110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1294
AN ACT 
To extend Federal recognition to the Chickahominy Indian 
Tribe, the Chickahominy Indian Tribe—Eastern Divi-
sion, the Upper Mattaponi Tribe, the Rappahannock 
Tribe, Inc., the Monacan Indian Nation, and the 
Nansemond Indian Tribe.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Thomasina E. Jordan Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal 
Recognition Act of 2007’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 
this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
TITLE I—CHICKAHOMINY INDIAN TRIBE 
Sec. 101. Findings. 
Sec. 102. Definitions. 
Sec. 103. Federal recognition. 
Sec. 104. Membership; governing documents. 
Sec. 105. Governing body. 
Sec. 106. Reservation of the Tribe. 
Sec. 107. Hunting, fishing, trapping, gathering, and water rights. 
Sec. 108. Jurisdiction of State of Virginia. 
TITLE II—CHICKAHOMINY INDIAN TRIBE—EASTERN DIVISION 
Sec. 201. Findings. 
Sec. 202. Definitions. 
Sec. 203. Federal recognition. 
Sec. 204. Membership; governing documents. 
Sec. 205. Governing body. 
Sec. 206. Reservation of the Tribe. 
Sec. 207. Hunting, fishing, trapping, gathering, and water rights. 
Sec. 208. Jurisdiction of State of Virginia. 
TITLE III—UPPER MATTAPONI TRIBE 
Sec. 301. Findings. 
Sec. 302. Definitions. 
Sec. 303. Federal recognition. 
Sec. 304. Membership; governing documents. 
Sec. 305. Governing body. 
Sec. 306. Reservation of the Tribe. 
Sec. 307. Hunting, fishing, trapping, gathering, and water rights. 
Sec. 308. Jurisdiction of State of Virginia. 
TITLE IV—RAPPAHANNOCK TRIBE, INC. 
Sec. 401. Findings. 
Sec. 402. Definitions. 
Sec. 403. Federal recognition. 
Sec. 404. Membership; governing documents. 
Sec. 405. Governing body. 
Sec. 406. Reservation of the Tribe. 
Sec. 407. Hunting, fishing, trapping, gathering, and water rights.
Sec. 408. Jurisdiction of State of Virginia. 
TITLE V—MONACAN INDIAN NATION 
Sec. 501. Findings. 
Sec. 502. Definitions. 
Sec. 503. Federal recognition. 
Sec. 504. Membership; governing documents. 
Sec. 505. Governing body. 
Sec. 506. Reservation of the Tribe. 
Sec. 507. Hunting, fishing, trapping, gathering, and water rights. 
Sec. 508. Jurisdiction of State of Virginia. 
TITLE VI—NANSEMOND INDIAN TRIBE 
Sec. 601. Findings. 
Sec. 602. Definitions. 
Sec. 603. Federal recognition. 
Sec. 604. Membership; governing documents. 
Sec. 605. Governing body. 
Sec. 606. Reservation of the Tribe. 
Sec. 607. Hunting, fishing, trapping, gathering, and water rights. 
Sec. 608. Jurisdiction of State of Virginia.
TITLE I—CHICKAHOMINY 
INDIAN TRIBE 
SEC. 101. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that—
(1) in 1607, when the English settlers set shore 
along the Virginia coastline, the Chickahominy In-
dian Tribe was 1 of about 30 tribes that received 
them; 
(2) in 1614, the Chickahominy Indian Tribe en-
tered into a treaty with Sir Thomas Dale, Governor 
of the Jamestown Colony, under which—
(A) the Chickahominy Indian Tribe agreed 
to provide 2 bushels of corn per man and send 
warriors to protect the English; and
(B) Sir Thomas Dale agreed in return to 
allow the Tribe to continue to practice its own 
tribal governance; 
(3) in 1646, a treaty was signed which forced 
the Chickahominy from their homeland to the area 
around the York Mattaponi River in present-day 
King William County, leading to the formation of a 
reservation; 
(4) in 1677, following Bacon’s Rebellion, the 
Queen of Pamunkey signed the Treaty of Middle 
Plantation on behalf of the Chickahominy; 
(5) in 1702, the Chickahominy were forced 
from their reservation, which caused the loss of a 
land base; 
(6) in 1711, the College of William and Mary 
in Williamsburg established a grammar school for 
Indians called Brafferton College; 
(7) a Chickahominy child was 1 of the first In-
dians to attend Brafferton College; 
(8) in 1750, the Chickahominy Indian Tribe 
began to migrate from King William County back to 
the area around the Chickahominy River in New 
Kent and Charles City Counties;
(9) in 1793, a Baptist missionary named 
Bradby took refuge with the Chickahominy and took 
a Chickahominy woman as his wife; 
(10) in 1831, the names of the ancestors of the 
modern-day Chickahominy Indian Tribe began to 
