HR 1294 RFS
boundaries of King and Queen County, Stafford County, 
Spotsylvania County, Richmond County, Essex County, 
and Caroline County, Virginia. The Secretary shall make 
a final determination within three years of the date which 
the tribe submits a request for land to be taken into trust. 
Any land taken into trust for the benefit of the Tribe pur-
suant to this paragraph shall be considered part of the 
reservation of the Tribe. 
(b) GAMING.—The Tribe may not conduct gaming ac-
tivities as a matter of claimed inherent authority or under 
the authority of any Federal law, including the Indian 
Gaming Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.) or under 
any regulations thereunder promulgated by the Secretary 
or the National Indian Gaming Commission. 
SEC. 407. HUNTING, FISHING, TRAPPING, GATHERING, AND 
WATER RIGHTS. 
Nothing in this title expands, reduces, or affects in 
any manner any hunting, fishing, trapping, gathering, or 
water rights of the Tribe and members of the Tribe. 
SEC. 408. JURISDICTION OF STATE OF VIRGINIA. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The State of Virginia shall exer-
cise jurisdiction over— 
(1) all criminal offenses that are committed on; 
and 
(2) all civil actions that arise on, 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
01:44 May 10, 2007
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00044
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1294.RFS
H1294
hmoore on PRODPC68 with HMBILLS
HR 1294 RFS
lands located within the State of Virginia that are owned 
by, or held in trust by the United States for, the Tribe. 
(b) ACCEPTANCE OF STATE JURISDICTION BY SEC-
RETARY.—The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to 
accept on behalf of the United States, after consulting 
with the Attorney General of the United States, all or any 
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 V—MONACAN INDIAN 
NATION 
SEC. 501. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that— 
(1) In 1677, the Monacan Tribe signed the 
Treaty of Middle Plantation between Charles II of 
England and 12 Indian ‘‘Kings and Chief Men’’; 
(2) in 1722, in the Treaty of Albany, Governor 
Spotswood negotiated to save the Virginia Indians 
from extinction at the hands of the Iroquois; 
(3) specifically mentioned in the negotiations 
were the Monacan tribes of the Totero (Tutelo), 
Saponi, Ocheneeches (Occaneechi), Stengenocks, and 
Meipontskys; 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
01:44 May 10, 2007
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00045
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1294.RFS
H1294
hmoore on PRODPC68 with HMBILLS
HR 1294 RFS
(4) in 1790, the first national census recorded 
Benjamin Evans and Robert Johns, both ancestors 
of the present Monacan community, listed as 
‘‘white’’ with mulatto children; 
(5) in 1782, tax records also began for those 
families; 
(6) in 1850, the United States census recorded 
29 families, mostly large, with Monacan surnames, 
the members of which are genealogically related to 
the present community; 
(7) in 1870, a log structure was built at the 
Bear Mountain Indian Mission; 
(8) in 1908, the structure became an Episcopal 
Mission and, as of the date of enactment of this Act, 
the structure is listed as a landmark on the National 
Register of Historic Places; 
(9) in 1920, 304 Amherst Indians were identi-
fied in the United States census; 
(10) from 1930 through 1931, numerous letters 
from Monacans to the Bureau of the Census re-
sulted from the decision of Dr. Walter Plecker, 
former head of the Bureau of Vital Statistics of the 
State of Virginia, not to allow Indians to register as 
Indians for the 1930 census; 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
01:44 May 10, 2007
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00046
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1294.RFS
H1294
hmoore on PRODPC68 with HMBILLS
HR 1294 RFS
(11) the Monacans eventually succeeded in 
being allowed to claim their race, albeit with an as-
terisk attached to a note from Dr. Plecker stating 
that there were no Indians in Virginia; 
(12) in 1947, D’Arcy McNickle, a Salish In-
dian, saw some of the children at the Amherst Mis-
sion and requested that the Cherokee Agency visit 
them because they appeared to be Indian; 
(13) that letter was forwarded to the Depart-
ment of the Interior, Office of Indian Affairs, Chi-
cago, Illinois; 
(14) Chief Jarrett Blythe of the Eastern Band 
of Cherokee did visit the Mission and wrote that he 
‘‘would be willing to accept these children in the 
Cherokee school’’; 
(15) in 1979, a Federal Coalition of Eastern 
Native Americans established the entity known as 
‘‘Monacan Co-operative Pottery’’ at the Amherst 
Mission; 
(16) some important pieces were produced at 
Monacan Co-operative Pottery, including a piece 
that was sold to the Smithsonian Institution; 
(17) the Mattaponi-Pamunkey-Monacan Con-
sortium, established in 1981, has since been orga-
nized as a nonprofit corporation that serves as a ve-
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
01:44 May 10, 2007
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00047
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1294.RFS
H1294
hmoore on PRODPC68 with HMBILLS