Amanda Engel
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON (WMAL) — Six tribes in Virginia now have federal recognition as Indian tribes after years of waiting.
President Donald Trump signed the bill into law yesterday, after it was introduced last year by Congressman Rob Wittman (R-Va.).
The Chickahominy, Eastern Chickahominy, Upper Mattaponi, Rappahannock, Monacan and Nansemond tribes are now able to have relationships with the U.S. Federal Government, gain access to more resources and are able to request the return of remains that were taken to be studied, so that they can be properly buried.
Wayne Adkins, the First Assistant Chief of the Chickahominy tribe, described the long wait for federal recognition.
“We talked about [federal recognition] for a long time, I’ve seen references to it in our tribal minutes that date back [to the] 1920’s,” said Adkins.
He said that this latest effort started in 1999.
The Chickahominy tribe is “pretty excited,” he said. “There are a lot of people on Facebook and other media [are] just very happy about it.”
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