H. R. 984—14 
(27) during the 1760s, three Rappahannock girls were 
raised on Thomas Nelson’s Bleak Hill Plantation in King Wil-
liam County; 
(28) of those girls— 
(A) one married a Saunders man; 
(B) one married a Johnson man; and 
(C) one had two children, Edmund and Carter Nelson, 
fathered by Thomas Cary Nelson; 
(29) in the 19th century, those Saunders, Johnson, and 
Nelson families are among the core Rappahannock families 
from which the modern Tribe traces its descent; 
(30) in 1819 and 1820, Edward Bird, John Bird (and his 
wife), Carter Nelson, Edmund Nelson, and Carter Spurlock 
(all Rappahannock ancestors) were listed on the tax roles of 
King and Queen County and taxed at the county poor rate; 
(31) Edmund Bird was added to the tax roles in 1821; 
(32) those tax records are significant documentation 
because the great majority of pre-1864 records for King and 
Queen County were destroyed by fire; 
(33) beginning in 1819, and continuing through the 1880s, 
there was a solid Rappahannock presence in the membership 
at Upper Essex Baptist Church; 
(34) that was the first instance of conversion to Christianity 
by at least some Rappahannock Indians; 
(35) while 26 identifiable and traceable Rappahannock sur-
names appear on the pre-1863 membership list, and 28 were 
listed on the 1863 membership roster, the number of surnames 
listed had declined to 12 in 1878 and had risen only slightly 
to 14 by 1888; 
(36) a reason for the decline is that in 1870, a Methodist 
circuit rider, Joseph Mastin, secured funds to purchase land 
and 
construct 
St. 
Stephens 
Baptist 
Church 
for 
the 
Rappahannocks living nearby in Caroline County; 
(37) Mastin referred to the Rappahannocks during the 
period of 1850 to 1870 as ‘‘Indians, having a great need for 
moral and Christian guidance’’; 
(38) St. Stephens was the dominant tribal church until 
the Rappahannock Indian Baptist Church was established in 
1964; 
(39) at both churches, the core Rappahannock family names 
of Bird, Clarke, Fortune, Johnson, Nelson, Parker, and Richard-
son predominate; 
(40) during the early 1900s, James Mooney, noted 
anthropologist, 
maintained 
correspondence 
with 
the 
Rappahannocks, surveying them and instructing them on how 
to formalize their tribal government; 
(41) in November 1920, Speck visited the Rappahannocks 
and assisted them in organizing the fight for their sovereign 
rights; 
(42) in 1921, the Rappahannocks were granted a charter 
from the Commonwealth of Virginia formalizing their tribal 
government; 
(43) Speck began a professional relationship with the Tribe 
that would last more than 30 years and document Rappahan-
nock history and traditions as never before; 
(44) in April 1921, Rappahannock Chief George Nelson 
asked the Governor of Virginia, Westmoreland Davis, to forward
H. R. 984—15 
a proclamation to the President of the United States, along 
with an appended list of tribal members and a handwritten 
copy of the proclamation itself; 
(45) the letter concerned Indian freedom of speech and 
assembly nationwide; 
(46) in 1922, the Rappahannocks established a formal 
school at Lloyds, Essex County, Virginia; 
(47) prior to establishment of the school, Rappahannock 
children were taught by a tribal member in Central Point, 
Caroline County, Virginia; 
(48) in December 1923, Rappahannock Chief George Nelson 
testified before Congress appealing for a $50,000 appropriation 
to establish an Indian school in Virginia; 
(49) in 1930, the Rappahannocks were engaged in an 
ongoing dispute with the Commonwealth of Virginia and the 
United States Census Bureau about their classification in the 
1930 Federal census; 
(50) in January 1930, Rappahannock Chief Otho S. Nelson 
wrote to Leon Truesdell, Chief Statistician of the United States 
Census Bureau, asking that the 218 enrolled Rappahannocks 
be listed as Indians; 
(51) in February 1930, Truesdell replied to Nelson saying 
that ‘‘special instructions’’ were being given about classifying 
Indians; 
(52) in April 1930, Nelson wrote to William M. Steuart 
at the Census Bureau asking about the enumerators’ failure 
to classify his people as Indians, saying that enumerators had 
not asked the question about race when they interviewed his 
people; 
(53) in a followup letter to Truesdell, Nelson reported that 
the enumerators were ‘‘flatly denying’’ his people’s request to 
be listed as Indians and that the race question was completely 
avoided during interviews; 
(54) the Rappahannocks had spoken with Caroline and 
Essex County enumerators, and with John M.W. Green at 
that point, without success; 
(55) Nelson asked Truesdell to list people as Indians if 
he sent a list of members; 
(56) the matter was settled by William Steuart, who con-
cluded that the Bureau’s rule was that people of Indian descent 
could be classified as ‘‘Indian’’ only if Indian ‘‘blood’’ predomi-
