[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5144 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5144
To extend Federal recognition to the Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indian
Tribe of Southampton County, Virginia, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 4, 2025
Mrs. Kiggans of Virginia introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To extend Federal recognition to the Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indian
Tribe of Southampton County, 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 ``Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indian Tribe
of Southampton County, Virginia, Federal Recognition Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The Hand Site Excavation (44SN22) in Southampton County
in 1965, 1966, and 1969, carbon dates the ancestors of the
Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indian Tribe of Southampton County,
Virginia, to 1580. The site existed as early as A.D. 900 as
highlighted by a Department of Historical Resources-approved
State site marker whose narrative reflects the site was ``long
claimed'' by the Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indian Tribe.
(2) The Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indians made first
ethnohistorical contact with the Colonials in 1608 when
Nathaniel Powell and Anas Todkill met them at a village called
Tomihitton in Nottoway County while looking for information
germane to the Roanoke Island's survivors and the Lost Colony
of 1585.
(3) In 1607, the Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indian Tribe was
called Man-goaks or Men-gwe by the Powhatan Confederation's
Algonquian speakers as listed in the upper left-hand quadrant
on Captain John Smith's 1607 map of Virginia.
(4) In 1650, per the diary entries of James Edward Bland,
the Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indians were called by the
Algonquian speakers NA-DA-WA meaning ``snake, enemy, stealthy''
in the Algonquian language, which the Colonials reverted to
NOTTOWAY.
(5) In May 1676, Tribal warriors of the Cheroenhaka
(Nottoway) Indian Tribe joined forces with Bacon in what became
known as the infamous Nathaniel Bacon's Rebellion, resulting in
the downfall of the Occoneechee Indians at Occoneechee Island
on the Roanoke River which was a catalyst that lead to the
Woodland Plantation Treaty of 1677.
(6) The King of the Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indian Tribe,
``Sarahoeque'', signed the Woodland Plantation Treaty in 1677
in Williamsburg, Virginia, bearing his signature mark of ``3
rivers'' representing the Nottoway River, and the Blackwater
River forming a fork where it met the Chowan River--hence
``People at the fork of the stream''.
(7) The true name of the ``Nottoway'' Indians, as penned
from 1728 to 2016, in the papers and books authored by
historians Lewis Binford, Albert Gallatin, James Tresevant
(Trezevant), Floyd Painter, Gary Williams, and William Ashley
Hinson, and the War Papers of 1796, is CHEROENHAKA meaning
``People at the fork of the stream''.
(8) In 1711, Colonial Lieutenant Governor Alexander
Spotswood met with the Chief (King) and Chief Men of the
Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indian Tribe offering Treaty Tribute
forgiveness of the Treaty of 1677 (20 beaver pelts) if the
Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indian Chief Men were to send their 8-
to 10-year-old sons to the ``Brafferton'', a school for Indians
at William & Mary College. On November 11, 1711, it was noted
that 2 of the Chief Men's sons were attending the Brafferton.
(9) In the 17th century, the Iroquoian-speaking Tribes
occupied lands east of the inner Coastal Plains of southeastern
Virginia. These Tribes were the Cheroenhaka (Nottoway), the
Meherrin, and the Tuscarora.
(10) On April 7, 1728, William Byrd II of Westover visited
the village of the Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indian Tribe in
Southampton County, Virginia, recording a description of the
Palisade Fort and how of all the Indigenous Tribes in Virginia,
the Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indian Tribe was the only Tribe
remaining in Virginia of any prominence.
(11) Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indian surnames continued to
appear on the enrollment roster of the Brafferton throughout
the 1750s (e.g., Captain Tom Step, Captain Sam, Alexander
Scholar, Billy John(s), and School Robin a.k.a. Robert
Schalor), as documented in the 1984 Graduate Thesis, ``So
Greater Work'', by Karen A. Stuart for her M.A. degree at
William & Mary College, all of whom submitted a petition for
pay on March 8, 1759, for serving in the French and Indian War
under George Washington.
(12) In 1816, new trustees were appointed for the
Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indian's Reservation. These trustees
were empowered to make reasonable rules and regulations for the
Tribe and for the expenditure of the money held in trust for
them, which was to continue so long as any number of the Tribe
was still living. Any funds remaining on hand were then to be
paid into the public treasury.
