Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) announced Monday that the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs has agreed to hold a hearing to consider legislation to federally recognize six of Virginia’s Indian tribes. The House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved the bill last May, and Webb has since urged Chairman Byron Dorgan to consider the bill in the Senate.

Webb plans to speak at the hearing, scheduled for Thursday, September 25.

“I am very pleased that Chairman Dorgan has agreed to a hearing this fall on federal recognition of Virginia’s Indian tribes,” says Webb. “With passage in the House in May 2007 and a hearing scheduled in the Senate, the recognition bill has advanced further this year than it has in the past several Congresses.”

The Thomasina E. Jordan Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal Recognition Act of 2007 (H.R. 1294) would qualify six of Virginia’s tribes for benefits provided through the Bureau of Indian Affairs and other federal agencies. These tribes include the Chickahominy Tribe; the Chickahominy Indian Tribe-Eastern Division; the Upper Mattaponi Tribe; the Rappahannock Tribe, Inc.; the Monacan Indian Nation; and the Nansemond Indian Tribe.

“This legislation is a simple matter of fairness,” says Webb. “Four hundred years after the founding of America’s first colony at Jamestown, these six tribes deserve to be placed on equal footing with our nation’s 562 other federally recognized tribes.

“Federal recognition of Virginia’s Indians enjoys strong, bipartisan support in Virginia. It is time to get this bill passed in Congress and signed into law.”

The Virginia Indian Tribal Alliance for Life and leaders from all six tribes have worked diligently with Webb and staff in an effort to advance the bill in the Senate.

“In July the Tribes honored the contributions of our ancestors during Virginia Indian Heritage Day at Jamestown Settlement, as we did throughout last year’s commemoration of the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown,” says Wayne Adkins, Chickahominy Indian Tribe, President, VITAL. “This is significant time to receive acknowledgment of our heritage, and we are excited that the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs will hold a hearing on our recognition legislation.

“Given the many priority issues pending before the Committee, we are especially proud that, through the efforts of Sen. Webb, Congressman Moran and many other supporters, we are one step closer to that historic event that has been a goal for many generations: official Federal Recognition as Tribal governments.”