Historical accounts of the Pamunkey tribe of Virginia date back to 1607 and the landing of British colonists at Jamestown. The Pamunkey were part of the much larger Powhatan paramountcy, made up of Algonquian-speaking tribes, and numbered about 15,000 members.
We know of the Pamunkey tribe through the story of Pocahontas, daughter of the great Chief, Powhatan. She supposedly saved the life of settler John Smith by coming between her father and Smith, stopping her father from bashing Smith with his war club.
While the story may not be factual, the Pamunkey native American tribe is real. They have lived in Virginia for hundreds of years, residing on a 1,200-acre reservation in a rural area in the Eastern part of the state. Today, the reservation has about 208 members, a far cry from the 15,000 people that made up the chiefdom in 1607.
Pamunkey and Mattaponi are the only tribes in Virginia to live on Reservation lands
The Pamunkey tribe is one of two Virginia tribes that retain reservation lands assigned by the 1646 and 1677 treaties with the English colonial government. The Pamunkey people live on ancestral land along the Pamunkey River next to present-day King William County, Virginia. The second tribe, the Mattaponi, live on reservation lands along the Mattaponi River in Eastern Virginia.
Although the Pamunkey tribe has been one of the most recognized native American tribes in history, it took 450 years after signing their first treaty with the king of England, for the tribe to be recognized by the U.S. government. The recognition is unusual because this is the first native American tribe to receive federal recognition in Virginia, even though the state has long recognized the tribe.
The Pamunkey tribe still hold a ceremony at the state capital every year, the day before Thanksgiving, with the chief paying a tribute to the Commonwealth of Virginia, usually a deer or turkey, and sometimes pottery. This ceremony has taken place every year since the treaty of 1646.
Recognition did not come easily to the Pamunkey
It has taken the Pamunkey tribe 35 years to gain federal recognition, and the road was quite bumpy. The Congressional Black Caucus opposed recognition, even as late as January this year, because the caucus noted the Pamunkey had historically forbidden intermarriage between black people and tribal members. But the black caucus failed to realize the Pamunkey were protesting against Virginia’s Racial Integrity Act of 1924, which recognized only two kinds of people, “white” and “colored.”
Another stumbling block was put up by organizations who feared the tribe would erect casinos and convenience stores on their land. Particularly vehement in their objections was MGM Grand and the Association of American Convenience Stores. MGM Grand was opposed because they were afraid their planned casino in Prince George’s County, Maryland would be adversely affected if a casino was constructed on the Pamunkey reservation.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs said that the Pamunkey had met its requirements for federal recognition in January 2014, but still, the final decision was repeatedly delayed. The BIA finally granted formal approval to the Pamunkey on July 2, 2015.
