Leader of Monacan Nation passes on after fight with liver cancer


Sharon Bryant at the 2012 Monacan Nation powwow. Photo from Flickr

Sharon Bryant, the first woman to serve as chief of the Monacan Nation of Virginia, died on Tuesday. She was 54.

Byrant disclosed earlier this month that she had been diagnosed with terminal liver cancer. She was planning to run for re-election prior to her passing.

“I’m sure that she was an inspiration to a lot of the women in the tribe and hopefully a lot of the men," uncle Herbert Hicks told The Lynchburg News & Advance.

The Senate Indian Affairs Committee approved S.465, the Thomasina E. Jordan Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal Recognition Act, at a business meeting in March. The bill extends recognition to the Monacan Nation and five other tribes in Virginia.

The bill has not been brought up for a vote in the Senate.

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Monacan Chief Sharon Bryant dies of cancer (The Lynchburg News & Advance 6/24)

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Leader of Monacan Nation diagnosed with terminal liver cancer (06/03)

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