No official summary available for this bill.
[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5327 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5327
To extend Federal recognition to the Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 11, 2025
Ms. McClellan introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To extend Federal recognition to the Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 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 ``Nottoway Indian
Tribe of Virginia Federal Recognition Act''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents of this Act is as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings.
Sec. 3. Definitions.
Sec. 4. Federal recognition.
Sec. 5. Membership; governing documents.
Sec. 6. Governing body.
Sec. 7. Reservation of the Tribe.
Sec. 8. Gaming.
Sec. 9. Hunting, fishing, trapping, gathering, and water rights.
Sec. 10. Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) 1586: Ralph Lane, leader of the Colony at Roanoke
(Virginia), documented his engagement with Iroquois nations of
Nottoways, Meherrin, and Tuscarora Indians--collectively
referred to by the Algonquian term Mangoaks, (also known as
Mangoags)--reporting that they possessed a ``. . . great
quantity of copper.''.
(2) 1609: In search of information concerning the ``Lost
Colony'' of Virginia, Nathaniel Powell and Anas Todkill were
led to the Mangoaks for information.
(3) 1612: Oxford University press published the first
detailed map of the Chesapeake Bay and what is now Virginia,
Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and the District of
Columbia--``A Map of Virginia. With a Description of the
Countrey, the Commodities, People, Government and Religion''--
was charted by explorer Captain John Smith and documenting 200
Indian names and locations, including Mannahoack.
(4) 1646: The Treaty of 1646 was signed by Gov. William
Berkeley and Necotowance recognized as the regional ``King of
the Indians'' and ended Third Anglo-Powhatan War (1644-46). As
a result of the treaty, regional tribes were considered
tributaries to the English government and cede much of their
territory to the English. The treaty also constructed strict
terms of segregation and engagement between Indians and
colonists.
(5) 1650: Nottoways provided Iroquois interpreters and
diplomatic envoys to the Tuscarora tribe on behalf of explorers
English merchants Abraham Wood and Edward Bland as they
traveled south from Fort Henry to the Roanoke River, hoping to
establish trade with the Indians and to discover potentially
marketable commodities. On their journey they visited the two
Nottoway Towns, Chounteroute near present day Rowantee Creek
and Cohannehahanka further south toward the Nottoway River.
(6) 1677: In response to the aggressions and plundering of
Bacon's Rebellion, the Chief of the Nottoways joined in signing
the ``Articles of Peace,'' also known as the Treaty of Middle
Plantation between the Crown of England and Virginia Tribes.
Through the articles in the agreement, the Nottoway nation
became ``tributary'' to the English king--a quasi-alliance--
that forced the Nottoway and other tribes to accept the
dominion of the Crown but confirmed Indian governments and
territories as dependent sovereigns and outlined mutual rights
and responsibilities, including military cooperation and
territorial boundaries.
(7) 1680-1690: Due to the increased colonial expansion
throughout the latter half of the 17th century, the Nottoways
migrated south along the Nottoway River toward Assamoosick
Swamp (modern day Southampton County, Virginia).
(8) 1705: Pursuant to the Articles of Peace, in 1705, an
act of the Virginia House of Burgesses ordered ``the Bounds for
the Nottoway Lands be Laid out for Them . . . a Circle Three
Miles Round . . . and another parcel of Land on the South Side
Nottoway River Six Miles Square.'' Accordingly, two tracts of
land comprised of approximately 40,000 acres were designated as
Nottoway land: a twenty-eight square mile polygon north of the
Nottoway River along the Assamoosick Swamp, known as the
``Circle Tract,'' and thirty-six square miles south of the
Nottoway River, known as the ``Square Tract.'' Legal oversight
of the reservations was entrusted to a small circle of related
and politically aligned non-Indian men who remained in control
of the Nottoway Trusteeship for over one hundred years. Their
management of Nottoway resources undermined traditional
Nottoway leadership roles, restricted Nottoway economic
maneuverability and self-determination, and eventually was
determined by a Virginia court to have violated fiduciary
responsibilities, resulting in the gradual diminishing of once
plentiful resources.
(9) 1711-1713: The Nottoway governance structure relied
upon kin-based governing bodies that prioritized building
community consensus and consisted of a tribal leader and a
council referred to as ``great men.''.
