Patawomeck Indian Tribe of Virginia


The Patawomeck Indian Tribe of Virginia is a state-recognized tribe in Virginia and a nonprofit organization of individuals who identify as descendants of the Patawomeck people. The majority of them live in and near Fredericksburg and Stafford County, Virginia.
The Patawomeck Indian Tribe of Virginia is not federally recognized as a Native American tribe. The organization has never petitioned for federal recognition.
The Patawomeck people, more commonly known as the Potomac people, are a historic Eastern Algonquian–speaking tribe who lived on the Virginia.

State recognition

Through House Joint Resolution No. 150, the Commonwealth of Virginia's legislators formally designated the Patawomeck Indian Tribe of Virginia as a state-recognized tribe in 2010. The resolution states: "That the General Assembly of Virginia, by this resolution, does not address the question of whether the tribe has been continuously in existence since 1776; and, be it RESOLVED FINALLY, That the Commonwealth, by this resolution does not confirm, confer or address in any manner any issues of sovereignty." Entertainer Wayne Newton, who identifies as Patawomeck, advocated for recognition.

Organizations

In 2014, the Patawomeck Indian Tribe of Virginia formed a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, based in Fredericksburg, Virginia.
Charles "Bootsy" Bullock serves as their president in 2024.
Robert Green of Fredericksburg, Virginia, identifies as "Chief Emeritus" of the Patawomeck Indians of Virginia and served as primary chief from 1996 to 2013. He also served as president of the Patawomeck Heritage Foundation from 2010 to 2015.
The related Patawomeck Heritage Foundation is a 501 nonprofit organization, based in Colonial Beach, Virginia and incorporated in 2010. Its officers are:
  • President: Lou Silver
  • Treasurer: Mary Ann Berry, also agent
  • Secretary: Annette Schaul.
  • Executive assistant: Minne Lightner.
In 2022, they had an estimated membership of 2,300. By 2023, their membership was 2,600.

History

Robert "Two Eagles" Green was the chief of the tribe from its reorganization until 2013, when he retired and became Chief Emeritus. Green was an adviser to the filmmakers of The New World, about the colony at Jamestown and the Native American peoples and cultures encountered by the colonists. Green appeared in the film in a non-speaking role; his son Jason Green also appeared as a Powhatan warrior. However, racism in Virginia caused many families to hide their Indian ancestry. The Patawomecks provided the filmmakers with numerous wild turkey feathers and deer antlers to create authentic clothing for the Native American characters in the film. Green also portrayed Powhatan in the episode "Pocahontas Revealed" of PBS's Nova.
In 2013, Green was succeeded as chief by John Lightner. Today the tribe has approximately 2,300 members, most of whom live in Stafford County within ten miles of Patawomeck. In 2014, the tribe worked with Stafford High School to make the school's "Indian" mascot more representative of Virginia Indians. In 2019, John Lightner was succeeded by Charles Bullock as Chief.

Activities

The organization opened the Patawomeck Museum and Cultural Center in Fredericksburg in 2023. Stafford County leased an 1890s brick farmhouse on 17-acres of land to the organization for $1 a year as part of a ten-year lease. Local businesses and foundations have provided grants to fund the restoration of the farmhouse.

Status

The Stafford County Historical Society opposes federal recognition of the Patawomeck Indian Tribe of Virginia since it could find no documentation connecting members of the state-recognized tribe to the historical Native Americans who lived along the Potomac River. In 2023, the society's president, Connie Hilker, wrote: “After a two-and-a-half-year review of all available sources and scholarship, SCHS finds no evidence to support the PITV’s claim of tribal continuity … or that the current members of the organization are descendants of the original Patawomeck tribe." While the historical Patawomeck people lived in what is now Stafford County into the 17th-century, no historical records confirm that the tribe lived there much after their 1666 massacre. The PITV lawyer, Charlie Payne, disagrees with historical society's findings.