigned reservations.
``In my opinion, it is a quirk of history that we never established a
relationship with the U.S. government,'' Adams said.
Virginia was not friendly to its tribes. It long denied education and
employment opportunities to Indians. Later, the Virginia General
Assembly tried bureaucratically to eliminate Indians by passing the
Racial Integrity Act of 1924.
The law mandated that only two races be recorded on state birth
records: white and Negro. It was zealously enforced by Walter A.
Plecker, Virginia's first registrar of the Bureau of Vital
Statistics. Plecker, an outspoken proponent of eugenics,
systematically changed the race recorded on many birth, death and
marriage certificates from ``Indian'' to ``Negro'' until his
retirement in 1946. The law stood until 1967, when it was struck down
by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Virginia tried to make amends in the 1980s by establishing a state
Bureau of Indian Affairs and conferring state recognition on its
eight tribes. In 1997, then-Gov. George Allen instructed state
agencies to correct all distorted Indian records that were brought to
their attention.
The action came too late to repair the damage.
``Virginia Indians were the victims of statistical genocide,'' said
William P. Miles, chief of the Pamunkey.
The purge of racial identity records had a devastating impact on the
tribes in the late 1990s, when they began seeking federal
recognition. The tribes took the routine route by applying to the
federal Bureau of Indian Affairs. The agency requires meticulous
documentation of family trees to prove the applicants descend from
``historical Indian tribes.''
In the Old Dominion, the altered records make that virtually
impossible.
So Virginia's tribes deployed a new strategy. While two -- the
Pamunkey and Mattaponi -- decided to continue seeking federal
recognition through the traditional route, six tribes concluded that
their best hope was to bypass the Bureau of Indians Affairs and apply
directly to Congress.
That created a new problem.
In 1988, Congress passed the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act allowing
federally recognized tribes to operate casinos on their lands.
Lawmakers said gaming centers would create economic opportunities for
long-impoverished tribes and wean them from government subsidies.
Since then, about 300 gaming parlors have opened on Indian land in 28
states.
Virginia lawmakers have opposed expanding gambling in Virginia beyond
the lottery, horse racing and charitable bingo.
State tribal leaders say they have no intention of opening casinos.
They say they are morally opposed to gambling -- so much that they
refuse to raise money through bingo, although they have that right.
Even if the tribes wanted to go into the casino business, they still
would need permission from Virginia's legislature. The federal act
requires all tribes recognized after 1988 to abide by the gambling
laws of their states.
Msg said it was too long so I'll cut & paste it & place part of it in a second msg
Powhatan tribes battle for recognition
By WARREN FISKE, The Virginian-Pilot
© August 11, 2003
Last updated: 1:15 PM
KING WILLIAM -- Dawn came on a recent Saturday with a few Upper
Mattaponi Indians astir, setting up a yard sale on a gravel parking
lot off state Route 30.
Second-hand jeans, $2. Matching lamps, $15. Dog-eared paperbacks for
the coins in your pocket. All to defray their costs for lobbying in
Washington.
Four centuries ago, the Upper Mattaponi were members of the mighty
Nation of Powhatan, the legendary confederation of Eastern Virginia
tribes that met the first permanent English settlers in America. The
confederation's acts of welcome and war became the lore of history
and Hollywood.
Today, most of Powhatan's remaining Virginia tribes are in an
exasperating fight to win federal recognition from Congress and the
accompanying trove of grants for education, housing and health care.
They have encountered political opposition and a maze of regulations
that have made it all but impossible to legally claim their
existence.
The federal government recognizes 562 tribes from 32 states, but none
from Virginia.
At the same time Washington is denying status to Virginia tribes, it
is dedicating millions of dollars to celebrate their heritage.
Congress is underwriting a significant share of Jamestown 2007, an
international celebration of the 400th anniversary of the landing of
English settlers in the New World.
The irony is not lost on several Virginia Indian chiefs, whose tribes
are being asked to participate.
``It should be an embarrassment if we're celebrating the anniversary
of this country, and the people who met the first Englishmen were not
granted recognition,'' said Stephen Adkins, chief of the
Chickahominy.
``What's so befuddling to me is how you can celebrate our history and
not recognize our existence,'' said Kenneth Adams, chief of the Upper
Mattaponi.
