[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5553 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5553
To extend Federal recognition to the Patawomeck Indian Tribe of
Virginia, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 18, 2023
Ms. Spanberger (for herself, Mrs. Kiggans of Virginia, and Ms. Wexton)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To extend Federal recognition to the Patawomeck Indian Tribe of
Virginia, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Patawomeck Indian Tribe of Virginia
Federal Recognition Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds as follows:
(1) The Patawomeck, or Patawomeke, Tribe, also referred to
as the Potomac Tribe, Potomac Band, Patamacks, and White Oakers
was situated in and around Indian Point and Pasapatanzy in what
are now Stafford and King George Counties, Virginia, and
occupied a prominent place in the documented history of the
first half-century of European contact with the Native
Virginians.
(2) In 1608, Captain John Smith visited the village of
Patawomeke between Potomac and Accokeek Creeks. The population
of the Tribe was estimated at about 800, with 160 bowmen.
Around this same time, Smith also visited and recorded the
Patawomeck villages at Passapatanzy, Quiyough, and other small
Patawomeck hamlets in the area.
(3) In 1610, Japazaw, brother of the Patawomeck weroance,
related the Patawomeck creation story to Captain Samuel Argall,
the only surviving Virginia Algonquian creation story recorded
by the English.
(4) In 1642, Patawomeck weroance, Wahanganoche, and his
family were baptized into the Christian faith by Father Andrew
White.
(5) In 1662, Wahanganoche was issued a silver badge by the
King of England to wear for safety when traveling across
English lands and as an acknowledgement of Patawomeck
sovereignty. The weroance was acquitted of charges of high
treason and murder brought against him by Captain Giles Brent
at the General Assembly in James City that year, but died on
his way home, or shortly after his arrival.
(6) In July 1666, the General Council of Virginia declared
war on the Patawomecks. Most of the men were killed and most of
the women and children, who were not already living in English
families, were captured as slaves. Others likely joined with
nearby existing Indian groups such as the Doegs, Nanzaticos,
and Portobagos.
(7) In 1680, King Pattanochus signs the Treaty of Middle
Plantation of behalf of the ``Nansatiocoes, Nanzemunds, and
Portabacchoes''. By this time, displaced Patawomecks are living
among these groups of people.
(8) In 1692, A reference to payment for Rangers in Stafford
County notes the presence of ``two Indians belonging to
Stafford'' in the detachment, illustrating the continued
presence within the area of Patawomeck ancestors.
(9) Through most of the 1700s the Patawomeck community
lived in the Northern Neck, moving as necessary. Portions of
the community settled near the area known as Indian Town in
modern-day King George County.
(10) In 1789, White Oak church was established. This
church, which still stands, became a significant space that
facilitated the continued interaction of members of the
Patawomeck community who attended well into the 1900s and used
the regular meeting opportunities as venues to pass down and
maintain Tribal knowledge and traditions, meet suitable
Patawomeck marriage partners, and conduct business in formal
and informal ways. Generations of Patawomeck ancestors account
for the vast majority of the interments in the cemetery,
including members with the surnames of Newton, Green, Curtis,
Jett, and Monteith.
(11) By the early 1800s, the majority of the Patawomeck
community had again coalesced in the area of Stafford County
known as White Oak, with some members living in nearby
Passapatanzy, in King George County, only a few miles from the
locations of their ancestral villages, dating back to the
1300s.
(12) In 1832, Wahanganoche's badge was found at Camden, in
Caroline County, a well-known location of coalescent Indian
communities and the likely location of a portion of the
Patawomeck community in the late 1600s.
(13) During the United States Civil War, vandalism,
courthouse fires, and other disasters destroy many of the
records within the Stafford and King George County courthouses,
serving to reduce the archival footprint of the Patawomecks
within their historic areas of habitation.
(14) In the late 1910s and 1920s, the anthropologist Frank
Speck, visited the Patawomeck community to take photographs,
conduct interviews, and collect objects related to Indigenous
heritage, noting that the ``northern divisions of the
[Powhatan] Confederacy are represented by descendants on
Potomac Creek in King George county . . .''. Since this time,
partnerships have existed between the Tribe and researchers
from institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution, the
University of Pennsylvania, the College of William and Mary,
American University, the University of Mary Washington, and
Santa Clara University.
