Re: Pamunkey Information requested

rclinton@lawnet-po.law.uiowa.edu
Mon, 7 Nov 1994 10:53:00 CST

You are correct that that the Pamunkey are not federally recognized and,
so far I know, they do not want federal recognition. Their political
recognition traces back to a 1675 treaty with the Commonwealth of Virginia
following Bacon's rebellion under which they became one of Virginia's
so-called "tributary tribes", a concept to which Thomas Jefferson referred
in explaining the meaning of the Indian affairs clause of article IX of
the Articles of Confederation. I believe that the Pamunkey are a
surviving remnant of the tidewater Powhattan confederation of Algonquin
tribes, but have never been positive about that.

While the Pamunkey are not federally recognized, they have still had to
deal with the Congress for some purposes. When they sought to settle a
land claim involving a disputed railroad right of way running through
their lands, they had to seek Congressional approval for the settlement in
the early 1980s because the federal statutory restrain on Indian lands
applies to ALL Indian tribes in the United States, not just those that are
federally recognized.

I frequently use the Pamunkey in my Indian law class as an example of a
state, but not federally, recognized tribe that has an important history
that informs our understanding of both what an Indian tribe is as a matter
of law and also informs our understanding of our own constitutional
documents.

Hope this helps.

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Robert N. Clinton
Wiley B. Rutledge Professor of Law
Associate Justice, Court of Appeals of Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe
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