[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 74 (Thursday, May 23, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E754-E755]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 THOMASINA E. JORDAN INDIAN TRIBES OF VIRGINIA FEDERAL RECOGNITION ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JAMES P. MORAN

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 23, 2013

  Mr. MORAN. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing the Thomasina E. 
Jordan Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal Recognition Act. This is the 
seventh time I have introduced legislation that would grant federal 
recognition to six Indian tribes in Virginia: the Chickahominy, the 
Eastern Chickahominy, the Upper Mattaponi, the Rappahannock, the 
Monacan, and the Nansemond. I am joined by my Virginia colleagues, 
Reps. Bobby Scott, Robert Wittman and Gerry Connolly.
  Similar measures passed the House and the Senate Indian Affairs 
Committee during the 110th and 111th Sessions of Congress. 
Unfortunately, both measures were ultimately defeated when the 
objections of a few Senators were not overridden.
  The impasse in Congress and the demeaning and dysfunctional 
acknowledgement process at the Bureau of Indian Affairs only compound 
the grave injustices this legislation seeks to redress and compels me 
to continue this cause and reintroduce this legislation today. The 
injustices the Virginia tribes have experienced extend back in time for 
hundreds of years, back to the establishment of the first permanent 
English settlement in America at Jamestown. For the Members of these 
tribes are the descendants of the great Powhatan Confederacy who 
greeted the English and provided food and assistance that ensured the 
settlers' early survival.
  Six years ago, America celebrated the 400th anniversary of the 
settlement of Jamestown.

[[Page E755]]

But it was not a celebration for Native American descendants of 
Pocahontas, for they have yet to be recognized by our federal 
government. Unlike most Native American tribes that were officially 
recognized when they signed peace treaties with the federal government, 
Virginia's six Native American tribes made their peace with the Kings 
of England. Most notable among these was the Treaty of 1677 between 
these tribes and King Charles II. This treaty has been recognized by 
the Commonwealth of Virginia every year for the past 334 years when the 
Governor accepts tribute from the tribes in a ceremony now celebrated 
at the Commonwealth Capitol. I had the honor of attending one of what I 
understand is the longest-celebrated treaty recognition ceremony in the 
United States.
  The forefathers of the tribal leaders who gather on Thanksgiving in 
Richmond were the first to welcome the English, and during the first 
few years of settlement, ensured their survival. Had the tribes not 
assisted those early settlers, they would not have survived. Time has 
not been kind to the tribes, however. As was the case for most Native 
American tribes, as the settlement prospered and grew, the tribes 
suffered. Those who resisted quickly became subdued, were pushed off 
their historic lands, and, up through much of the 20th Century, were 
denied full rights as U.S. citizens. Despite their devastating loss of 
land and population, the Virginia tribes survived, preserving their 
heritage and their identity. Their story of survival spans four 
centuries of racial hostility and coercive state and state-sanctioned 
actions.
  The Virginia tribes' history, however, diverges from that of most 
Native Americans in two unique ways. The first explains why the 
Virginia tribes were never recognized by the federal government; the 
second explains why congressional action is needed today. First, by the 
time the federal government was established in 1789, the Virginia 
tribes were in no position to seek recognition. They had already lost 
control of their land, withdrawn into isolated communities and been 
stripped of most of their rights. Lacking even the rights granted by 
the English Kings, and our own Bill of Rights, federal recognition was 
nowhere within their reach.
  The second unique circumstance for the Virginia tribes is what they 
experienced with the destruction of their official records. From the 
destruction of local courthouses wrought by the Civil War to the 20th 
Century ``paper genocide'' perpetrated by the Commonwealth of Virginia, 
there are gaps in their records which could ultimately invalidate their 
petitions for recognition that have been filed with the Interior 
Department's Bureau of Indian Affairs.
  With great hypocrisy, Virginia's ruling elite pushed policies that 
culminated with the enactment of the Racial Integrity Act of 1924. This 
act directed Commonwealth officials, and zealots like Walter Plecker, 
to destroy Commonwealth and local courthouse records and reclassify in 
Orwellian fashion all non-whites as ``colored.'' It targeted Native 
Americans with a vengeance, denying Native Americans in Virginia their 
identity.
  To call oneself a ``Native American'' in Virginia was to risk a jail 
sentence of up to one year. In defiance of the law, members of 
Virginia's tribes traveled out of state to obtain marriage licenses or 
to serve their country in wartime. The law remained in effect until it 
was struck down in federal court in 1967. In that intervening period 
between 1924 and 1967, Commonwealth officials waged a war to destroy 
all public and many private records that affirmed the existence of 
Native Americans in Virginia. Historians have affirmed that no other 
state compares to Virginia's efforts to eradicate its citizens' Indian 
identity.
  All of Virginia's state-recognized tribes have filed petitions with 
the Bureau of Acknowledgment seeking federal recognition. But it is a 
very heavy burden the Virginia tribes will have to overcome, and one 
fraught with complications that officials from the bureau have 
acknowledged may never be resolved in their lifetime. The 
acknowledgment process is already expensive, subject to unreasonable 
delays, and lacking in dignity. Virginia's paper genocide only further 
complicates these tribes' quest for federal recognition, making it 
difficult to furnish corroborating state and official documents and 
aggravating the injustice already visited upon them. The Bureau of 
Acknowledgement officials have admitted that the Virginia petitions may 
not be resolved for generations.
  In appreciation of the fact that the issue of gambling and its 
economic and moral dimensions influence many Members' perspectives on 
tribal recognition issues, you should be aware that the bill has 
carried language every year prohibiting these tribes from gaming on 
their federal lands. This prohibition extends indefinitely, even if 
Virginia were to one day change course and allow gaming. The tribes 
find gambling offensive to their moral beliefs. They are seeking 
federal recognition because it is a matter of justice.
  In the name of decency, fairness and humanity, I urge my colleagues 
to support this legislation and bring closure to the centuries of 
injustice Virginia's Native American tribes have experienced.

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