The Charles City County Board of Supervisors agreed to put the property up for
public auction on Aug. 20, 1994. The county has built a new school complex,
therefore making the existing school properties expendable. The old Indian
school is one of them.
In the 1940's, wheels were put in motion to build an Indian shcool for the
Chickahominy and other Indian children of the state of Virginia. This was
a historical event. The first school built by the state for Native Americans.
Up until that time, the Chickahominy students who wanted to further their
education to the high school level, were paid $200, by the county, to send
them to Bacone School in Oklahoma. The big "kicker" is, it was a one way
ticket! There were 2 other schools in the county that had high school
education. One for the Whites and one for the Blacks, but not one for the
Indians. Understand that this was the time of segregation. We had a 2-story,
wooden school that was falling down, with no high school grades. I remember
my father saying he only attended up to the 6th grade, because that was all we
had!
After further meetings and discussions with county officials, the State Board
of Education, and Chickahominy leaders, the state agreed to build a school,
with the stipulation that we provide the land. A member of the Chickahominy
gave 8 acres of land to the tribe. The state provided funds and had the school
built. The gray area of the situation is that the Chickahominy deeded the
property to the county. We do have one statement from a non-Indian citizen of
the county stating that she remembers in one of the school board meetings there
was a verbal agreement by the school board that if the county did not ever have
a need for the school property that it would be given back to the Chickahominy.
The sad part is that it was not put in writing.
In 1971, the county decided to intergrate the schools. The Indian school was
used as the kindergarten and 1st grade and the other schools were used as
middle and high school.
Now the property is no longer neddded by the county. It has 2 buildings on the
8 acres. It has asbestos in the ceilings and floor tile. The cost of asbestos
removal is around $40,000. The value of the land is around $25,000. The
county had the property appraised and the appraisal value is $81,000. The
county Board of Supervisors voted to se the minimum bid at the appraised value.
Folks, that's $81,000. We were stunned! Who has ever heard of auction
property, minimum bid, set at the value of the property. This shows what kind
of board we are dealing with! We thought they would take into consideration
that the land was given for the school and also the cost of asbestos removal.
Our leaders have had meetings with the state delegates and they were in favor
of the property being returned to us. Our leaders met with the county board,
but this was a whole new ball game. It didn't seem to faze them! We've
attended 3-4 meetings, had private meetings, had members speak on behalf of
the tribe, but it hasn't changed a thing. It has seemed to have fallen on
deaf ears.
Now we need help. We are considering filing an injunction to stop the auction.
We need legal help. That's why I come to the list. Does anyone know of
organizations that will help us in the way of financial help for legal costs
and legal help? We have people making calls to NARF and some other organiza-
tions that deal with Native American issues. What ever we do, we have to do
quickly.
If you would like to send letters, here are the addresses on officials to
contact. Again I want to apologize for using the list in this manner, but
deep in my heart, I feel I have to do this to help my people regain something
that is rightfully ours.
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Addresses:
Charles City County Board of Supervisors The Honorable John Warner
Russell Senate Office Building
Gilbert A. Smith, Chairman Washington, DC 20510
Floyd H. Miles, Sr., Vice-Chairman
Rudolph V. Jones, Member The Honorable Senator Henry Marsh
P.O. Box 27363
P.O. Box 128 Richmond, VA 23261-7363
Charles City, VA 23030
The Honorable Chuck Robb
The Honorable Governor George Allen 1001 East Broad St.
Governor State of Virginia Suite 150
State Capitol Richmond, VA 23219
Richmond, VA 23219
The Honorable Delegate George Robert Ball
P.O. Box 9487
Richmond, VA 23228
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Troy Adkins J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College
Phone: (804) 371-3243 Computer Center
Fax: (804) 371-3398 EMAIL: SRADKIT@VCCSCENT.BITNET