> ...My data, which is purported to be from the
> BIA, states that the Mattaponi and Pamunkey are indeed "state" recognized
> tribes. This could very well be in error also. I will try for
> confirmation from another source...
I didn't see the original posting implied by Jordan Dill's (on another
list?), but having grown up in central Virginia, and having studied the
history of the Powhatan tribes for a number of years now, I can confirm
that not only the (reservation-based) Mattaponi and Pamunkey are recognized
by the state of Virginia, but also the Chickahominy Tribe, the Chickahominy
Tribe-Eastern Division, the Upper Mattaponi Tribal Association, and the
United Rappahannock Tribe (as of 1983), and the Nansemond Indian Tribal
Association (as of 1985). The two reservations date to the last quarter of
the seventeenth century, and have been continuously recognized in treaties
since that time. The other groups lost their land bases mostly in the
eighteenth century, but have maintained communities despite this. There
are also a number of tribes (including non-Powhatan groups) in the state
that do not have even state recognition; none at present have federal
recognition. Despite the problems many people have with the work, the best
published source is probably still Helen Rountree's _Pocahontas's People:
The Powhatan Indians of Virginia Through Four Centuries_, published by the
University of Oklahoma Press in 1990 and still in print (and which I
checked to confirm the exact names and dates above).
I hope this is of some help.
Frederic Gleach <fwg1@cornell.edu>
Department of Anthropology, Cornell University