Va. Rappahannock Native American Tribe Reclaims Big Parcel of Homeland, Chesapeake Western Shore
- 'Native American tribe in Va. reclaims big parcel of its homeland,' Washington Post, Jan. 20, 2023. - Ed.
The Rappahannock Indians once dominated the area of Fones Cliffs, a unique rock formation in Va.’s Northern Neck.
For centuries, a Native American tribe considered a large swath of land with cliffs jutting out along the Rappahannock River in Va.’s Northern Neck as their ancestral heart & homelands. Before English settlers arrived, the Rappahannocks — after whom the river is named — lived off the rich, fertile land in the area, known as Fones Cliffs. Maps & writings of English explorer John Smith told of how he narrowly survived an ambush from the tribe, who tracked his approach from the cliffs while other Indians, armed with arrows, hid among bushes in the wetlands of the valley. In time, the English settlers forced the Rappahannocks — like dozens of other American Indian tribes — off their land, & they later faced discriminatory policies.
Eventually, the tribe was left with just a fraction of their once-vast lands that they deem sacred. But through a recent deal with a conservation group, the Rappahannock tribe will regain a last, large part of land — roughly 960 acres — along a 4-mile stretch of Fones Cliffs. The land is one of 3 properties — totaling about 1,600 acres at Fones Cliffs — that tribal leaders, historians & preservationists fought to acquire & protect from development for decades. For the tribe, leaders said, the deal showcases a growing movement across the country of Indigenous people taking back & caring for land that was once theirs. “This property has been rescued, now a sacred piece of property can be returned to our tribe & remain as an iconic feature of the Rappahannock River,” said Chief Anne Richardson.
“It means we, as Indigenous people, can return to the lands that were ours from the beginning & teach people what it means to us.”
Over the years, proposals for the land included a mining operation, & a resort, golf course & housing complex. Instead, the land has been acquired in pieces by allies of the tribe. Three pieces of land at Fones Cliffs in Richmond Co. have been bought over the past few years, & some of the land has been put under the ownership of the Rappahannocks (Conservation Fund). Because one parcel is owned by a federal agency & the other 2 will be owned by the tribe & put under conservation with U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the the land will be protected in perpetuity. Heather Richards, the Fund’s mid-Atlantic regional director said, “The conservation of it is the culmination of more than a decade of work to preserve the wildlife & habitat at Fones Cliffs & return the land to its rightful owners — the Rappahannocks."
After centuries of land takeovers & discriminatory practices, the people were essentially a landless tribe. They have a small community center nearby. These efforts restore the tribe’s homeland.
“Native people have been in the Fones Cliffs vicinity for thousands of years,” said Julia King at St. Mary’s College. King has done work in the area & found Native American artifacts. “They had a big territory & they were the most important tribe on the river. It really is their land.” - [Powhatan & his people: The 15,000 American Indians shoved aside by Jamestown’s settlers].. The area was an ideal habitat for fish, eagles & other creatures. Before colonists arrived, the people lived in villages & towns in the lush lands along the river. Archaeology & tribal experts estimate the Rappahannocks numbered roughly 2,100. Their land along the river was one of the last spots the colonists invaded, so it became a magnet for other Indigenous people being driven out of their homelands. After 1600, the Mattaponi & Patawomecks moved into the Rappahannock River Valley. King said the American Indian population in the area probably grew as it became “the last solely Indigenous-occupied territory on the western shore” of the Chesapeake.
That changed rapidly in the late 1640s as English settlers pushed their way into the Rappahannock land & turned it into plantations. Rappahannocks were forced off the best, most fertile land, King said, and were eventually left with little land of their own... Read More, https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/01/20/native-american-fones-cliffs-rappahannock-virginia/
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- Also: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 'Nearly 1,000 acres of Fones Cliffs to be returned to the Rappahannock Tribe.' Newly acquired property doubles Rappahannock Tribe's land holdings, Dec. 15, 2022. - Ed.
On December 8, The Conservation Fund purchased 964 acres of Fones Cliffs, along the Rappahannock River, with intentions of returning it to the Rappahannock Tribe. Once re-acquired, this land, originally the Tribal village of Wecuppom, will more than double the Tribe’s holdings.
(An aerial image of land along the Rappahannock River. The Wecuppom property of the USFWS Refuge Lands are shaded in red. A much larger property to the left of the refuge lands is shaded purple & designated "Virginia True Property." Finally to the right of the refuge lands is the Pissacoak property shaded in blue. At the top right is a water mark that reads "Chesapeake Conservancy." - A map depicting the Pissacoak property as well Rappahannock National Wildlife Refuge and the nearby privately owned lands.).
This remarkable achievement follows the Tribe’s re-acquisition of the village of Pissacoak, 465 acres of their ancestral homelands at Fones Cliffs in April 2022. Through the generosity of the family of William Dodge Angle, M.D., & with support from the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation & a grant from Walmart’s Acres for America Program, Chesapeake Conservancy purchased the land & donated ownership to the Rappahannock Tribe. The Conservancy also donated a conservation easement to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to ensure these lands were protected for years to come.
That incredible, collaborative, conservation success was tinged with a sense of urgency, as the remaining ancestral lands at Fones Cliffs were still under threat of development. * The Virginia True Corporation planned to build an exclusive resort & suburban neighborhood on the property. However, unpermitted land clearing sparked a series of lawsuits that rendered the corporation bankrupt. The Tribe & its collaborative partners breathed a sigh of relief (then a cry for joy) when The Conservation Fund, a national nonprofit land trust, secured the property through bankrupcy proceedings. The Fund intends to transfer the land to the Rappahannock Tribe in late 2023. In the coming months, the Service will purchase a conservation easement on the land using funding from the Land & Water Conservation Fund... https://www.fws.gov/story/2022-12/nearly-1000-acres-fones-cliffs-be-returned-rappahannock-tribe