nated and ‘‘Indian’’ identity was accepted in the local commu-
nity; 
(57) the Virginia Vital Statistics Bureau classed all non-
reservation Indians as ‘‘Negro’’, and it failed to see why ‘‘an 
exception should be made’’ for the Rappahannocks; 
(58) therefore, in 1925, the Indian Rights Association took 
on the Rappahannock case to assist the Rappahannocks in 
fighting for their recognition and rights as an Indian tribe; 
(59) during the Second World War, the Pamunkeys, 
Mattaponis, Chickahominies, and Rappahannocks had to fight 
the draft boards with respect to their racial identities; 
(60) the Virginia Vital Statistics Bureau insisted that cer-
tain Indian draftees be inducted into Negro units; 
(61) finally, three Rappahannocks were convicted of vio-
lating the Federal draft laws and, after spending time in a 
Federal prison, were granted conscientious objector status and
H. R. 984—16 
served out the remainder of the war working in military hos-
pitals; 
(62) in 1943, Frank Speck noted that there were approxi-
mately 25 communities of Indians left in the Eastern United 
States that were entitled to Indian classification, including 
the Rappahannocks; 
(63) in the 1940s, Leon Truesdell, Chief Statistician, of 
the United States Census Bureau, listed 118 members in the 
Rappahannock Tribe in the Indian population of Virginia; 
(64) on April 25, 1940, the Office of Indian Affairs of 
the Department of the Interior included the Rappahannocks 
on a list of Indian tribes classified by State and by agency; 
(65) in 1948, the Smithsonian Institution Annual Report 
included an article by William Harlen Gilbert entitled, ‘‘Sur-
viving Indian Groups of the Eastern United States’’, which 
included and described the Rappahannock Tribe; 
(66) in the late 1940s and early 1950s, the Rappahannocks 
operated a school at Indian Neck; 
(67) the State agreed to pay a tribal teacher to teach 
10 students bused by King and Queen County to Sharon Indian 
School in King William County, Virginia; 
(68) in 1965, Rappahannock students entered Marriott 
High School (a White public school) by Executive order of 
the Governor of Virginia; 
(69) in 1972, the Rappahannocks worked with the Coalition 
of Eastern Native Americans to fight for Federal recognition; 
(70) in 1979, the Coalition established a pottery and arti-
sans company, operating with other Virginia tribes; 
(71) in 1980, the Rappahannocks received funding through 
the Administration for Native Americans of the Department 
of Health and Human Services to develop an economic program 
for the Tribe; and 
(72) in 1983, the Rappahannocks received State recognition 
as an Indian tribe. 
SEC. 402. DEFINITIONS. 
In this title: 
(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 member-
ship rolls of the Tribe in accordance with this title. 
(3) TRIBE.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Tribe’’ means the 
organization possessing the legal name Rappahannock 
Tribe, Inc. 
(B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘Tribe’’ does not include 
any other Indian tribe, subtribe, band, or splinter group 
the members of which represent themselves as Rappahan-
nock Indians. 
SEC. 403. FEDERAL RECOGNITION. 
(a) FEDERAL RECOGNITION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Federal recognition is extended to the 
Tribe.
H. R. 984—17 
(2) APPLICABILITY OF LAWS.—All laws (including regula-
tions) 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. 461 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 regard to the 
existence of a reservation for the Tribe. 
(2) SERVICE AREA.—For the purpose of the delivery of Fed-
eral services to tribal members, the service area of the Tribe 
shall be considered to be the area comprised of King and 
Queen County, Caroline County, Essex County, and King Wil-
liam County, Virginia. 
SEC. 404. 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. 405. 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 docu-
ments of the Tribe. 
SEC. 406. RESERVATION OF THE TRIBE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Upon the request of the Tribe, the Secretary 
of the Interior— 
(1) shall take into trust for the benefit of the Tribe any 
land held in fee by the Tribe that was acquired by the Tribe 
on or before January 1, 2007, if such lands are located within 
the boundaries of King and Queen County, Stafford County, 
Spotsylvania County, Richmond County, Essex County, and 
Caroline County, Virginia; and 
(2) 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 and Queen County, Richmond County, 
Lancaster County, King George County, Essex County, Caroline 
County, New Kent County, King William County, and James 
City 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)(2) and shall immediately make that determina-
tion 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