I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 10191 

To extend Federal recognition to the Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 21, 2024 

Ms. MCCLELLAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To extend Federal recognition to the Nottoway Indian Tribe 

of Virginia, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia Federal Recognition 

6 Act’’. 

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

8 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 

Sec. 3. Definitions. 

Sec. 4. Federal recognition. 

Sec. 5. Membership; governing documents. 


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Sec. 6. Governing body. 

Sec. 7. Reservation of the Tribe. 

Sec. 8. Gaming. 

Sec. 9. Hunting, fishing, trapping, gathering, and water rights. 

Sec. 10. Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978. 

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) 1586: Ralph Lane, leader of the Colony at 

4 Roanoke (Virginia), documented his engagement 

5 with Iroquois nations of Nottoways, Meherrin, and 

6 Tuscarora Indians—collectively referred to by the 

7 Algonquian term Mangoaks, (also known as 

8 Mangoags)—reporting that they possessed a ‘‘. . . 

9 great quantity of copper.’’ 

10 (2) 1609: In search of information concerning 

11 the ‘‘Lost Colony’’ of Virginia, Nathaniel Powell and 

12 Anas Todkill were led to the Mangoaks for informa13 tion. 

14 (3) 1612: Oxford University press published the 

15 first detailed map of the Chesapeake Bay and what 

16 is now Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, 

17 and the District of Columbia—‘‘A Map of Virginia. 

18 With a Description of the Countrey, the Commod19 ities, People, Government and Religion’’—was 

20 charted by explorer Captain John Smith and docu21 menting 200 Indian names and locations, including 

22 Mannahoack. 


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1 (4) 1646: The Treaty of 1646 was signed by 

2 Gov. William Berkeley and Necotowance recognized 

3 as the regional ‘‘King of the Indians’’ and ended 

4 Third Anglo-Powhatan War (1644–46). As a result 

5 of the treaty, regional tribes were considered tribu6 taries to the English government and cede much of 

7 their territory to the English. The treaty also con8 structed strict terms of segregation and engagement 

9 between Indians and colonists. 

10 (5) 1650: Nottoways provided Iroquois inter11 preters and diplomatic envoys to the Tuscarora tribe 

12 on behalf of explorers English merchants Abraham 

13 Wood and Edward Bland as they traveled south 

14 from Fort Henry to the Roanoke River, hoping to 

15 establish trade with the Indians and to discover po16 tentially marketable commodities. On their journey 

17 they visited the two Nottoway Towns, Chounteroute 

18 near present day Rowantee Creek and 

19 Cohannehahanka further south toward the Nottoway 

20 River. 

21 (6) 1677: In response to the aggressions and 

22 plundering of Bacon’s Rebellion, the Chief of the 

23 Nottoways joined in signing the ‘‘Articles of Peace,’’ 

24 also known as the Treaty of Middle Plantation be25 tween the Crown of England and Virginia Tribes. 


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1 Through the articles in the agreement, the Nottoway 

2 nation became ‘‘tributary’’ to the English king—a 

3 quasi-alliance—that forced the Nottoway and other 

4 tribes to accept the dominion of the Crown but con5 firmed Indian governments and territories as de6 pendent sovereigns and outlined mutual rights and 

7 responsibilities, including military cooperation and 

8 territorial boundaries. 

9 (7) 1680–1690: Due to the increased colonial 

10 expansion throughout the latter half of the 17th cen11 tury, the Nottoways migrated south along the 

12 Nottoway River toward Assamoosick Swamp (mod13 ern day Southampton County, Virginia). 

14 (8) 1705: Pursuant to the Articles of Peace, in 

15 1705, an act of the Virginia House of Burgesses or16 dered ‘‘the Bounds for the Nottoway Lands be Laid 

17 out for Them . . . a Circle Three Miles Round . . . 

