119-hr4750

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4750 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

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119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 4750

 To extend Federal recognition to the Patawomeck Indian Tribe of 
 Virginia, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 July 23, 2025

 Mr. Vindman (for himself and Mr. Wittman) introduced the following 
 bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To extend Federal recognition to the Patawomeck 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.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Patawomeck Indian Tribe of Virginia 
Federal Recognition Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

 Congress finds as follows:

    (1) The Patawomeck, or Patawomeke, Tribe, also referred to 
 as the Potomac Tribe, Potomac Band, Patamacks, and White Oakers 
 was situated in and around Indian Point and Pasapatanzy in what 
 are now Stafford and King George Counties, Virginia, and 
 occupied a prominent place in the documented history of the 
 first half-century of European contact with the Native 
 Virginians.

    (2) In 1608, Captain John Smith visited the village of 
 Patawomeke between Potomac and Accokeek Creeks. The population 
 of the Tribe was estimated at about 800, with 160 bowmen. 
 Around this same time, Smith also visited and recorded the 
 Patawomeck villages at Passapatanzy, Quiyough, and other small 
 Patawomeck hamlets in the area.

    (3) In 1610, Japazaw, brother of the Patawomeck weroance, 
 related the Patawomeck creation story to Captain Samuel Argall, 
 the only surviving Virginia Algonquian creation story recorded 
 by the English.

    (4) In 1642, Patawomeck weroance, Wahanganoche, and his 
 family were baptized into the Christian faith by Father Andrew 
 White.

    (5) In 1662, Wahanganoche was issued a silver badge by the 
 King of England to wear for safety when traveling across 
 English lands and as an acknowledgement of Patawomeck 
 sovereignty. The weroance was acquitted of charges of high 
 treason and murder brought against him by Captain Giles Brent 
 at the General Assembly in James City that year, but died on 
 his way home, or shortly after his arrival.

    (6) In July 1666, the General Council of Virginia declared 
 war on the Patawomecks. Most of the men were killed and most of 
 the women and children, who were not already living in English 
 families, were captured as slaves. Others likely joined with 
 nearby existing Indian groups such as the Doegs, Nanzaticos, 
 and Portobagos.

    (7) In 1680, King Pattanochus signs the Treaty of Middle 
 Plantation of behalf of the ``Nansatiocoes, Nanzemunds, and 
 Portabacchoes''. By this time, displaced Patawomecks are living 
 among these groups of people.

    (8) In 1692, A reference to payment for Rangers in Stafford 
 County notes the presence of ``two Indians belonging to 
 Stafford'' in the detachment, illustrating the continued 
 presence within the area of Patawomeck ancestors.

    (9) Through most of the 1700s the Patawomeck community 
 lived in the Northern Neck, moving as necessary. Portions of 
 the community settled near the area known as Indian Town in 
 modern-day King George County.

    (10) In 1789, White Oak church was established. This 
 church, which still stands, became a significant space that 
 facilitated the continued interaction of members of the 
 Patawomeck community who attended well into the 1900s and used 
 the regular meeting opportunities as venues to pass down and 
 maintain Tribal knowledge and traditions, meet suitable 
 Patawomeck marriage partners, and conduct business in formal 
 and informal ways. Generations of Patawomeck ancestors account 
 for the vast majority of the interments in the cemetery, 
 including members with the surnames of Newton, Green, Curtis, 
 Jett, and Monteith.

    (11) By the early 1800s, the majority of the Patawomeck 
 community had again coalesced in the area of Stafford County 
 known as White Oak, with some members living in nearby 
 Passapatanzy, in King George County, only a few miles from the 
 locations of their ancestral villages, dating back to the 
 1300s.

    (12) In 1832, Wahanganoche's badge was found at Camden, in 
 Caroline County, a well-known location of coalescent Indian 
 communities and the likely location of a portion of the 
 Patawomeck community in the late 1600s.

    (13) During the United States Civil War, vandalism, 
 courthouse fires, and other disasters destroyed many of the 
 records within the Stafford and King George County courthouses, 
 serving to reduce the archival footprint of the Patawomecks 
 within their historic areas of habitation.

    (14) In the late 1910s and 1920s, the anthropologist Frank 
 Speck, visited the Patawomeck community to take photographs, 
 conduct interviews, and collect objects related to Indigenous 
 heritage, noting that the ``northern divisions of the 
 [Powhatan] Confederacy are represented by descendants on 
 Potomac Creek in King George county . . .''. Since this time, 
 partnerships have existed between the Tribe and researchers 
 from institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution, the 
 University of Pennsylvania, the College of William and Mary, 
 American University, the University of Mary Washington, and 
 Santa Clara University.

    (15) In 1924, Virginia passed the Racial Integrity Act 
 which removed the category of Indian identity from official 
 records. Instead, all people were required to be identified as 
 White or colored. This law, in addition to other aspects of the 
 racialized society that existed in Virginia starting in the 
 late 1600s, effectively erased Virginia Indians from the 
 official records of the Commonwealth until the middle of the 
 1900s, amounting to a paper genocide.

    (16) In the 1930s and 1940s, at least 722 Patawomeck 
 ancestors were taken from their graves under the guise of 
 archaeological research. Many of these ancestors were discarded 
 by the excavators. The remainder, numbering well over 200 
 individuals, are currently held by the Smithsonian Institution.

    (17) In 1954, Elizabeth Newton of the Patawomecks married 
 O.T. Custalow, Chief of the Mattaponis.

    (18) In 1996, the contemporary and formal reorganization of 
 the Patawomeck Tribe took place with the adoption of a written 
 constitution.

    (19) In 2006, in partnership with linguists the Patawomecks 
 began to work on reconstructing their native Algonquin language 
 and sharing it with other Tribes and fellow Virginians. Since 
 that time the Patawomecks have taught, transcribed, greatly 
 enhanced the common Algonquin dictionary, and educated hundreds 
 of Virginians in classroom settings.

    (20) In February 2010, The Patawomecks received official 
 recognition from the Commonwealth of Virginia after years of 
 hard work by Tribal members and anthropologists at the College 
 of William and Mary.

    (21) The Patawomeck Tribe resides in Spotsylvania County, 
 Virginia.

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 enactment of this Act; and
        (B) an individual who has been placed on the 
 membership rolls of the Tribe in accordance with this 
 title.

    (3) Tribe.--The term ``Tribe'' means the Patawomeck Indian 
 Tribe.

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 et seq.)) 
 that are not inconsistent with this title shall be applicable 
 to the Tribe and Tribal members.

    (b) Federal Services and Benefits.--

    (1) In general.--On and after the date of 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 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 King 
 George County, Spotsylvania County, and Stafford County, 
 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 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 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 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 King George County, Spotsylvania County, or Stafford 
County, Virginia.

    (b) Deadline for Determination.--The Secretary shall make a final 
written determination not later than 3 years of the date which the 
Tribe submits a request for land to be taken into trust under 
subsection

    (a)

    (1) and shall immediately make that determination 
available to the Tribe.
            (c) Reservation Status.--Any land taken into trust for the benefit 
of the Tribe pursuant to this paragraph shall, upon request of the 
Tribe, be considered part of the reservation of the Tribe.
            (d) 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. 8. 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. 9. EMINENT DOMAIN.

 Eminent domain may not be used to acquire lands for a Tribe 
recognized under this Act.
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