The answers lie in a 326-year-old treaty Virginia tribes signed with
King Charles II, the state's legacy of racism and current concerns
that federal recognition could open the Old Dominion to Indian-run
casinos.
The tribes, with roughly 3,000 members in the commonwealth, have won
support from Virginia's two U.S. senators and Gov. Mark R. Warner.
Despite their efforts, bills that would grant Virginia tribes federal
recognition remain buried in congressional subcommittees.
So six of Virginia's eight tribes decided two years ago to use the
weapons of Washington and hired a lobbyist. The bills last year came
to $108,000, paid entirely from the proceeds of public powwows, craft
shows, seafood bakes and sports tournaments. The take from the Upper
Mattaponi's recent yard sale was about $200.
``We don't have any money. Virginia tribes never had anything,'' said
Adams, an airplane maintenance instructor who spent 24 years in the
Air Force, including a tour of Vietnam. ``But we're not going to give
this fight up. We're entitled to the same respect the United States
has shown for other tribes.'' Never before have Virginia tribes
fought with the U.S. government. Perhaps if they had, their current
problem wouldn't exist.
In 1677, the Powhatan nation signed a treaty with England that made
it subject to British rule. The Indians pledged to obey the king's
laws and to pay taxes in return for hunting and fishing rights on
their former lands. The natives also agreed to return all English
prisoners, while the settlers promised not to enslave Indians.
The tribes returned to their ever-diminishing lands and lived
peacefully. They were converted largely to Christianity by Baptist
and Methodist missionaries.
Nothing changed for the tribes a century later when the United States
was born. Virginia Indians remained peaceful. There was no need for
the new government to seek its own treaty.
But that wasn't the case with many tribes outside Virginia that
objected to the new nation's rapid expansion. They fought bloody wars
to preserve their lands. Many of the defeated tribes were granted
federal recognition upon signing treaties and relocating to
government-assigned reservations.
``In my opinion, it is a quirk of history that we never established a
relationship with the U.S. government,'' Adams said.
Virginia was not friendly to its tribes. It long denied education and
employment opportunities to Indians. Later, the Virginia General
Assembly tried bureaucratically to eliminate Indians by passing the
Racial Integrity Act of 1924.
The law mandated that only two races be recorded on state birth
records: white and Negro. It was zealously enforced by Walter A.
Plecker, Virginia's first registrar of the Bureau of Vital
Statistics. Plecker, an outspoken proponent of eugenics,
systematically changed the race recorded on many birth, death and
marriage certificates from ``Indian'' to ``Negro'' until his
retirement in 1946. The law stood until 1967, when it was struck down
by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Virginia tried to make amends in the 1980s by establishing a state
Bureau of Indian Affairs and conferring state recognition on its
eight tribes. In 1997, then-Gov. George Allen instructed state
agencies to correct all distorted Indian records that were brought to
their attention.
The action came too late to repair the damage.
``Virginia Indians were the victims of statistical genocide,'' said
William P. Miles, chief of the Pamunkey.
The purge of racial identity records had a devastating impact on the
tribes in the late 1990s, when they began seeking federal
recognition. The tribes took the routine route by applying to the
federal Bureau of Indian Affairs. The agency requires meticulous
documentation of family trees to prove the applicants descend from
``historical Indian tribes.''
In the Old Dominion, the altered records make that virtually
impossible.
So Virginia's tribes deployed a new strategy. While two -- the
Pamunkey and Mattaponi -- decided to continue seeking federal
recognition through the traditional route, six tribes concluded that
their best hope was to bypass the Bureau of Indians Affairs and apply
directly to Congress.
That created a new problem.
In 1988, Congress passed the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act allowing
federally recognized tribes to operate casinos on their lands.
Lawmakers said gaming centers would create economic opportunities for
long-impoverished tribes and wean them from government subsidies.
Since then, about 300 gaming parlors have opened on Indian land in 28
states.
Virginia lawmakers have opposed expanding gambling in Virginia beyond
the lottery, horse racing and charitable bingo.
State tribal leaders say they have no intention of opening casinos.
They say they are morally opposed to gambling -- so much that they
refuse to raise money through bingo, although they have that right.
Even if the tribes wanted to go into the casino business, they still
would need permission from Virginia's legislature. The federal act
requires all tribes recognized after 1988 to abide by the gambling
laws of their states.