appear in the Charles City County census records; 
(11) in 1901, the Chickahominy Indian Tribe 
formed Samaria Baptist Church; 
(12) from 1901 to 1935, Chickahominy men 
were assessed a tribal tax so that their children 
could receive an education; 
(13) the Tribe used the proceeds from the tax 
to build the first Samaria Indian School, buy sup-
plies, and pay a teacher’s salary; 
(14) in 1919, C. Lee Moore, Auditor of Public 
Accounts for Virginia, told Chickahominy Chief 
O.W. Adkins that he had instructed the Commis-
sioner of Revenue for Charles City County to record 
Chickahominy tribal members on the county tax rolls 
as Indian, and not as white or colored; 
(15) during the period of 1920 through 1930, 
various Governors of the Commonwealth of Virginia 
wrote letters of introduction for Chickahominy 
Chiefs who had official business with Federal agen-
cies in Washington, DC;
(16) in 1934, Chickahominy Chief O.O. Adkins 
wrote to John Collier, Commissioner of Indian Af-
fairs, requesting money to acquire land for the 
Chickahominy Indian Tribe’s use, to build school, 
medical, and library facilities and to buy tractors, 
implements, and seed; 
(17) in 1934, John Collier, Commissioner of In-
dian Affairs, wrote to Chickahominy Chief O.O. 
Adkins, informing him that Congress had passed the 
Act of June 18, 1934 (commonly known as the ‘‘In-
dian Reorganization Act’’) (25 U.S.C. 461 et seq.), 
but had not made the appropriation to fund the Act; 
(18) in 1942, Chickahominy Chief O.O. Adkins 
wrote to John Collier, Commissioner of Indian Af-
fairs, asking for help in getting the proper racial 
designation on Selective Service records for Chicka-
hominy soldiers; 
(19) in 1943, John Collier, Commissioner of In-
dian Affairs, asked Douglas S. Freeman, editor of 
the Richmond News-Leader newspaper of Richmond, 
Virginia, to help Virginia Indians obtain proper ra-
cial designation on birth records; 
(20) Collier stated that his office could not offi-
cially intervene because it had no responsibility for 
the Virginia Indians, ‘‘as a matter largely of histor-
ical accident’’, but was ‘‘interested in them as de-
scendants of the original inhabitants of the region’’; 
(21) in 1948, the Veterans’ Education Com-
mittee of the Virginia State Board of Education ap-
proved Samaria Indian School to provide training to 
veterans; 
(22) that school was established and run by the 
Chickahominy Indian Tribe; 
(23) in 1950, the Chickahominy Indian Tribe 
purchased and donated to the Charles City County 
School Board land to be used to build a modern 
school for students of the Chickahominy and other 
Virginia Indian tribes; 
(24) the Samaria Indian School included stu-
dents in grades 1 through 8; 
(25) In 1961, Senator Sam Ervin, Chairman of 
the Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights of the 
Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate, requested 
Chickahominy Chief O.O. Adkins to provide assist-
ance in analyzing the status of the constitutional 
rights of Indians ‘‘in your area’’; 
(26) in 1967, the Charles City County school 
board closed Samaria Indian School and converted 
the school to a countywide primary school as a step
toward full school integration of Indian and non-In-
dian students; 
(27) in 1972, the Charles City County school 
board began receiving funds under the Indian Self-
Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 
U.S.C. 458aa et seq.) on behalf of Chickahominy 
students, which funding is provided as of the date 
of enactment of this Act under title V of the Indian 
Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act 
(25 U.S.C. 458aaa et seq.); 
(28) in 1974, the Chickahominy Indian Tribe 
bought land and built a tribal center using monthly 
pledges from tribal members to finance the trans-
actions; 
(29) in 1983, the Chickahominy Indian Tribe 
was granted recognition as an Indian tribe by the 
Commonwealth of Virginia, along with 5 other In-
dian tribes; and 
(30) in 1985, Governor Gerald Baliles was the 
special guest at an intertribal Thanksgiving Day 
dinner hosted by the Chickahominy Indian Tribe. 
SEC. 102. 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.—The term ‘‘Tribe’’ means the 
Chickahominy Indian Tribe. 
SEC. 103. 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