Pamunkey Tribe
Contact Information
175 Lay Landing Road
King William, VA 23086
WEB: http://www.baylink.org/pamunkey/
Chief: William P. Miles
History & Information
The Pamunkey Indian Reservation, on the Pamunkey River and adjacent to King William County, contains approximately 1,200 acres, 500 acres of which is wetlands with many creeks. Thirty-one families reside on the reservation, and many tribal members live in nearby Richmond and Newport News, as well as throughout Virginia and the U.S.
The history of the Pamunkey Tribe has been recorded by archaeologists, anthropologists, and historians, and Native occupation of their tribal area dates back ten to twelve thousand years. Opechancanough was a chief of the Pamunkey, and he succeeded Powhatan as paramount chief shortly after Powhatan’s death. Modern-day Pamunkey Indians are descendants of Opechancanough’s and Powhatan’s people. Legal acknowledgement by the white man’s criteria did not come into being until the 1646 and 1677 treaties with the King of England. The Articles of Peace between Lord Charles II and several Virginia Indian tribes were signed on behalf of the tribes by the head woman of the Pamunkey, Cockacoeske, at the camp at Middle Plantation on May 20, 1677. The two major treaties with the Pamunkey established Articles of Peace, and a land base as early as 1658, later referred to as a reservation. This is the reservation that exists today.
The tribe has maintained its own governing body, which consists of a chief and seven council members elected every four years. The chief and council perform all tribal governmental functions as set forth by their laws. All of these laws are administered by the tribe itself.
Elections are held every four years, in the traditional manner of using a pea and a corn. A basket is passed around on election night with the same number of peas and corn kernels as voters. The chief is the first to be voted on, and then the seven councilmen. Each person is given a pea and a corn to vote when the basket is passed for a candidate. A corn is for a "yes" vote for the candidate, and a pea is for a "no" vote. The peas and corn are counted for each person. Finally, when the basket has been passed for each candidate for the position, the person with the most corn is elected.
The Pamunkey have some unique dealings with the state and federal governments. Public Law 96-484 acknowledges the Pamunkey as a tribe covered by the Non-Intercourse Act. House Report No. 96-1144, PW, states that "both Federal and State prohibit the acquisition of Pamunkey tribal lands without the consent of the Federal and State governments." The Pamunkey Tribe also comes under "The Indian Tribal Government Tax Status Act, 26 U.S.C. §7871," which extends to tribal governments numerous tax advantages that have been enjoyed by states and their subdivisions. The Pamunkey people have served in the U.S. Armed Services during every war and major conflict, beginning with the Revolutionary War.