(10) 1711-1760: In an effort to resolve ongoing conflicts
at the North Carolina border, Alexander Spotswood, Lieutenant
Governor of the Colony of Virginia negotiated with Tribal
chiefs, including the Nottoways, ultimately demanding that the
Nottoway send two of their sons as ``hostages'' to be educated
and religiously indoctrinated at the Brafferton School at
Williamsburg (Virginia) at what is now William & Mary College,
in exchange for the ceasing of hostilities and the Colonial
government granting waivers of the tribes' annual tribute
payments. At one point, Nottoway tribal leadership were put in
irons until they complied with the Treaty. Subsequently,
Nottoway children attended and appeared on the rolls at the
Brafferton (Indian) School (briefly relocated at Fort
Christianna) until about 1760.
(11) 1713-14: The Nottoway and Meherrin tribes partnered to
act as regional intermediaries, buffering colonial settlements
from the ongoing hostility of tribes along the North Carolina
frontier.
(12) 1728: The William Byrd Expedition stayed with the
Nottoway while journeying to survey the dividing line between
Virginia and North Carolina William Byrd recounts his visit to
the Nottoway Great Town on the Assomoosick Swamp. He describes
them as the ``Mehogony Skins'' or the ``Copper Colourd Ones of
Nottoway Towne'' and also states that the Nottoway are ``the
only Indians of consequence now remaining within the limits of
Virginia.''.
(13) 1735: The Virginia legislature passed their first Act
authorizing the Nottoway to sell a portion of their 40,000 acre
reservation land in the Circular Tract (in Isle of Wight
County, Virginia, north of the Nottoway River) under the
supervision of appointed Trustees.
(14) 1750's: During the French and Indian War of the mid-
1750's, the Nottoway joined with the Cherokee and Catawba
fought in several engagements against the French and Shawnee,
under the command of the young Lt. Colonel George Washington.
Lt. Colonel Washington believed their service was invaluable in
the woodland warfare of the frontier and recommended that
Governor Dinwiddie recognize the distinguished service of
Thomas Step, saying ``Captain Tom, the Chief of the Nottoways:
He has received less, and deserves more than any of them; as he
used great pains to bring the Tuskaroras, and has met with no
reward for it, although he was promised one.'' Subsequently,
the Virginia House of Burgesses noted, ``Tom Step, Billy John,
School Robin Robert Scholar, and Aleck Scholar, Nottoway
Indians . . . were in the Service of this Colony, and did
behave themselves with great Bravery during the last Campaign,
particularly . . . Tom Step, who distinguished himself very
remarkably in the Action before Fort Du Quesne, under the
Command of Major Grant.''.
(15) 1752: The Virginia House of Burgesses passed an act,
empowering colonial Trustees to manage transactions pertaining
to the Nottoway land and resources: ``Many evil disposed
persons under pretence of the said Indians being indebted to
them do frequently disposses them of their guns, blankets, and
other apparel, to their great impoverishment . . . persons so
offending, shall forfeit and pay to the Indian or Indians so
injured, the sum of twenty shillings current money, for every
such offence . . . and shall be paid to the trustees aforesaid,
and by them laid out in common necessaries of life, for the
Indian to whose use the same shall be recovered.''
Additionally, an extinction clause in the act directed that,
should the Nottoway tribe go extinct, all proceeds from the
reservation lands were to be deposited in the public treasury.
Trustee mismanagement of Nottoway funds ensued, to the
advantage of the Trustees and to the inequity of the Nottoway
people (Woodard 2013:152).
(16) 1776: From the beginning of the American Revolution,
Nottoway soldiers fought alongside whites, African Americans,
and other Indians in the service of the Commonwealth,
integrated within revolutionary Virginia's Regiments of Foot.
Out of the Nottoway families represented in the 1770s documents
from the Nottoway Indian Town, half sent young men into the
service of the American Revolution, and at least three of the
Nottoway families lost family members during the conflict.
(17) 1800's: At the beginning of the nineteenth century,
the Nottoway were the only Iroquoian community in the region to
maintain continuous control over a portion of their indigenous
territory--4,235 acres in Southampton County, Virginia.
Traditionally, tribal custom had determined Nottoway descent
only through matrilineal lines instead of genetic connection.
