The Senate Indian Affairs Committee will consider two federal recognition bills at a business meeting on Thursday.

S.1178, the Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal Recognition Act of 2009, extends recognition to the Chickahominy Tribe, the Chickahominy Tribe-Eastern Division, the Upper Mattaponi Tribe, the Rappahannock Tribe, the Monacan Nation, and the Nansemond Tribe. The tribes were the first to greet the European settlers at Jamestown in 1607 and signed treaties with the Queen of England in 1677.

S.1735 extends recognition to the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. Congress identified the Lumbees as Indians in 1956 but did not allow them to be treated like other tribes.

The business meeting takes place at 2:15pm in Room 628 of the Senate Dirksen Office Building.

Committee Notice:
BUSINESS MEETING on pending committee issues (Thursday, October 15, 2009)

Related Stories:
Virginia recognition bill on Senate panel agenda (10/20)
Editorial: The right time for Lumbee recognition (10/19)
Indian Affairs Committee meeting and hearing (10/16)