18 and another parcel of Land on the South Side 

19 Nottoway River Six Miles Square.’’ Accordingly, two 

20 tracts of land comprised of approximately 40,000 

21 acres were designated as Nottoway land: a twenty22 eight square mile polygon north of the Nottoway 

23 River along the Assamoosick Swamp, known as the 

24 ‘‘Circle Tract,’’ and thirty-six square miles south of 

25 the Nottoway River, known as the ‘‘Square Tract.’’ 


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1 Legal oversight of the reservations was entrusted to 

2 a small circle of related and politically aligned non3 Indian men who remained in control of the 

4 Nottoway Trusteeship for over one hundred years. 

5 Their management of Nottoway resources under6 mined traditional Nottoway leadership roles, re7 stricted Nottoway economic maneuverability and 

8 self-determination, and eventually was determined by 

9 a Virginia court to have violated fiduciary respon10 sibilities, resulting in the gradual diminishing of 

11 once plentiful resources. 

12 (9) 1711–1713: The Nottoway governance 

13 structure relied upon kin-based governing bodies 

14 that prioritized building community consensus and 

15 consisted of a tribal leader and a council referred to 

16 as ‘‘great men.’’ 

17 (10) 1711–1760: In an effort to resolve ongoing 

18 conflicts at the North Carolina border, Alexander 

19 Spotswood, Lieutenant Governor of the Colony of 

20 Virginia negotiated with Tribal chiefs, including the 

21 Nottoways, ultimately demanding that the Nottoway 

22 send two of their sons as ‘‘hostages’’ to be educated 

23 and religiously indoctrinated at the Brafferton 

24 School at Williamsburg (Virginia) at what is now 

25 William & Mary College, in exchange for the ceasing 


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1 of hostilities and the Colonial government granting 

2 waivers of the tribes’ annual tribute payments. At 

3 one point, Nottoway tribal leadership were put in 

4 irons until they complied with the Treaty. Subse5 quently, Nottoway children attended and appeared 

6 on the rolls at the Brafferton (Indian) School (brief7 ly relocated at Fort Christianna) until about 1760. 

8 (11) 1713–14: The Nottoway and Meherrin 

9 tribes partnered to act a regional intermediaries, 

10 buffering colonial settlements from the ongoing hos11 tility of tribes along the North Carolina frontier. 

12 (12) 1728: The William Byrd Expedition stayed 

13 with the Nottoway while journeying to survey the di14 viding line between Virginia and North Carolina Wil15 liam Byrd recounts his visit to the Nottoway Great 

16 Town on the Assomoosick Swamp. He describes 

17 them as the ‘‘Mehogony Skins’’ or the ‘‘Copper 

18 Colourd Ones of Nottoway Towne’’ and also states 

19 that the Nottoway are ‘‘the only Indians of con20 sequence now remaining within the limits of Vir21 ginia.’’ 

22 (13) 1735: The Virginia legislature passed their 

23 first Act authorizing the Nottoway to sell a portion 

24 of their 40,000 acre reservation land in the Circular 

25 Tract (in Isle of Wight County, Virginia, north of 


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1 the Nottoway River) under the supervision of ap2 pointed Trustees. 

3 (14) 1750’s: During the French and Indian 

4 War of the mid-1750’s, the Nottoway joined with 

5 the Cherokee and Catawba fought in several engage6 ments against the French and Shawnee, under the 

7 command of the young Lt. Colonel George Wash8 ington. Lt. Colonel Washington believed their service 

9 was invaluable in the woodland warfare of the fron10 tier and recommended that Governor Dinwiddie rec11 ognize the distinguished service of Thomas Step, 

12 saying ‘‘Captain Tom, the Chief of the Nottoways: 

