Virginia Democratic Senator Tim Kaine is urging the Bureau of Indian Affairs to loosen requirements for federal recognition because six Virginia tribes remain locked out.
Six Virginia tribes are recognized by the British government but not U-S officials. That’s why Kaine says the Bureau of Indian Affairs – or B-I-A – needs to revamp criteria in order to secure the benefits of being a Native American tribe for the Virginia tribes.
“The requirements at the BIA make it virtually impossible for tribes like the Virginia tribes whose records were destroyed when court houses were destroyed during the civil war and then later destroyed by a eugenicist beginning in the 1920s, they have a very difficult time using the current BIA process.”
The Virginia tribes date back thousands of years, but with no remaining records the U-S government hasn’t been able to recognize them. Kaine says officials can do it without an act of Congress, but he’s also pushing a bill passed by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee that would recognize the Virginia tribes. That measure hasn’t come up for a vote before the full Senate.
The full text of the letter is below:
The Honorable Kevin K. Washburn
Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs
U.S. Department of the Interior
1849 C Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20240
Dear Mr. Washburn,
Virginia’s Indian tribes have been an integral part of the Commonwealth and the country’s history from the very beginning. The first permanent English settlement in the Americas survived thanks to diplomatic relations with the Powhatan Indians, and every child in America knows the story of Pocahontas. Those same tribes live in Virginia today, sustaining thousands of years of unique cultures and communities. Yet, despite their renowned role in our nation’s history and their continual self-identity, no Virginia tribe has yet been formally recognized by the federal government.
Virginia’s tribes face two major hardships when applying for federal recognition through the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). The first challenge is that they made peace with European settlers too soon: the Treaty of Middle Plantation was signed between English colonists and several Virginia tribes in 1677, predating the establishment of the United States by almost 100 years. Although this treaty still governs the relationship between Virginia’s tribes and the Commonwealth of Virginia, it was never formally recognized by the federal government. Had the Native Americans in Virginia waited to make peace for another 100 years, their right to self-governance surely would have been formally recognized by the federal government.
The second and more difficult hurdle faced by Virginia’s tribes is the historical destruction of records. Five of the six courthouses that held the vast majority of the tribes’ records were burned during the Civil War. Even beyond accidental destruction, Virginia’s tribes were victim to systematic discrimination through the intentional destruction of their records. Encouraged by a growing eugenics movement and fears of interracial marriages, officials at the Virginia Bureau of Vital Statistics began actively destroying the vital records of Virginia’s tribes in 1912. Virginia codified this discrimination in 1924 by passing the Racial Integrity Act, which forced the Commonwealth to adopt a strict policy of recognizing only two races: “white” or “colored.” During the nearly fifty-year period that the law remained intact Virginia’s tribes were not allowed to list their race as Native American. Officials even went so far as to retrospectively change records to list Native Americans as “colored.” By the time the law was struck down in 1971 the Commonwealth had intentionally robbed its tribes of decades of documentation, essentially destroying their ability to gain federal recognition through BIA’s process.
The Commonwealth of Virginia now acknowledges both the damage done by its reprehensible discrimination against Americans Indians native to Virginia and the indispensable role played by those tribes in its culture, economy, and history. All six living Governors of Virginia support federal recognition for Virginia’s tribes and there has been an ongoing bipartisan, bicameral effort to gain federal recognition for our tribes through Congressional Action. I reintroduced S.1074, The Thomasina E. Jordan Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal Recognition Act, in May 2013. The bill traces the history of six Virginia tribes to the Colonial Era and seeks Congressional recognition. While I hope the bill succeeds, previous attempts failed, in part, because some Members of Congress believed that BIA remains in the best position to assess the credibility of petitioners who seek federal tribal recognition. The federal recognition process does apply consistent standards outside the political process. But I also believe the BIA should adopt flexibility to account for extraordinary circumstances like the barriers our Virginia tribes have encountered in gaining federal recognition.
Virginia’s Indian tribes contributed to the successful founding of our country and continue to help define our national identity. Their members have attended our schools, worked next to us, and served in every American war since the Revolution, all while maintaining a unique identity. Virginia’s tribes have gone without federal recognition not because they lack a historic relationship with the United States, but, as John Collier wrote in 1943, “as a matter largely of historical accident.” The tribes’ unique circumstances should not disqualify them from the recognition they deserve.
I am encouraged by BIA’s efforts to improve its federal recognition process. Efforts to make the process more transparent and efficient and to allow flexibility for tribes with unusual circumstances deserve praise. Thank you for the work the agency has already done and for your careful consideration of the attached comments.
Sincerely,
Tim Kaine