Welcome and thank you for supporting this important movement! The Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia, Inc. is presently seeking state tribal recognition from the Commonwealth of Virginia. By signing this petition, you are expressing your support of the Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia, Inc. to the Governor of Virginia, the Honorable Tim Kaine, members of the General Assembly, and the Virginia Council on Indians.
Unjust criteria combined with one panel member, who repeatedly expresses bias against the Nottoway and who exerts influence over other members, are blocking the recognition that which the Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia, Inc. are entitled.
How close are the Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia, Inc. to being recognized? Extremely close. The recognition committee has validated that they are an historic tribe. Ten genealogical lines of current members have been validated by the recognition committee.
The biggest obstacle among the criteria is criterion one, which determines whether or not the Nottoway have demonstrated a continued existence over time. The members and their ancestors of the Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia, Inc. have remained closely tied within their kinship community. They have remained a socially distinct community from other cultural groups without being antagonistic towards their neighbors or intermarried cousins. Some misinformed people would say that the Nottoway have all spun off into either the white or black culture. In the words of Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Culture is not race and race is not culture. Recognition will signify the reclamation of culture.
This petition will be sent to the Governor of Virginia, the General Assembly, and the Virginia Council on Indians to prove that the people of the Commonwealth of Virginia and the United States of America recognize the Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia, Inc.
Please help support the Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia, Inc. as they pursue state recognition for their tribe. They deserve to stand among the other state recognized tribes. Without representation of all of the tribes, our nations history will not be complete.