13 He has received less, and deserves more than any of 

14 them; as he used great pains to bring the 

15 Tuskaroras, and has met with no reward for it, al16 though he was promised one.’’ Subsequently, the 

17 Virginia House of Burgesses noted, ‘‘Tom Step, 

18 Billy John, School Robin Robert Scholar, and Aleck 

19 Scholar, Nottoway Indians . . . were in the Service 

20 of this Colony, and did behave themselves with great 

21 Bravery during the last Campaign, particularly . . . 

22 Tom Step, who distinguished himself very remark23 ably in the Action before Fort Du Quesne, under the 

24 Command of Major Grant.’’ 


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1 (15) 1752: The Virginia House of Burgesses 

2 passed an act, empowering colonial Trustees to man3 age transactions pertaining to the Nottoway land 

4 and resources: ‘‘Many evil disposed persons under 

5 pretence of the said Indians being indebted to them 

6 do frequently disposses them of their guns, blankets, 

7 and other apparel, to their great impoverishment . . 

8 . persons so offending, shall forfeit and pay to the 

9 Indian or Indians so injured, the sum of twenty shil10 lings current money, for every such offence . . . and 

11 shall be paid to the trustees aforesaid, and by them 

12 laid out in common necessaries of life, for the Indian 

13 to whose use the same shall be recovered.’’ Addition14 ally, an extinction clause in the act directed that, 

15 should the Nottoway tribe go extinct, all proceeds 

16 from the reservation lands were to be deposited in 

17 the public treasury. Trustee mismanagement of 

18 Nottoway funds ensued, to the advantage of the 

19 Trustees and to the inequity of the Nottoway people 

20 (Woodard 2013:152). 

21 (16) 1776: From the beginning of the American 

22 Revolution, Nottoway soldiers fought alongside 

23 whites, African Americans, and other Indians in the 

24 service of the Commonwealth, integrated within rev25 olutionary Virginia’s Regiments of Foot. Out of the 


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1 Nottoway families represented in the 1770s docu2 ments from the Nottoway Indian Town, half sent 

3 young men into the service of the American Revolu4 tion, and at least three of the Nottoway families lost 

5 family members during the conflict. 

6 (17) 1800’s: At the beginning of the nineteenth 

7 century, the Nottoway were the only Iroquoian com8 munity in the region to maintain continuous control 

9 over a portion of their indigenous territory—4,235 

10 acres in Southampton County, Virginia. Tradition11 ally, tribal custom had determined Nottoway descent 

12 only through matrilineal lines instead of genetic con13 nection. Within Nottoway governance, this cus14 tomary distinction impacted access to tribal leader15 ship and hereditary roles. Within the Common16 wealth’s legal structure, however matrilineal descent 

17 determined legal access to tribal resources derived 

18 from the reservation lands. The Commonwealth’s 

19 matrilineal distinction resulted in limited documenta20 tion of children born of Nottoway men by non21 Nottoway mothers. Many of those genetic Nottoway 

22 were documented ‘‘Free Negro,’’ ‘‘Indian,’’ ‘‘Mu23 latto,’’ or ‘‘White.’’ Any decrease in Nottoway in24 heritors through removal or exogamy or removal 

25 from documentation as Nottoway allowed larger 


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1 amounts of money to remain in the trust because 

2 there were fewer eligible recipients. This manipula3 tion of documentation provided the trustees more 

4 control over matrilineal Nottoway lands because 

5 there were fewer potential Nottoway leaders to 

6 counter the trustees’ recommendations. 

7 (18) 1809: A legal opinion submitted to the 

8 Governor of Virginia by Attorney General Phillip 

9 Norborne Nicholas summarized legislative acts re10 garding Nottoway Indian land held ‘‘the Nottoway 

11 Indians’ claim under title paramount to every 

12 other—the aboriginal right to their soil before the 

13 rights of either the King or colony . . . or of the 

14 Commonwealth.’’ 

15 (19) 1820: John Wood, a professor from Wil16 liam and Mary College interviewed Nottoway speak17 ers including Chief Edy Turner (b.1754–d.1838), 