Within Nottoway governance, this customary distinction impacted
access to tribal leadership and hereditary roles. Within the
Commonwealth's legal structure, however matrilineal descent
determined legal access to tribal resources derived from the
reservation lands. The Commonwealth's matrilineal distinction
resulted in limited documentation of children born of Nottoway
men by non-Nottoway mothers. Many of those genetic Nottoway
were documented ``Free Negro,'' ``Indian,'' ``Mulatto,'' or
``White.'' Any decrease in Nottoway inheritors through removal
or exogamy or removal from documentation as Nottoway allowed
larger amounts of money to remain in the trust because there
were fewer eligible recipients. This manipulation of
documentation provided the trustees more control over
matrilineal Nottoway lands because there were fewer potential
Nottoway leaders to counter the trustees' recommendations.
(18) 1809: A legal opinion submitted to the Governor of
Virginia by Attorney General Phillip Norborne Nicholas
summarized legislative acts regarding Nottoway Indian land held
``the Nottoway Indians' claim under title paramount to every
other--the aboriginal right to their soil before the rights of
either the King or colony . . . or of the Commonwealth.''
(19) 1820: John Wood, a professor from William and Mary
College interviewed Nottoway speakers including Chief Edy
Turner (b.1754-d.1838), and established a vocabulary list of
over 250 Nottoway words and phrases. Former President Thomas
Jefferson and linguist Peter S. DuPonceau determined Nottoway
language to be an Iroquoian dialect and the vocabulary was
published in 1836 by Albert Gallatin, who had been Secretary of
the Treasury during the Jefferson Administration.
(20) 1821-1852: The Nottoway community was politically
active, petitioning the Virginia legislature, governors, and
county courts to intercede on matters related to the
mismanagement of Nottoway funds, accusing the Trustees of
conflicts of interest, embezzlement, and mismanagement/
misappropriation of Indian funds distribution of property,
illegal seizure, and violation of treaty obligations. In
response, the General Assembly conducted audits and twice
removed appointed trustees, although the displaced trustees
selected their own successors.
(21) 1821: Nottoway citizens acquired legal representation
and petitioned the Virginia General Assembly for the Nottoway
to be freed from the exploitive oversight of the Trustees, to
restrict further sales of Nottoway lands, to have full control
over the principal amounts derived, and to internally manage
the distribution of those resources. The petition was signed by
Chief Edy Turner and three other Nottoway citizens, using their
Iroquoian titles or personal names: Wane' Roonseraw or Edith
Turner, Kare' hout or Polly Woodson, William Woodson, and Te-
res-ke' or Solomon Rogers. This petition is the only extant
documentation of nineteenth-century Tidewater Virginia where
Indian people used their indigenous language in political
discourse.
(22) 1824: Although the 1821 petition was denied, in 1824,
matrilineal Nottoway William G. Bozeman, also known as William
Woodson, applied for permission ``to hold in fee simple so much
land as he may be considered entitled to free from the control
of the Trustees. The subsequent act concerning William G.
Bozeman held that `any descendant of a female of the Nottoway'
gained the right to possess land allotments and monies from the
tribal trust and the same power to sell convey or exchange the
same, as free white persons of this Commonwealth possess and
enjoy.'' In this way, the Virginia legislature codified
Nottoway inheritance and access to materials and assets derived
from reservation lands as being determined solely by descent.
(23) 1830-1880: Trustees divided the reservations among
matrilineal Nottoways. ``Allotment'' farms of extended Indian
families were developed as private property homesteads.
Nottoway Millie Woodson-Turner was one of the few residents of
Nottoway Indian Town whose parents were both of matrilineal
Nottoway descent. Her homestead (the Millie Woodson-Turner Home
Site) was established circa 1850 on Nottoway Indian allotment
land and was continuously occupied by the family and
descendants until circa 1950. The Millie Woodson-Turner Home
Site has been designated a state and Federal historical
landmark, in 2020 and 2021, respectively.
(24) 1838: In litigation involving the status of
matrilineal Nottoway Parsons Turner and the quagmire of
Virginia's legal classification of races, the Attorney General
of Virginia determined that ``In their character of members of
a dependent tribe of Indians the individuals of the Nottoway
tribe have all the privileges of Indians. The fact that some of
them may also be mulattoes should not deprive them of this
privilege.''.
