Williams: Obama could help Va. tribes seeking U.S. recognition

Federal recognition for six Virginia Indian tribes is tantalizingly closer to reality than ever.

Two bills that have passed the House were approved Thursday by the U.S. Senate's Indian Affairs Committee and sent to the full Senate, where Virginians Jim Webb and Mark R. Warner support them.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine also backs the effort and enjoys a close relationship with President Barack Obama.

So why is Obama silent on the matter?

Obama made a campaign pledge to support the recognition effort of the Lumbee tribe in North Carolina.

Where is his expression of support for the six petitioning Virginia tribes: the Chickahominy, Eastern Chickahominy, Upper Mattaponi, Rappahannock, Monacan and Nansemond?

The tribes' recognition effort has been victimized by history.

They signed treaties with England and Virginia's settlers before the nation was formed. Also, most of the courthouses that contained the level of documentation needed to satisfy U.S. Interior MICHAEL
PAUL
WILLIAMS
Department and Bureau of Indian Affairs criteria such as proof of continuous existence were destroyed during the Civil War.

Virginia's Racial Integrity Act of 1924 struck a near-fatal blow. The act reduced the state's racial categories at birth to "white" or "colored." The state, led by bureaucrat and resident eugenicist Walter Plecker, purged records of Indian ancestry.

Still, the Interior Department maintains a robotic insistence that Virginia's tribes should go through the department's Bureau of Indian Affairs -- not Congress -- for recognition.

"In most circumstances we prefer the uniformity and certainty provided by the existing administrative process," said Interior Department spokeswoman Kendra Barkoff.

The feds seem intent on punishing the tribes for Virginia's sins.

"We feel like the state made it difficult for us to gain recognition because of the things that they did," said Wayne Adkins, president of the Virginia Indian Tribal Alliance for Life. "I guess they look at it more as a Virginia problem. And federal recognition is a national issue."

It's not as if anyone seriously believes Obama won't support the Virginia tribal effort, which makes the tribes eligible for hundreds of millions of dollars in federal money but comes with no casinos attached.

"Nobody has been more supportive of this than Governor Kaine and he is in contact with the White House on this issue," said Kaine spokesman Gordon Hickey.

So why has Obama made promises to a North Carolina tribe that he's unwilling to make in Virginia?

"We're not really sure why," said Adkins, an assistant chief of the Chickahominy tribe and a New Kent County resident. "And we are making overtures to the White House to get a read on that."

The tribes have come achingly close to recognition before, only to be disappointed. A positive statement from the Obama administration would go a long way toward removing lingering doubts.

"We're feeling pretty good about our chances right now," Adkins said. "There's always a roadblock around the corner that could pop up at any time."

That roadblock shouldn't occur at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. If Obama intends to do the right thing -- and there's no reason to believe he wouldn't -- he should come out and say so.

Contact Michael Paul Williams at (804) 649-6815 or .