(13) On March 4, 1820, John Wood, a former William & Mary
College professor of mathematics, met with the Cheroenhaka
(Nottoway) Indian Tribe's Queen, according to Thomas Jefferson,
by the name of Edy Turner, a.k.a. ``Wane Rounseraw'', (1754-
1834), on the Tribe's land in Southampton County, and recorded
the language of the Tribe.
(14) In 1838, the Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indian Tribe's
Queen Edy (Edith) Turner's last will and testament was probated
in the courts of Southampton County, Virginia. On March 27,
2008, the Library of Virginia honored Queen Edy Turner,
posthumously, in their special awards ceremony, titled ``Women
In History'', by presenting an award on her behalf to the
current Chief of the Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indian Tribe of
Southampton County, Virginia.
(15) The Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indian Tribe of Southampton
County, Virginia, has more than 325 Tribal citizens on its
rolls, all of whom, via a paper trail, can document their
genealogical line to an ethnohistoric surname of the
Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indian Tribe of Southampton County,
Virginia.
(16) The Tribe currently owns 263 acres of Tribal land in
Southampton County, Courtland Virginia, formerly Jerusalem,
which is part of its original 41,000 acres of reservation land
that was granted to the Tribe by the House of Burgesses in
1705.
(17) The Virginia Racial Integrity Act of 1924 under the
direction of the Virginia Bureau of Vital Statistics, per
Walter Plecker, its first director, via ``paper genocide''
negated out Virginia Indians by reclassifying the Indians as
``colored or mulatto''. This reclassification has created
genealogical gaps, making it nearly impossible for Virginia
Tribes to gain Federal recognition via the Bureau of Indian
Affairs (BIA) process.
(18) In 1705, the House of Burgesses granted 2 tracts of
reservation land to the Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indian Tribe--
the Circle Tract (18,000 acres) and the Square Tract (23,000
acres), totaling some 41,000 acres of reservation land. The 2
tracts fell within the confines of what was then Isle of Wight
County, now Southampton and Sussex Counties. The Tribe's
reservation land was sold off between 1735 and 1875, with the
last acres belonging to the Sykes family being sold in 1953 for
back taxes.
(19) As a result of reservation land sales, in the early
1830s, many members of the Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indian Tribe
of Southampton County, Virginia, the Turners, Rogers, Woodson,
Artis, Brown, Sykes, Cutler, and Bailey, left the Tribe's
reservation and relocated to now Highway No. 686, 2 miles back
in the woods, and settled off the banks of Jenkins and Bean
Creeks, to a place that became known as Artis Town.
(20) In July 1808, the Governor of the Commonwealth of
Virginia mandated a ``Special'' Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indian
Census be taken of those Indians, documenting by name (colonial
names given) of Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indians still living on
the remaining 7,000 acres of the Tribe's reservation land in
Courtland, Virginia.
(21) From 1918 to 1957, Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indian
children living in ``Artis Town'', and their descendants living
on Artis Town Road in accordance with the 1920, 1930, and 1940
census, attended Diamond Grove school, a Rosenwald School built
in 1918, and their descendants continued to attend the school
until the school closed in 1957.
(22) The Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indian Tribe of Southampton
County, Virginia, is an officially State-recognized Tribe by
the Commonwealth of Virginia via H.J. Res 171 (Virginia House
of Delegates, 2010) and S.J. Res. 127 (Virginia Senate, 2010).
(23) The Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indian Tribe's King,
``Ouracoorass Teerheer'' a.k.a. William Edmund, signed a stand
alone treaty with Virginia's provisional Lieutenant Governor
Alexander Spotswood on February 27, 1713, that required a
``Peace Tribute'' of 3 arrows to be delivered and presented to
the Virginia sitting Governor, annually, on Saint George's Day,
April 23.
(24) The Tribe has presented the Spotswood treaty tribute
to the sitting Virginia Governor on the 299th, 300th, 301st,
302d, 303d, 304th, 305th, 306th, 307th, 308th, 309th, 310th,
311th, and the 312th anniversaries of the treaty.
