Post by Okwes on Jul 31, 2006 15:13:35 GMT -5
U.K. visit spotlights tribes' limbo status at home [ ]
Virginia Indians dance as they gather at Cobham Hall near Gravesend,
England--the town where Pocahontas is buried--during a welcome ceremony
by the Jamestown 2007 British Committee.
Photos by SANG TAN/ASSOCIATED PRESS
[ ] A Virginia Indian carries the U.S. flag in Cobham Hall as he
and others visit Britain to mark the 400th anniversary of the founding
of North America's first permanent English-speaking settlement.
Photos by SANG TAN/ASSOCIATED PRESS
[ ] Two Indians from Virginia gaze out over the River Thames, down
which English settlers sailed for Jamestown in the early 17th century,
before this month's commemoration at Gravesend.
Photos by SANG TAN/ASSOCIATED PRESS
<http://fredtalk.fredericksburg.com/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=sifrit>
<http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2006/072006/07272006/209485/printer_\
friendly>
<http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2006/072006/07272006/209485/email_st\
ory>
Virginia Indians whose forebears fed English settlers at Jamestown say
they get more respect from the British government than from their own.
Date published: 7/27/2006 By SARAH BALL ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
fredericksburg.com//News/FLS/2006/072006/07272006/209485?rss=loca\
l
<http://fredericksburg.com//News/FLS/2006/072006/07272006/209485?rss=loc\
al> LONDON--They were the first tribes to welcome English settlers in
Jamestown. Yet, centuries later, they're still not recognized by the
U.S. government. Descendants of the Algonquin Nation stepped onto
British soil earlier this month to celebrate the 400th anniversary of
Jamestown--the first permanent English settlement in the New World--and
left, they hope, with a higher profile in their fight to be federally
recognized at home. The tribes want the same status as more than 560
other tribes across the U.S.--recognition that younger members say is
essential to help them pay for college. "It's a struggle for us trying
to access funds," says Jessica Canaday, 20, of the Chickahominy tribe,
one of several younger members of the delegation who traveled to Britain
for the Jamestown celebrations. "I was denied several scholarships
because my tribe wasn't recognized by the federal government." The
British government welcomed the American Indian delegation from
Virginia, lavishing gifts on them, arranging meetings with lawmakers and
organizing parties. A welcome ceremony was held at an English manor home
where dignitaries and buckskin-clad tribe members mingled in the
mahogany study, sipping wine and eating strawberries and cream in footed
silver bowls. "What's wrong with this story?" Chief Stephen Adkins of
the Chickahominy tribe said at the ceremony, standing in the manor's
manicured hedge garden. "These are folks who greeted the English
settlers in 1607, who had multiple treaties with the Crown, who are
treated so graciously in the United Kingdom--why don't they get the same
respect at home?" English settlers arriving in Virginia in 1607 were
greeted by the Algonquin Nation, a coalition of Virginia
tribes--including one headed by the powerful Chief Powhatan, Pocahontas'
father. The tribes helped the settlers plant crops to survive the winter
in their land, and fed them. Centuries later, they ran into an enormous
obstacle preventing them from gaining federal recognition, in the form
of a Virginia state registrar of vital records named Walter Plecker. In
1924, Plecker sponsored a a "Racial Integrity Law" that resulted in
inaccurate birth records for many Indians. After the law was passed, he
ordered that Indians be classified as "colored" on birth and marriage
certificates, and threatened doctors and midwives with jail if they
didn't comply. The resulting inaccuracies in the records have made it
impossible for Virginia tribes to seek recognition through the U.S.
Bureau of Indian Affairs. Instead, they must go through Congress--an
arduous process. So far, legislation has been stalled by critics who
fear it would open the door to casino gambling on tribal land. Some
chiefs have pledged not to open a casino--a right they would have if
federally recognized as a sovereign state--but have refused to write
that into the bill that would go through Congress. Only one of the
tribes, the Rappahannock, has agreed to wording that would prohibit
gambling. Chiefs say there are bigger issues at stake than gambling.
College hopefuls among the tribes do not qualify for American Indian
scholarships unless they come from tribes that are federally
recognized--and in economically deprived areas, that can mean the
difference between getting a degree and going without. Recognition also
helps in securing loans for housing, said Mark Custalow of the Mattaponi
tribe in Virginia's Tidewater region. Without recognition, special
assistance for first-time buyers is often lost. "That's why you see so
many mobile homes and trailers on reservations," he said. The tribes
seeking federal recognition are the Rappahannock, Chickahominy,
Chickahominy Indian Tribe Eastern Division, the Upper Mattaponi, the
Monacan Tribe and the Nansemond Tribe. Virginia recognizes all the
surviving bands of Virginia Indians, but the state recognition doesn't
bring the same benefits. Representing one of the most complex societies
in North America at the time, the Algonquin Nation encompassed more than
6,000 square miles. Virginia Indians numbered as many as 20,000; there
are now about 17,600. "The people here [in Britain] have recognized us
and welcomed us as heads of state--they have made us feel extremely
special, and I'm not convinced they would treat any head of state from
any country any differently than they have us," Kenneth Branham, chief
of the Monacan Indian Nation, said at a luncheon held in Britain's
Palace of Westminster. "I just wish we would get one-tenth of the same
respect in our own country that we get here." asap contributor Sarah
Ball is an AP reporter based in London.
