Va. tribes await hearing on federal recognition

WASHINGTON - A bill to give federal recognition to six Virginia Indian tribes is slated for a Senate hearing next Thursday, the furthest point the bill has reached in any Congress.

But with Congress set to adjourn next Friday without acting on the bill, tribal advocates expressed disappointment that their protracted fight for federal recognition will have to start over again next year.

“As the political games go, I’m not sure why they felt it necessary to give this hearing to us the day before the end of the session,“ said Chief Anne Richardson of the Rappahannock Tribe.

The U.S. House unanimously passed the federal recognition bill (HR 1294) on May 8, 2007. Rep. Jim Moran, D-8th, first introduced it in 1999.

“This is something that should have been done years ago,“ he said.

Senate aides blamed Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs chairman Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., for not scheduling a hearing sooner. They said he had indicated earlier that no tribal recognition bills would be considered this year.

Much of Dorgan’s work this Congress was dedicated to upgrading Indian health care legislation, which passed the Senate in February.

Dorgan spokesman Justin Kitsch could not be reached for comment.

Tribal advocates credit Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., with helping to secure the hearing for the Virginia bill.

Webb spokeswoman Jessica Smith said the hearing, despite coming late in the year, “underscores the bill’s importance” and the strong support that exists for recognizing Virginia’s tribes.

Most of the Virginia tribes received state recognition in 1983.

But they have received a much cooler reception in Washington, one that Richardson said bordered on racism. Lawmakers, including Rep. Frank Wolf, R-10th, had opposed past recognition bills on grounds they would open the door to gambling.

The current bill expressly prohibits the tribes from ever having gaming.

“I believe them when they say they don’t want gambling,“ Wolf said, “but I’ve watched history where a new group has taken over and bumped out the old group (of tribal leaders).“

Federal recognition would make the tribes eligible for federal funds for housing, education and senior care for the tribes’ estimated 3,000 members.

But tribal advocates say the recognition would also show a true reversal of course in Virginia, where racial state policies enacted 80 years ago literally erased Indians from state census records, categorizing them as blacks.

Richardson, a fourth generation chief, called the recognition their “birthright.“

“The legacy of racism against us would be finally put to bed,“ she said.

Tribes recognized under the bill include: Chickahominy, Eastern Chickahominy, Upper Mattaponi, Rappahannock, Nansemond, and Monacan Indian Nation.