(15) In 1924, Virginia passed the Racial Integrity Act
which removed the category of Indian identity from official
records. Instead, all people were required to be identified as
White or colored. This law, in addition to other aspects of the
racialized society that existed in Virginia starting in the
late 1600s, effectively erased Virginia Indians from the
official records of the Commonwealth until the middle of the
1900s, amounting to a paper genocide.
(16) In the 1930s and 1940s, at least 722 Patawomeck
ancestors were taken from their graves under the guise of
archaeological research. Many of these ancestors were discarded
by the excavators. The remainder, numbering well over 200
individuals, are currently held by the Smithsonian Institution.
(17) In 1954, Elizabeth Newton of the Patawomecks married
O.T. Custalow, Chief of the Mattaponis.
(18) In 1996, the contemporary and formal reorganization of
the Patawomeck Tribe took place with the adoption of a written
constitution.
(19) In 2006, in partnership with linguists the Patawomecks
began to work on reconstructing their native Algonquin language
and sharing it with other Tribes and fellow Virginians. Since
that time the Patawomecks have taught, transcribed, greatly
enhanced the common Algonquin dictionary, and educated hundreds
of Virginians in classroom settings.
(20) In February 2010, The Patawomecks received official
recognition from the Commonwealth of Virginia after years of
hard work by Tribal members and anthropologists at the College
of William and Mary.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of the Interior.
(2) Tribal member.--The term ``Tribal member'' means--
(A) an individual who is an enrolled member of the
Tribe as of the date of enactment of this Act; and
(B) an individual who has been placed on the
membership rolls of the Tribe in accordance with this
title.
(3) Tribe.--The term ``Tribe'' means the Patawomeck Indian
Tribe.
SEC. 4. FEDERAL RECOGNITION.
(a) Federal Recognition.--
(1) In general.--Federal recognition is extended to the
Tribe.
(2) Applicability of laws.--All laws (including
regulations) of the United States of general applicability to
Indians or nations, Indian Tribes, or bands of Indians
(including the Act of June 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 5101 et seq.))
that are not inconsistent with this title shall be applicable
to the Tribe and Tribal members.
(b) Federal Services and Benefits.--
(1) In general.--On and after the date of enactment of this
Act, the Tribe and Tribal members shall be eligible for all
services and benefits provided by the Federal Government to
federally recognized Indian Tribes without to the existence of
a reservation for the Tribe.
(2) Service area.--For the purpose of the delivery of
Federal services to Tribal members, the service area of the
Tribe shall be considered to be the area comprised of Stafford
and King George counties.
SEC. 5. MEMBERSHIP; GOVERNING DOCUMENTS.
The membership roll and governing documents of the Tribe shall be
the most recent membership roll and governing documents, respectively,
submitted by the Tribe to the Secretary before the date of enactment of
this Act.
SEC. 6. GOVERNING BODY.
The governing body of the Tribe shall be--
(1) the governing body of the Tribe in place as of the date
of enactment of this Act; or
(2) any subsequent governing body elected in accordance
with the election procedures specified in the governing
documents of the Tribe.
SEC. 7. RESERVATION OF THE TRIBE.
(a) In General.--Upon the request of the Tribe, the Secretary of
the Interior may take into trust for the benefit of the Tribe any land
held in fee by the Tribe, if such lands are located within the
boundaries of King George County or Stafford County, Virginia.
(b) Deadline for Determination.--The Secretary shall make a final
written determination not later than 3 years of the date which the
Tribe submits a request for land to be taken into trust under
subsection (a)(1) and shall immediately make that determination
available to the Tribe.
(c) Reservation Status.--Any land taken into trust for the benefit
of the Tribe pursuant to this paragraph shall, upon request of the
Tribe, be considered part of the reservation of the Tribe.
(d) Gaming.--The Tribe may not conduct gaming activities as a
matter of claimed inherent authority or under the authority of any
Federal law, including the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 2701
et seq.) or under any regulations thereunder promulgated by the
Secretary or the National Indian Gaming Commission.
SEC. 8. HUNTING, FISHING, TRAPPING, GATHERING, AND WATER RIGHTS.
Nothing in this Act expands, reduces, or affects in any manner any
hunting, fishing, trapping, gathering, or water rights of the Tribe and
members of the Tribe.
SEC. 9. EMINENT DOMAIN.
Eminent domain may not be used to acquire lands for a Tribe
recognized under this Act.
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