Editorial: Virginia tribes deserve recognition
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Filed Under:
Opinion
|
Recognition
"Nearly 400 years to the day that English settlers landed in Virginia, the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee finally recognized that people were here long before the tall ships crossed the Atlantic -- and, of modern-day importance, that Native American tribes still exist within the commonwealth's boundaries.
The recognition is long overdue, and the full Congress should agree. However, it would not have been granted if the tribes' chiefs hadn't relinquished future gambling rights. That provision unfairly demands of Virginia's indigenous people concessions to their sovereignty that no other tribes have been asked to bargain away.
Virginia's tribes repeatedly said they are not interested in gambling and have proved that by declining to host bingo games, even though they have had that right since the 1980s, when the commonwealth finally recognized their existence.
What the tribes desire is acknowledgment, so they can access the federal health and education benefits that should have been their birthright. For far too long, Virginia's Indians were stripped of any rights."
Get the Story:
Grant state's natives their rightful place
(The Roanoke Times 4/30)
Committee Notice:
Full
Committee Legislative Hearing: H.R. 1294 and H.R. 65 (April 18, 2007)
Recognition Bill:
Thomasina
E. Jordan Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal Recognition Act
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