18 and established a vocabulary list of over 250 

19 Nottoway words and phrases. Former President 

20 Thomas Jefferson and linguist Peter S. DuPonceau 

21 determined Nottoway language to be an Iroquoian 

22 dialect and the vocabulary was published in 1836 by 

23 Albert Gallatin, who had been Secretary of the 

24 Treasury during the Jefferson Administration. 


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1 (20) 1821–1852: The Nottoway community was 

2 politically active, petitioning the Virginia legislature, 

3 governors, and county courts to intercede on matters 

4 related to the mismanagement of Nottoway funds, 

5 accusing the Trustees of conflicts of interest, embez6 zlement, and mismanagement/misappropriation of 

7 Indian funds distribution of property, illegal seizure, 

8 and violation of treaty obligations. In response, the 

9 General Assembly conducted audits and twice re10 moved appointed trustees, although the displaced 

11 trustees selected their own successors. 

12 (21) 1821: Nottoway citizens acquired legal 

13 representation and petitioned the Virginia General 

14 Assembly for the Nottoway to be freed from the 

15 exploitive oversight of the Trustees, to restrict fur16 ther sales of Nottoway lands, to have full control 

17 over the principal amounts derived, and to internally 

18 manage the distribution of those resources. The peti19 tion was signed by Chief Edy Turner and three 

20 other Nottoway citizens, using their Iroquoian titles 

21 or personal names: Wane’ Roonseraw or Edith Tur22 ner, Kare’ hout or Polly Woodson, William Woodson, 

23 and Te-res-ke’ or Solomon Rogers. This petition is 

24 the only extant documentation of nineteenth-century 


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1 Tidewater Virginia where Indian people used their 

2 indigenous language in political discourse. 

3 (22) 1824: Although the 1821 petition was de4 nied, in 1824, matrilineal Nottoway William G. 

5 Bozeman, also known as William Woodson, applied 

6 for permission ‘‘to hold in fee simple so much land 

7 as he may be considered entitled to free from the 

8 control of the Trustees. The subsequent act con9 cerning William G. Bozeman held that ‘any descend10 ant of a female of the Nottoway’ gained the right to 

11 possess land allotments and monies from the tribal 

12 trust and the same power to sell convey or exchange 

13 the same, as free white persons of this Common14 wealth possess and enjoy.’’ In this way, the Virginia 

15 legislature codified Nottoway inheritance and access 

16 to materials and assets derived from reservation 

17 lands as being determined solely by descent. 

18 (23) 1830–1880: Trustees divided the reserva19 tions among matrilineal Nottoways. ‘‘Allotment’’ 

20 farms of extended Indian families were developed as 

21 private property homesteads. Nottoway Millie Wood22 son-Turner was one of the few residents of Nottoway 

23 Indian Town whose parents were both of matrilineal 

24 Nottoway descent. Her homestead (the Millie Wood25 son-Turner Home Site) was established circa 1850 


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1 on Nottoway Indian allotment land and was continu2 ously occupied by the family and descendants until 

3 circa 1950. The Millie Woodson-Turner Home Site 

4 has been designated a state and federal historical 

5 landmark, in 2020 and 2021, respectively. 

6 (24) 1838: In litigation involving the status of 

7 matrilineal Nottoway Parsons Turner and the quag8 mire of Virginia’s legal classification of races, the 

9 Attorney General of Virginia determined that ‘‘In 

10 their character of members of a dependent tribe of 

11 Indians the individuals of the Nottoway tribe have 

12 all the privileges of Indians. The fact that some of 

13 them may also be mulattoes should not deprive them 

14 of this privilege.’’ 

15 (25) 1849: Trustees for the Nottoway and 

16 Nansemond Tribes of Indians brought a lawsuit 

17 against former Trustee Jeremiah Cobb, a prominent 

18 local slave owner and the judge who presided over 

19 the 1831 trial of Nat Turner. The lawsuit was a 

20 success and Cobb had to pay monetary damages. 

21 This case is one of only several documented in22 stances in which a Virginia tribe successfully 

23 brought a lawsuit under treaty/reservation rights 

24 during the nineteenth century. 