(25) On February 2, 2002, the Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indian
Tribe of Southampton County, Virginia, reorganized the
ethnohistoric Tribe by bringing together family clusters of
Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indians still living in Southampton
County, Virginia. In March 2002, the Tribe launched its
constitution and bylaws and elected its first modern-day
Chief--Chief Walt Red Hawk Brown.
(26) On December 7, 2002, the Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indian
Tribe submitted a letter of intent to the Bureau of Indian
Affairs (BIA), Office of Federal Acknowledgment (OFA) stating
that it would be filing for Federal recognition via the BIA.
(27) On December 2, 2005, the Tribe received a letter from
the Department of the Interior, OFA, listing the Cheroenhaka
(Nottoway) Indian Tribe as ``Petitioner #264''.
(28) On September 21, 2004, the Cheroenhaka (Nottoway)
Indian Tribe participated as 1 of the 500 Tribes, some 20,000
Natives, in the grand opening of the National Museum of
American Indian (NMAI) in Washington, DC. In honor of the
Tribe's participation, the name of the Cheroenhaka (Nottoway)
Indian Tribe is engraved on the NMAI Honor Wall (panel 4.22,
line 20 of the wall).
(29) On November 26, 2006, the Tribe conducted a ``Public''
Peake (Peace) Belt and Pipe Ceremony by the bank of the
Nottoway River, on the grounds of the Southampton County Court
House; wherein, elected officials from the Counties of
Nottoway, Sussex, Surry, Isle of Wight, and Southampton passed
the peace pipe and presented the Tribe with proclamations of
Tribal recognition under their counties' official seal.
(30) From 2002 to 2024, the Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indian
Tribe has given Native American ethnohistoric presentations to
every military installation, aircraft carriers, colleges and
universities, community colleges, elementary and middle
schools, the Daughters of the American Revolution and
Archeological Society of Virginia, ``annually'', throughout
Hampton Roads, Southside Virginia, North Carolina, Northern
Virginia, and on the Hill in Washington, DC, including--
(A) hosting 35 American Indian Powwows and School
Days, celebrating 444 years of Tribal history; and
(B) two television documentaries, sharing the
Tribe's Native history with some 1,500,000 individuals.
(31) The Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indian Tribe has published
6 Tribal journals, issue I-VI, titled the ``WaSKEHEE'' (``to
see'' in the Tribe's Iroquoian language), all of which have
been accepted in the collections of the Library of Virginia,
documenting the history of the Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indian
Tribe of Southampton County, Virginia.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of the Interior.
(2) Tribal citizen.--The term ``Tribal citizen'' means an
individual who is an enrolled member of the Tribe as of the
date of the enactment of this Act.
(3) Tribe.--The term ``Tribe'' means the Cheroenhaka
(Nottoway) Indian Tribe of Southampton County, Virginia.
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 of nations, Indian Tribes, or bands of Indians
(including the Act of June 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 461 et seq.))
that are not inconsistent with this Act shall be applicable to
the Tribe and Tribal citizens.
(b) Federal Services and Benefits.--
(1) In general.--The Tribe and Tribal citizens shall be
eligible for all services and benefits provided by the Federal
Government to federally recognized Indian Tribes without regard
to existence of a reservation for the Tribe.
(2) Service area.--The service area for the purpose of
delivery of Federal services to Tribal citizens shall be
determined in coordination and consultation with the Secretary
not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this
Act.
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 the
enactment of this Act.
SEC. 6. GOVERNING BODY.
The governing body of the Tribe shall be--
(1) the governing body in place as of the date of enactment
of this Act; or
(2) any subsequent governing body elected in accordance
with the election procedure specified in the governing document
of the Tribe.
SEC. 7. RESERVATION OF THE TRIBE.
(a) In General.--Upon the request of the Tribe, the Secretary of
the Interior shall take into trust any land held in fee by the Tribe
that was acquired on or before January 1, 2007, if such lands are
located within the boundaries of Southampton County, Virginia.
(b) Deadline for Determination.--The Secretary shall--
(1) make a final written determination not later than 3
years after the date on which the Tribe submits a request for
land to be taken into trust under subsection (a); and
(2) 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 section shall, upon request of the Tribe,
be considered part of the reservation of the Tribe.
SEC. 8. 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. 9. 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
Tribal citizens.
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