[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5553 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5553

    To extend Federal recognition to the Patawomeck Indian Tribe of 
                   Virginia, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 18, 2023

Ms. Spanberger (for herself, Mrs. Kiggans of Virginia, and Ms. Wexton) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                           Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To extend Federal recognition to the Patawomeck Indian Tribe of 
                   Virginia, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Patawomeck Indian Tribe of Virginia 
Federal Recognition Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds as follows:
            (1) The Patawomeck, or Patawomeke, Tribe, also referred to 
        as the Potomac Tribe, Potomac Band, Patamacks, and White Oakers 
        was situated in and around Indian Point and Pasapatanzy in what 
        are now Stafford and King George Counties, Virginia, and 
        occupied a prominent place in the documented history of the 
        first half-century of European contact with the Native 
        Virginians.
            (2) In 1608, Captain John Smith visited the village of 
        Patawomeke between Potomac and Accokeek Creeks. The population 
        of the Tribe was estimated at about 800, with 160 bowmen. 
        Around this same time, Smith also visited and recorded the 
        Patawomeck villages at Passapatanzy, Quiyough, and other small 
        Patawomeck hamlets in the area.
            (3) In 1610, Japazaw, brother of the Patawomeck weroance, 
        related the Patawomeck creation story to Captain Samuel Argall, 
        the only surviving Virginia Algonquian creation story recorded 
        by the English.
            (4) In 1642, Patawomeck weroance, Wahanganoche, and his 
        family were baptized into the Christian faith by Father Andrew 
        White.
            (5) In 1662, Wahanganoche was issued a silver badge by the 
        King of England to wear for safety when traveling across 
        English lands and as an acknowledgement of Patawomeck 
        sovereignty. The weroance was acquitted of charges of high 
        treason and murder brought against him by Captain Giles Brent 
        at the General Assembly in James City that year, but died on 
        his way home, or shortly after his arrival.
            (6) In July 1666, the General Council of Virginia declared 
        war on the Patawomecks. Most of the men were killed and most of 
        the women and children, who were not already living in English 
        families, were captured as slaves. Others likely joined with 
        nearby existing Indian groups such as the Doegs, Nanzaticos, 
        and Portobagos.
            (7) In 1680, King Pattanochus signs the Treaty of Middle 
        Plantation of behalf of the ``Nansatiocoes, Nanzemunds, and 
        Portabacchoes''. By this time, displaced Patawomecks are living 
        among these groups of people.
            (8) In 1692, A reference to payment for Rangers in Stafford 
        County notes the presence of ``two Indians belonging to 
        Stafford'' in the detachment, illustrating the continued 
        presence within the area of Patawomeck ancestors.
            (9) Through most of the 1700s the Patawomeck community 
        lived in the Northern Neck, moving as necessary. Portions of 
        the community settled near the area known as Indian Town in 
        modern-day King George County.
            (10) In 1789, White Oak church was established. This 
        church, which still stands, became a significant space that 
        facilitated the continued interaction of members of the 
        Patawomeck community who attended well into the 1900s and used 
        the regular meeting opportunities as venues to pass down and 
        maintain Tribal knowledge and traditions, meet suitable 
        Patawomeck marriage partners, and conduct business in formal 
        and informal ways. Generations of Patawomeck ancestors account 
        for the vast majority of the interments in the cemetery, 
        including members with the surnames of Newton, Green, Curtis, 
        Jett, and Monteith.
            (11) By the early 1800s, the majority of the Patawomeck 
        community had again coalesced in the area of Stafford County 
        known as White Oak, with some members living in nearby 
        Passapatanzy, in King George County, only a few miles from the 
        locations of their ancestral villages, dating back to the 
        1300s.
            (12) In 1832, Wahanganoche's badge was found at Camden, in 
        Caroline County, a well-known location of coalescent Indian 
        communities and the likely location of a portion of the 
        Patawomeck community in the late 1600s.
            (13) During the United States Civil War, vandalism, 
        courthouse fires, and other disasters destroy many of the 
        records within the Stafford and King George County courthouses, 
        serving to reduce the archival footprint of the Patawomecks 
        within their historic areas of habitation.
            (14) In the late 1910s and 1920s, the anthropologist Frank 
        Speck, visited the Patawomeck community to take photographs, 
        conduct interviews, and collect objects related to Indigenous 
        heritage, noting that the ``northern divisions of the 
        [Powhatan] Confederacy are represented by descendants on 
        Potomac Creek in King George county . . .''. Since this time, 
        partnerships have existed between the Tribe and researchers 
        from institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution, the 
        University of Pennsylvania, the College of William and Mary, 
        American University, the University of Mary Washington, and 
        Santa Clara University.
            (15) In 1924, Virginia passed the Racial Integrity Act 
        which removed the category of Indian identity from official 
        records. Instead, all people were required to be identified as 
        White or colored. This law, in addition to other aspects of the 
        racialized society that existed in Virginia starting in the 
        late 1600s, effectively erased Virginia Indians from the 
        official records of the Commonwealth until the middle of the 
        1900s, amounting to a paper genocide.
            (16) In the 1930s and 1940s, at least 722 Patawomeck 
        ancestors were taken from their graves under the guise of 
        archaeological research. Many of these ancestors were discarded 
        by the excavators. The remainder, numbering well over 200 
        individuals, are currently held by the Smithsonian Institution.
            (17) In 1954, Elizabeth Newton of the Patawomecks married 
        O.T. Custalow, Chief of the Mattaponis.
            (18) In 1996, the contemporary and formal reorganization of 
        the Patawomeck Tribe took place with the adoption of a written 
        constitution.
            (19) In 2006, in partnership with linguists the Patawomecks 
        began to work on reconstructing their native Algonquin language 
        and sharing it with other Tribes and fellow Virginians. Since 
        that time the Patawomecks have taught, transcribed, greatly 
        enhanced the common Algonquin dictionary, and educated hundreds 
        of Virginians in classroom settings.
            (20) In February 2010, The Patawomecks received official 
        recognition from the Commonwealth of Virginia after years of 
        hard work by Tribal members and anthropologists at the College 
        of William and Mary.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior.
            (2) Tribal member.--The term ``Tribal member'' means--
                    (A) an individual who is an enrolled member of the 
                Tribe as of the date of enactment of this Act; and
                    (B) an individual who has been placed on the 
                membership rolls of the Tribe in accordance with this 
                title.
            (3) Tribe.--The term ``Tribe'' means the Patawomeck Indian 
        Tribe.