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1 (26) 1878: The children of Edwin Turner, who 

2 was heir to the property of Edy Turner, made the 

3 last recorded application for 575 acres of Nottoway 

4 reservation Land. 

5 (27) 1889: James Mooney of the Smithsonian 

6 Institution receives responses to questionnaires stat7 ing Nottoway living in the area near Courtland, Vir8 ginia. 

9 (28) 1890: Throughout the first half of the 

10 20th Century, Nottoway citizens continued to reside 

11 on Nottoway allotments. Nottoway collaborating 

12 with each other for labor and survived by pooling re13 sources between the urban and rural Nottoway, cre14 ating a type of socioeconomic continuum of kinship 

15 between ‘‘city life’’ and ‘‘in the country.’’ The ‘‘Vir16 ginia News’’ section of the July 28, 1890, edition of 

17 the Alexandria Gazette stated ‘‘John Williams, the 

18 eldest of the remaining Nottoway tribe of Indians, 

19 was at court at Boykins last week. He is seventy20 four years old, hale and hearty and works on his 

21 farm every day.’’ 

22 (29) 1918: As late as 1918, Nottoway were still 

23 being buried in Old Indian Graveyard in Capron 

24 District, Virginia. 


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1 (30) 1924–1930: The Indian Citizenship Act 

2 granted citizenship to indigenous people born within 

3 the territorial United States who were not already 

4 considered citizens. The Virginia General Assembly 

5 passed a series of ‘‘Racial Integrity Laws’’ with the 

6 intention of limiting miscegenation: The 1924 law 

7 defined a person as ‘‘white’’ as one with no known 

8 trace of any other race except caucasion, with the 

exception of 1 9 ⁄16 or less of American Indian 

10 (often referred to as the Pocahontas exception). The 

11 1926 law required public spaces to be racially seg12 regated public spaces. The 1930 law defined a per13 son with any trace of African American ancestry as 

14 ‘‘negro’’ (often referred to as the ‘‘one drop rule.’’), 

15 resulted in many indigenous people in Virginia, who 

16 previously had been classified as Indian, to be reclas17 sified as ‘‘negro.’’ 

18 (31) 1948: The annual Smithsonian Institute 

19 Report by Dr. William H. Gilbert restated, ‘‘West of 

20 the Nansemond in Southampton County between 

21 Sebrell and Courtland, there are asserted to be still 

22 remaining remnants of the Nottoway Tribe.’’ 

23 (32) 1965–69: Archeological excavations were 

24 made at Hand Site in Southampton County, Vir25 ginia, on the western bank of the Nottoway River 


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1 through the inner coastal plains in Southern Vir2 ginia. The site revealed remains dating to the late 

3 sixteenth and early seventeenth century of Iroquoian 

4 houses and a cemetery containing 132 graves sur5 rounded by a stockade with remains which were re6 moved and are presently stored at the Smithsonian 

7 National Museum of Natural History in the District 

8 of Columbia. 

9 (33) 1980: An article in the Tidewater News 

10 described that as late as the 1920’s Nottoway Indi11 ans had gathered on the Kello farm, a portion of the 

12 old Nottoway Reservation, for ceremonial and cul13 tural gatherings. 

14 (34) 2004: Citizen members of the Nottoway 

15 Indian Tribe of Virginia participated in the opening 

16 celebration of the National Museum of the American 

17 Indian. 

18 (35) 2006: Family groups of Nottoway from 

19 throughout the Tidewater region gathered for Tribal 

20 reorganization. The Nottoway Indian Tribe of Vir21 ginia Incorporated was established and structured 

22 according to historic Iroquoian democratic principles 

23 of governance principles, including a preeminent 

24 Tribal Council and ceremonial Chiefs. Chief Lynette 

25 Lewis Allston was chosen as chief and has consistVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:56 Nov 26, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H10191.IH H10191

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1 ently led the Tribe to develop community outreach 

2 through cultural engagements, educational collabora3 tions, and environmental projects, respecting histori4 cally Nottoway lands in Virginia. 