(25) 1849: Trustees for the Nottoway and Nansemond Tribes
of Indians brought a lawsuit against former Trustee Jeremiah
Cobb, a prominent local slave owner and the judge who presided
over the 1831 trial of Nat Turner. The lawsuit was a success
and Cobb had to pay monetary damages. This case is one of only
several documented instances in which a Virginia tribe
successfully brought a lawsuit under treaty/reservation rights
during the nineteenth century.
(26) 1878: The children of Edwin Turner, who was heir to
the property of Edy Turner, made the last recorded application
for 575 acres of Nottoway reservation Land.
(27) 1889: James Mooney of the Smithsonian Institution
receives responses to questionnaires stating Nottoway living in
the area near Courtland, Virginia.
(28) 1890: Throughout the first half of the 20th Century,
Nottoway citizens continued to reside on Nottoway allotments.
Nottoway collaborating with each other for labor and survived
by pooling resources between the urban and rural Nottoway,
creating a type of socioeconomic continuum of kinship between
``city life'' and ``in the country.'' The ``Virginia News''
section of the July 28, 1890, edition of the Alexandria Gazette
stated ``John Williams, the eldest of the remaining Nottoway
tribe of Indians, was at court at Boykins last week. He is
seventy-four years old, hale and hearty and works on his farm
every day.''.
(29) 1918: As late as 1918, Nottoway were still being
buried in Old Indian Graveyard in Capron District, Virginia.
(30) 1924-1930: The Indian Citizenship Act granted
citizenship to indigenous people born within the territorial
United States who were not already considered citizens. The
Virginia General Assembly passed a series of ``Racial Integrity
Laws'' with the intention of limiting miscegenation: The 1924
law defined a person as ``white'' as one with no known trace of
any other race except caucasion, with the exception of \1/16\
or less of American Indian (often referred to as the Pocahontas
exception). The 1926 law required public spaces to be racially
segregated public spaces. The 1930 law defined a person with
any trace of African American ancestry as ``negro'' (often
referred to as the ``one drop rule.''), resulted in many
indigenous people in Virginia, who previously had been
classified as Indian, to be reclassified as ``negro.''.
(31) 1948: The annual Smithsonian Institute Report by Dr.
William H. Gilbert restated, ``West of the Nansemond in
Southampton County between Sebrell and Courtland, there are
asserted to be still remaining remnants of the Nottoway
Tribe.''.
(32) 1965-69: Archeological excavations were made at Hand
Site in Southampton County, Virginia, on the western bank of
the Nottoway River through the inner coastal plains in Southern
Virginia. The site revealed remains dating to the late
sixteenth and early seventeenth century of Iroquoian houses and
a cemetery containing 132 graves surrounded by a stockade with
remains which were removed and are presently stored at the
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in the District
of Columbia.
(33) 1980: An article in the Tidewater News described that
as late as the 1920's Nottoway Indians had gathered on the
Kello farm, a portion of the old Nottoway Reservation, for
ceremonial and cultural gatherings.
(34) 2004: Citizen members of the Nottoway Indian Tribe of
Virginia participated in the opening celebration of the
National Museum of the American Indian.
(35) 2006: Family groups of Nottoway from throughout the
Tidewater region gathered for Tribal reorganization. The
Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia Incorporated was established
and structured according to historic Iroquoian democratic
principles of governance principles, including a preeminent
Tribal Council and ceremonial Chiefs. Chief Lynette Lewis
Allston was chosen as chief and has consistently led the Tribe
to develop community outreach through cultural engagements,
educational collaborations, and environmental projects,
respecting historically Nottoway lands in Virginia.
(36) 2006 October: The Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia
submitted a detailed petition to the Virginia Council on
Indians (VCI), a statutorily established advisory body on
Native American affairs. The petition requested tribal
recognition of the Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia by the
Commonwealth of Virginia and included ten Nottoway family
descendant lines/genealogies, examined and corroborated by
public records. The VCI Recognition Committee examined the
records and determined that each family line was comprised of
Nottoway descendants. Subsequently, the VCI Recognition
Committee deemed the Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia,
Incorporated to be a historic Virginia tribe.
(37) 2007: The Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia has
consistently led community outreach through cultural
engagements, educational collaborations, and environmental
projects, respecting historically Nottoway lands in Virginia.
