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portion of the jurisdiction of the State of Virginia de-
scribed in subsection (a) upon verification by the Secretary 
of a certification by a tribe that it possesses the capacity 
to reassume such jurisdiction. 
TITLE VI—NANSEMOND INDIAN 
TRIBE 
SEC. 601. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that— 
(1) from 1607 until 1646, Nansemond Indi-
ans— 
(A) lived approximately 30 miles from 
Jamestown; and 
(B) were significantly involved in English- 
Indian affairs; 
(2) after 1646, there were 2 sections of 
Nansemonds in communication with each other, the 
Christianized Nansemonds in Norfolk County, who 
lived as citizens, and the traditionalist Nansemonds, 
who lived further west; 
(3) in 1638, according to an entry in a 17th 
century sermon book still owned by the Chief’s fam-
ily, a Norfolk County Englishman married a 
Nansemond woman; 
(4) that man and woman are lineal ancestors of 
all of members of the Nansemond Indian tribe alive 
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as of the date of enactment of this Act, as are some 
of the traditionalist Nansemonds; 
(5) in 1669, the 2 Nansemond sections ap-
peared in Virginia Colony’s census of Indian 
bowmen; 
(6) in 1677, Nansemond Indians were signato-
ries to the Treaty of 1677 with the King of Eng-
land; 
(7) in 1700 and 1704, the Nansemonds and 
other Virginia Indian tribes were prevented by Vir-
ginia Colony from making a separate peace with the 
Iroquois; 
(8) Virginia represented those Indian tribes in 
the final Treaty of Albany, 1722; 
(9) in 1711, a Nansemond boy attended the In-
dian School at the College of William and Mary; 
(10) in 1727, Norfolk County granted William 
Bass and his kinsmen the ‘‘Indian privileges’’ of 
clearing swamp land and bearing arms (which privi-
leges were forbidden to other nonwhites) because of 
their Nansemond ancestry, which meant that Bass 
and his kinsmen were original inhabitants of that 
land; 
(11) in 1742, Norfolk County issued a certifi-
cate of Nansemond descent to William Bass; 
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(12) from the 1740s to the 1790s, the tradi-
tionalist section of the Nansemond tribe, 40 miles 
west of the Christianized Nansemonds, was dealing 
with reservation land; 
(13) the last surviving members of that section 
sold out in 1792 with the permission of the State of 
Virginia; 
(14) in 1797, Norfolk County issued a certifi-
cate stating that William Bass was of Indian and 
English descent, and that his Indian line of ancestry 
ran directly back to the early 18th century elder in 
a traditionalist section of Nansemonds on the res-
ervation; 
(15) in 1833, Virginia enacted a law enabling 
people of European and Indian descent to obtain a 
special certificate of ancestry; 
(16) the law originated from the county in 
which Nansemonds lived, and mostly Nansemonds, 
with a few people from other counties, took advan-
tage of the new law; 
(17) a Methodist mission established around 
1850 for Nansemonds is currently a standard Meth-
odist congregation with Nansemond members; 
(18) in 1901, Smithsonian anthropologist 
James Mooney— 
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(A) visited the Nansemonds; and 
(B) completed a tribal census that counted 
61 households and was later published; 
(19) in 1922, Nansemonds were given a special 
Indian school in the segregated school system of 
Norfolk County; 
(20) the school survived only a few years; 
(21) in 1928, University of Pennsylvania an-
thropologist Frank Speck published a book on mod-
ern Virginia Indians that included a section on the 
Nansemonds; and 
(22) the Nansemonds were organized formally, 
with elected officers, in 1984, and later applied for 
and received State recognition. 
SEC. 602. 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 
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(B) an individual who has been placed on 
the membership rolls of the Tribe in accordance 
with this title. 
(3) TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Tribe’’ means the 
Nansemond Indian Tribe. 
SEC. 603. 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-
plicability 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 incon-
sistent 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 en-
actment 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— 
(A) the existence of a reservation for the 
Tribe; or 
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(B) the location of the residence of any 
tribal member on or near any Indian reserva-
tion. 
(2) SERVICE AREA.—For the purpose of the de-
livery of Federal services to tribal members, the 
service area of the Tribe shall be considered to be 
the area comprised of the cities of Chesapeake, 
Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suf-
folk, and Virginia Beach, Virginia. 
SEC. 604. MEMBERSHIP; GOVERNING DOCUMENTS. 
The membership roll and governing documents of the 
Tribe shall be the most recent membership roll and gov-
erning documents, respectively, submitted by the Tribe to 
the Secretary before the date of enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 605. 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 documents of the Tribe. 
SEC. 606. RESERVATION OF THE TRIBE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Fee lands which the Tribe seeks 
to convey to the United States to be held in trust shall 
be considered by the Secretary of the Interior under part 
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