Politics

Sen. Kaine optimistic on success for tribal recognition measure

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Historic photo of Mattaponi students at the original Sharon Indian School in Virginia. Photo from Upper Mattaponi Tribe

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) believes he has enough votes to pass a bill to extend federal recognition for six tribes in his state.

The Senate Indian Affairs Committee approved S.465, Thomasina E. Jordan Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal Recognition Act, at a business meeting last month. Even though the panel's Republican chairman opposed the measure, Kaine remains optimistic that it will clear the Senate.

“If I can get it on the floor for a vote, it’s going to pass,” Kaine told The Lynchburg News-Advance. “I won’t lose any Democratic votes on this, and I have a lot of Republicans who will vote for it, and did vote for it in committee.”

The bill extends recognition to the Chickahominy Tribe, the Chickahominy Indian Tribe - Eastern Division, the Upper Mattaponi Tribe, the Rappahannock Tribe, the Monacan Nation and the Nansemond Tribe.

Virginia's tribes were among the first to greet European settlers. They signed some of the first treaties but many of their records were destroyed during the Civil War and their Indian identity was officially expunged from state documents, starting in the early 1900s.

The House version is H.R.872. It has been referred to the House Subcommittee Indian, Insular and Alaska Native Affairs but a hearing hasn't been held.

Get the Story:
Kaine: Monacan recognition hinges on floor-vote strategy (The Lynchburg News-Advance 4/13)