5 (36) 2006 October: The Nottoway Indian Tribe 

6 of Virginia submitted a detailed petition to the Vir7 ginia Council on Indians (VCI), a statutorily estab8 lished advisory body on Native American affairs. 

9 The petition requested tribal recognition of the 

10 Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia by the Common11 wealth of Virginia and included ten Nottoway family 

12 descendant lines/genealogies, examined and corrobo13 rated by public records. The VCI Recognition Com14 mittee examined the records and determined that 

15 each family line was comprised of Nottoway descend16 ants. Subsequently, the VCI Recognition Committee 

17 deemed the Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia, In18 corporated to be a historic Virginia tribe. 

19 (37) 2007: The Nottoway Indian Tribe of Vir20 ginia has consistently led community outreach 

21 through cultural engagements, educational collabora22 tions, and environmental projects, respecting histori23 cally Nottoway lands in Virginia. At the invitation of 

24 the Surry County Board of Supervisors, the 

25 Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia, established the 


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1 tradition of holding an annual pow wow in Surry 

2 County, Virginia. The powwows include intertribal 

3 drums and dancing, storytelling, educational dis4 plays, arts and crafts, Native American cooking, as 

5 well as historical and public service information. 

6 (38) June 3, 2008: The Nottoway Indian Tribe 

7 of Virginia established the Virginia Nottoway Indian 

8 Circle and Square Foundation, Incorporated, a IRS 

9 501(c)(3) non-profit entity with a mission to pre10 serve and perpetuate the ideas, culture, and tradi11 tions of the Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia. 

12 (39) 2008: Nottoway Asphy Sidney Turner was 

13 appointed to the Virginia Council on Indians Advi14 sory Committee. 

15 (40) 2009: The National Park Service, in con16 junction with Historic Jamestowne, commissioned 

17 historical artist Keith Rocco to create an oil paint18 ing, ‘‘Jamestown in the 1690’s—Changing Times,’’ 

19 depicting the Nottoway Tribe making its annual 

20 tribute to the Royal Governor of Virginia in 1691. 

21 (41) 2010: The Virginia General Assembly 

22 granted state recognition to the Nottoway Indian 

23 Tribe of Virginia Incorporated, including the rep24 resentation of the Nottoway Indian Tribe on the Vir25 ginia Council of Indians. 


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1 (42) 2012: Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia 

2 established and opened the Nottoway Community 

3 House and Interpretive Center in Capron, Virginia, 

4 which offers a dedicated space for tribal governance, 

5 as well as community engagement and educational 

6 programming such as demonstrations of traditional 

7 crafts and classes on beading, flute making, and 

8 quilting. 

9 (43) 2020: The Iroquoian site of the Millie 

10 Woodson Turner Home Site was designated a his11 toric landmark and included in the Virginia Land12 marks Register based upon its historical significance 

13 and connection to the continuous presence of the 

14 Nottoways in Virginia. Descendants of Mille Wood15 son Turner are members of the Nottoway Indian 

16 Tribe of Virginia. 

17 (44) 2021: The Millie Woodson Turner Home 

18 Site was approved by the National Park Service for 

19 designation as a national historic landmark, to be in20 cluded in the National Register of Historic Places. 

21 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

22 In this Act: 

23 (1) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

24 the Secretary of the Interior. 


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1 (2) TRIBAL MEMBER.—The term ‘‘Tribal mem2 ber’’ means— 

3 (A) an individual who is an enrolled mem4 ber of the Tribe as of the date of the enactment 

5 of this Act; and 

6 (B) an individual who has been placed on 

7 the membership rolls of the Tribe in accordance 

8 with this Act. 

9 (3) TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Tribe’’ means the 

10 Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia, Incorporated. 

11 SEC. 4. FEDERAL RECOGNITION. 

12 (a) FEDERAL RECOGNITION.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Federal recognition is ex14 tended to the Tribe. 