At the invitation of the Surry County Board of Supervisors, the
Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia, established the tradition of
holding an annual powwow in Surry County, Virginia. The powwows
include intertribal drums and dancing, storytelling,
educational displays, arts and crafts, Native American cooking,
as well as historical and public service information.
(38) June 3, 2008: The Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia
established the Virginia Nottoway Indian Circle and Square
Foundation, Incorporated, a IRS 501(c)(3) non-profit entity
with a mission to preserve and perpetuate the ideas, culture,
and traditions of the Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia.
(39) 2008: Nottoway Asphy Sidney Turner was appointed to
the Virginia Council on Indians Advisory Committee.
(40) 2009: The National Park Service, in conjunction with
Historic Jamestowne, commissioned historical artist Keith Rocco
to create an oil painting, ``Jamestown in the 1690's--Changing
Times,'' depicting the Nottoway Tribe making its annual tribute
to the Royal Governor of Virginia in 1691.
(41) 2010: The Virginia General Assembly granted state
recognition to the Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia
Incorporated, including the representation of the Nottoway
Indian Tribe on the Virginia Council of Indians.
(42) 2012: Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia established
and opened the Nottoway Community House and Interpretive Center
in Capron, Virginia, which offers a dedicated space for tribal
governance, as well as community engagement and educational
programming such as demonstrations of traditional crafts and
classes on beading, flute making, and quilting.
(43) 2020: The Iroquoian site of the Millie Woodson Turner
Home Site was designated a historic landmark and included in
the Virginia Landmarks Register based upon its historical
significance and connection to the continuous presence of the
Nottoways in Virginia. Descendants of Mille Woodson Turner are
members of the Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia.
(44) 2021: The Millie Woodson Turner Home Site was approved
by the National Park Service for designation as a national
historic landmark, to be included in the National Register of
Historic Places.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(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 the enactment of this Act; and
(B) an individual who has been placed on the
membership rolls of the Tribe in accordance with this
Act.
(3) Tribe.--The term ``Tribe'' means the Nottoway Indian
Tribe of Virginia, Incorporated.
SEC. 4. FEDERAL RECOGNITION.
(a) Federal Recognition.--
(1) In general.--Federal recognition is extended to the
Tribe.
(2) Applicability of laws.--All laws (including
regulations) 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. 5101)), that are
not inconsistent with this Act shall be applicable to the Tribe
and Tribal members.
(b) Federal Services and Benefits.--
(1) In general.--On and after the date of the 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
Federal services to Tribal members, the service area of the
Tribe shall be considered to be the area comprised of the
counties of Nottoway, Southampton, Sussex, Surry, Isle of
Wight, Franklin, and Dinwiddie in Virginia.
SEC. 5. 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 the
enactment of this Act.
SEC. 6. GOVERNING BODY.
The governing body of the Tribe shall be--
(1) the governing body of the Tribe in place as of the date
of the 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. 7. 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, 2022, if such lands are located within the
boundaries of the counties of Southampton, Sussex, Surry, Isle
of Wight, Nottoway, and Dinwiddie in 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 the counties of Southampton, Sussex, Surry,
Isle of Wight, Nottoway, and Dinwiddie in Virginia.
(b) Reservation Status.--Any land taken into trust for the benefit
of the Tribe pursuant to subsection (a)(1) shall, upon request of the
Tribe, be considered part of the reservation of the Tribe.
(c) Deadline for Determination.--The Secretary shall make a final
written determination not later than 3 years after the date on which
the Tribe submits a request for land to be taken into trust under
subsection (a)(2) and shall immediately make that determination
available to the Tribe.
SEC. 8. 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 (25 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.) or under any
regulations thereunder promulgated by the Secretary or the National
Indian Gaming Commission.
SEC. 9. HUNTING, FISHING, TRAPPING, GATHERING, AND WATER RIGHTS.
Nothing in this Act expands, reduces, or affects in any manner any
hunting, fishing, trapping, gathering, or water rights of the Tribe and
members of the Tribe.
SEC. 10. INDIAN CHILD WELFARE ACT OF 1978.
Nothing in this Act affects the application of section 109 of the
Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 1919).
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
Llama 3.2 · runs locally in your browser
Ask anything about this bill. The AI reads the full text to answer.
Enter to send · Shift+Enter for new line