(47) prior to establishment of the school, Rap-
pahannock 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 cen-
sus; 
(50) in January 1930, Rappahannock Chief 
Otho S. Nelson wrote to Leon Truesdell, Chief Stat-
istician 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 enu-
merators’ failure to classify his people as Indians, 
saying that enumerators had not asked the question 
about race when they interviewed his people; 
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(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 Caro-
line 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 concluded that the Bureau’s rule was that peo-
ple of Indian descent could be classified as ‘‘Indian’’ 
only if Indian ‘‘blood’’ predominated and ‘‘Indian’’ 
identity was accepted in the local community; 
(57) the Virginia Vital Statistics Bureau 
classed all nonreservation Indians as ‘‘Negro’’, and 
it failed to see why ‘‘an exception should be made’’ 
for the Rappahannocks; 
(58) therefore, in 1925, the Indian Rights As-
sociation 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 Rap-
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pahannocks had to fight the draft boards with re-
spect to their racial identities; 
(60) the Virginia Vital Statistics Bureau in-
sisted that certain Indian draftees be inducted into 
Negro units; 
(61) finally, 3 Rappahannocks were convicted of 
violating the Federal draft laws and, after spending 
time in a Federal prison, were granted conscientious 
objector status and served out the remainder of the 
war working in military hospitals; 
(62) in 1943, Frank Speck noted that there 
were approximately 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 Stat-
istician, of the United States Census Bureau, listed 
118 members in the Rappahannock Tribe in the In-
dian population of Virginia; 
(64) on April 25, 1940, the Office of Indian Af-
fairs 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 An-
nual Report included an article by William Harlen 
Gilbert entitled, ‘‘Surviving Indian Groups of the 
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Eastern United States’’, which included and de-
scribed 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 ex-
ecutive 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 pot-
tery and artisans company, operating with other Vir-
ginia 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. 
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SEC. 402. DEFINITIONS. 
In this title: 
(1) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of the Interior. 
(2) TRIBAL MEMBER.—The term ‘‘tribal mem-
ber’’ means— 
(A) an individual who is an enrolled mem-
ber of the Tribe as of the date of enactment of 
this Act; and 
(B) an individual who has been placed on 
the membership 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 Rappahannock Indians. 
SEC. 403. FEDERAL RECOGNITION. 
(a) FEDERAL RECOGNITION.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Federal recognition is ex-
tended to the Tribe. 
(2) APPLICABILITY OF LAWS.—All laws (includ-
ing regulations) of the United States of general ap-
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