The Senate Indian Affairs Committee approved S.379, a bill to extend federal recognition to six Virginia tribes, at a business meeting on Thursday.

The bill recognizes the Chickahominy Indian Tribe, the Chickahominy Indian Tribe-Eastern Division, the Upper Mattaponi Tribe, the Rappahannock Tribe, Inc., the Monacan Indian Nation, and the Nansemond Indian Tribe. It was one of five approved yesterday.

“I am pleased that the committee approved these bills which are instrumental in changing the lives of Native peoples,” Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), the chairman of the committee, said in a press release. “I look forward to working with my colleagues from both sides of the aisle to secure enactment.”

The tribes were among the first to welcome European settlers and among the first to sign treaties. But they were never granted federal recognition.

The tribes could seek recognition through the Bureau of Indian Affairs, a lengthy process. But they say their records are incomplete due to state laws that forbade people from identifying themselves as Indian. In some cases, records were changed to erase a person's Indian status.

A similar bill passed the House during the 111th Congress but it never came to a vote in the Senate.

Get the Story:
Recognition for Va. tribes advances in U.S. Senate (The Richmond Times-Dispatch 7/29)
Bill to recognize Nansemonds passes Senate committee (The Suffolk News Herald 7/29)

Committee Notice:
Business Meeting (July 28, 2011)

Related Stories:
Senate Indian Affairs Committee business meeting on Thursday (7/27)