SEC. 4. FEDERAL RECOGNITION.

    (a) Federal Recognition.--
            (1) In general.--Federal recognition is extended to the 
        Tribe.
            (2) Applicability of laws.--All laws (including 
        regulations) of the United States of general applicability to 
        Indians or nations, Indian Tribes, or bands of Indians 
        (including the Act of June 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 5101 et seq.)) 
        that are not inconsistent with this title shall be applicable 
        to the Tribe and Tribal members.
    (b) Federal Services and Benefits.--
            (1) In general.--On and after the date of enactment of this 
        Act, the Tribe and Tribal members shall be eligible for all 
        services and benefits provided by the Federal Government to 
        federally recognized Indian Tribes without to the existence of 
        a reservation for the Tribe.
            (2) Service area.--For the purpose of the delivery of 
        Federal services to Tribal members, the service area of the 
        Tribe shall be considered to be the area comprised of Stafford 
        and King George counties.

SEC. 5. MEMBERSHIP; GOVERNING DOCUMENTS.

    The membership roll and governing documents of the Tribe shall be 
the most recent membership roll and governing documents, respectively, 
submitted by the Tribe to the Secretary before the date of enactment of 
this Act.

SEC. 6. GOVERNING BODY.

    The governing body of the Tribe shall be--
            (1) the governing body of the Tribe in place as of the date 
        of enactment of this Act; or
            (2) any subsequent governing body elected in accordance 
        with the election procedures specified in the governing 
        documents of the Tribe.

SEC. 7. RESERVATION OF THE TRIBE.

    (a) In General.--Upon the request of the Tribe, the Secretary of 
the Interior may take into trust for the benefit of the Tribe any land 
held in fee by the Tribe, if such lands are located within the 
boundaries of King George County or Stafford County, Virginia.
    (b) Deadline for Determination.--The Secretary shall make a final 
written determination not later than 3 years of the date which the 
Tribe submits a request for land to be taken into trust under 
subsection (a)(1) and shall immediately make that determination 
available to the Tribe.
    (c) Reservation Status.--Any land taken into trust for the benefit 
of the Tribe pursuant to this paragraph shall, upon request of the 
Tribe, be considered part of the reservation of the Tribe.
    (d) Gaming.--The Tribe may not conduct gaming activities as a 
matter of claimed inherent authority or under the authority of any 
Federal law, including the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 2701 
et seq.) or under any regulations thereunder promulgated by the 
Secretary or the National Indian Gaming Commission.

SEC. 8. HUNTING, FISHING, TRAPPING, GATHERING, AND WATER RIGHTS.

    Nothing in this Act expands, reduces, or affects in any manner any 
hunting, fishing, trapping, gathering, or water rights of the Tribe and 
members of the Tribe.

SEC. 9. EMINENT DOMAIN.

    Eminent domain may not be used to acquire lands for a Tribe 
recognized under this Act.
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