State Recognition of Indian Tribes
When the Commonwealth of Virginia extends “tribal recognition” by an Act of the General Assembly, the recipient is always known as a tribe, that is, an Indian-descended group that has functioned in specific ways over time (*). Indian-descended groups are not officially tribes until they are recognized by the General Assembly.
According to the Code of Virginia (§ 2.2-2629), the Virginia Council on Indians “shall establish criteria for tribal recognition and shall recommend to the General Assembly and the Governor in its biennial report those groups meeting the criteria that should be given official state recognition.” The Council should receive the documents comprising a petition for recognition to carry out this function.
(*)The criteria that must be satisfied by a petitioning group in order to qualify for recommendation by the Council for Virginia state recognition can be summarized as follows:
- Showing that the group’s members have retained a specifically Indian identity through time
- Descent from an historical Indian tribe(s) that lived within Virginia’s current boundaries at the time of that tribe’s first contact with Europeans
- Ability to trace that tribe’s continued existence within Virginia from first contact down to the present
- Providing a complete genealogy of current group members, traced as far back as possible
- Showing that the community has been socially distinct – at least for the 20th century, and farther back if possible – from other cultural groups, preferably by organizing separate churches, schools, political organizations, etc.
- Providing evidence of contemporary formal organization, with full membership restricted to people genealogically descended from the historical tribe(s)
For more precise details on the criteria and the procedures for applying for recognition, download the document entitled "Tribal Recognition Criteria" (.pdf or .doc, 8 pages), or contact the Virginia Council on Indians by mail at P.O. Box 1475, Richmond, VA 23218, by email at vci@governor.virginia.gov, or by telephone at 804-225-2084, and request a copy of the document.
Petitioning Groups
- Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia
- Letter of intent read 2/21/2006
- Petition submitted 10/17/2006
- Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indian Tribe of Southampton County Virginia
- Letter of intent read 4/18/2006
- Appalachian Intertribal Heritage Association, Inc.
- Letter of intent read 9/19/2006
- United Cherokee Indian Tribe of Virginia, Inc.
- Letter of intent read 10/17/2006
- Blue Ridge Cherokee, Inc.
- Letter of intent read 10/17/2006
- Tauxenent Indian Nation of Virginia
- Letter of intent read 1/16/2007