15 (2) APPLICABILITY OF LAWS.—All laws (includ16 ing regulations) of the United States of general ap17 plicability to Indians or nations, Indian Tribes, or 

18 bands of Indians (including the Act of June 18, 

19 1934 (25 U.S.C. 5101)) that are not inconsistent 

20 with this Act shall be applicable to the Tribe and 

21 Tribal members. 

22 (b) FEDERAL SERVICES AND BENEFITS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—On and after the date of the 

24 enactment of this Act, the Tribe and Tribal mem25 bers shall be eligible for all services and benefits proVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:56 Nov 26, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H10191.IH H10191

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1 vided by the Federal Government to federally recog2 nized Indian Tribes without regard to the existence 

3 of a reservation for the Tribe. 

4 (2) SERVICE AREA.—For the purpose of the de5 livery of Federal services to Tribal members, the 

6 service area of the Tribe shall be considered to be 

7 the area comprised of the counties of Nottoway, 

8 Southampton, Sussex, Surry, Isle of Wight, Frank9 lin, and Dinwiddie in Virginia. 

10 SEC. 5. MEMBERSHIP; GOVERNING DOCUMENTS. 

11 The membership roll and governing documents of the 

12 Tribe shall be the most recent membership roll and gov13 erning documents, respectively, submitted by the Tribe to 

14 the Secretary before the date of the enactment of this Act. 

15 SEC. 6. GOVERNING BODY. 

16 The governing body of the Tribe shall be— 

17 (1) the governing body of the Tribe in place as 

18 of the date of the enactment of this Act; or 

19 (2) any subsequent governing body elected in 

20 accordance with the election procedures specified in 

21 the governing documents of the Tribe. 

22 SEC. 7. RESERVATION OF THE TRIBE. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Upon the request of the Tribe, the 

24 Secretary of the Interior— 


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1 (1) shall take into trust for the benefit of the 

2 Tribe any land held in fee by the Tribe that was ac3 quired by the Tribe on or before January 1, 2022, 

4 if such lands are located within the boundaries of 

5 the counties of Southampton, Sussex, Surry, Isle of 

6 Wight, Nottoway, and Dinwiddie in Virginia; and 

7 (2) may take into trust for the benefit of the 

8 Tribe any land held in fee by the Tribe, if such 

9 lands are located within the boundaries of the coun10 ties of Southampton, Sussex, Surry, Isle of Wight, 

11 Nottoway, and Dinwiddie in Virginia. 

12 (b) RESERVATION STATUS.—Any land taken into 

13 trust for the benefit of the Tribe pursuant to subsection 

14 (a)(1) shall, upon request of the Tribe, be considered part 

15 of the reservation of the Tribe. 

16 (c) DEADLINE FOR DETERMINATION.—The Sec17 retary shall make a final written determination not later 

18 than 3 years after the date on which the Tribe submits 

19 a request for land to be taken into trust under subsection 

20 (a)(2) and shall immediately make that determination 

21 available to the Tribe. 

22 SEC. 8. GAMING. 

23 The Tribe may not conduct gaming activities as a 

24 matter of claimed inherent authority or under the author25 ity of any Federal law, including the Indian Gaming ReguVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:56 Nov 26, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00022 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H10191.IH H10191

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1 latory Act (25 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.) or under any regula2 tions thereunder promulgated by the Secretary or the Na3 tional Indian Gaming Commission. 

4 SEC. 9. HUNTING, FISHING, TRAPPING, GATHERING, AND 

5 WATER RIGHTS. 

6 Nothing in this Act expands, reduces, or affects in 

7 any manner any hunting, fishing, trapping, gathering, or 

8 water rights of the Tribe and members of the Tribe. 

9 SEC. 10. INDIAN CHILD WELFARE ACT OF 1978. 

10 Nothing in this Act affects the application of section 

11 109 of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 

12 1919). 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB