I'll gladly pass this information on to my Tribe, Chickahominy, and other
tribes here in Virginia. Also, will pass it on to the United Indians of
Virginia and the Virginia Native American Cultural Center.
Here in Virginia we have also suffered legacies and myths about Native
Americans in the state. I can say the State Department of Education (DOE),
here in the state has addressed our concern about this. The Virginia
history books that were used in the school system did not portray a true
picture of our Native culture here in the state. The books seemed to always
refer to Native Americans as a "past tense", something that happened in the
past, but doesn't exist today. It was a great concern for us and we addressed
the DOE on the issue.
The action taken was the DOE formed a committee consisting of Native
Americans and educators here in the state, to help re-write the history
books that will be used in the Virginia school systems. I will commend
the Virginia DOE on their effort to address our concern. Hopefully, the
communication between Native Americans and the state will continue. You,
your people, and other Native Americans will be remembered by us.
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Troy Adkins J. Sargeant Reynolds C.C.
Phone: (804) 371-3243 Computer Center
FAX: (804) 371-3086 E-MAIL: SRADKIT@VCCSCENT.BITNET