Virginia Indians dance as they gather at Cobham Hall near Gravesend,
England--the town where Pocahontas is buried--during a welcome ceremony
by the Jamestown 2007 British Committee.
Photos by SANG TAN/ASSOCIATED PRESS
[ ] A Virginia Indian carries the U.S. flag in Cobham Hall as he
and others visit Britain to mark the 400th anniversary of the founding
of North America's first permanent English-speaking settlement.
Photos by SANG TAN/ASSOCIATED PRESS
[ ] Two Indians from Virginia gaze out over the River Thames, down
which English settlers sailed for Jamestown in the early 17th century,
before this month's commemoration at Gravesend.
Photos by SANG TAN/ASSOCIATED PRESS
<http://fredtalk.fredericksburg.com/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=sifrit>
<http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2006/072006/07272006/209485/printer_\
friendly>
<http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2006/072006/07272006/209485/email_st\
ory>
Virginia Indians whose forebears fed English settlers at Jamestown say
they get more respect from the British government than from their own.
Date published: 7/27/2006 By SARAH BALL ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
fredericksburg.com//News/FLS/2006/072006/07272006/209485?rss=loca\
l
<http://fredericksburg.com//News/FLS/2006/072006/07272006/209485?rss=loc\
al> LONDON--They were the first tribes to welcome English settlers in
Jamestown. Yet, centuries later, they're still not recognized by the
U.S. government. Descendants of the Algonquin Nation stepped onto
British soil earlier this month to celebrate the 400th anniversary of
Jamestown--the first permanent English settlement in the New World--and
left, they hope, with a higher profile in their fight to be federally
recognized at home. The tribes want the same status as more than 560
other tribes across the U.S.--recognition that younger members say is
essential to help them pay for college. "It's a struggle for us trying
to access funds," says Jessica Canaday, 20, of the Chickahominy tribe,
one of several younger members of the delegation who traveled to Britain
for the Jamestown celebrations. "I was denied several scholarships
because my tribe wasn't recognized by the federal government." The
British government welcomed the American Indian delegation from
Virginia, lavishing gifts on them, arranging meetings with lawmakers and
organizing parties. A welcome ceremony was held at an English manor home
where dignitaries and buckskin-clad tribe members mingled in the
mahogany study, sipping wine and eating strawberries and cream in footed
silver bowls. "What's wrong with this story?" Chief Stephen Adkins of
the Chickahominy tribe said at the ceremony, standing in the manor's
manicured hedge garden. "These are folks who greeted the English
settlers in 1607, who had multiple treaties with the Crown, who are
treated so graciously in the United Kingdom--why don't they get the same
respect at home?" English settlers arriving in Virginia in 1607 were
greeted by the Algonquin Nation, a coalition of Virginia
tribes--including one headed by the powerful Chief Powhatan, Pocahontas'
father. The tribes helped the settlers plant crops to survive the winter
in their land, and fed them. Centuries later, they ran into an enormous
obstacle preventing them from gaining federal recognition, in the form
of a Virginia state registrar of vital records named Walter Plecker. In
1924, Plecker sponsored a a "Racial Integrity Law" that resulted in
inaccurate birth records for many Indians. After the law was passed, he
ordered that Indians be classified as "colored" on birth and marriage
certificates, and threatened doctors and midwives with jail if they
didn't comply. The resulting inaccuracies in the records have made it
impossible for Virginia tribes to seek recognition through the U.S.
Bureau of Indian Affairs. Instead, they must go through Congress--an
arduous process. So far, legislation has been stalled by critics who
fear it would open the door to casino gambling on tribal land. Some
chiefs have pledged not to open a casino--a right they would have if
federally recognized as a sovereign state--but have refused to write
that into the bill that would go through Congress. Only one of the
tribes, the Rappahannock, has agreed to wording that would prohibit
gambling. Chiefs say there are bigger issues at stake than gambling.
College hopefuls among the tribes do not qualify for American Indian
scholarships unless they come from tribes that are federally
recognized--and in economically deprived areas, that can mean the
difference between getting a degree and going without. Recognition also
helps in securing loans for housing, said Mark Custalow of the Mattaponi
tribe in Virginia's Tidewater region. Without recognition, special
assistance for first-time buyers is often lost. "That's why you see so
many mobile homes and trailers on reservations," he said. The tribes
seeking federal recognition are the Rappahannock, Chickahominy,
Chickahominy Indian Tribe Eastern Division, the Upper Mattaponi, the
Monacan Tribe and the Nansemond Tribe. Virginia recognizes all the
surviving bands of Virginia Indians, but the state recognition doesn't
bring the same benefits. Representing one of the most complex societies
in North America at the time, the Algonquin Nation encompassed more than
6,000 square miles. Virginia Indians numbered as many as 20,000; there
are now about 17,600. "The people here [in Britain] have recognized us
and welcomed us as heads of state--they have made us feel extremely
special, and I'm not convinced they would treat any head of state from
any country any differently than they have us," Kenneth Branham, chief
of the Monacan Indian Nation, said at a luncheon held in Britain's
Palace of Westminster. "I just wish we would get one-tenth of the same
respect in our own country that we get here." asap contributor Sarah
Ball is an AP reporter based in London.