Virginia's Indian tribes leave wild game for Gov. Tim Kaine

Richmond Times-Dispatch ^ | November 26, 2009 | Jim Nolan

[HokieMom]

VIRGINIA, Va. --

It's probably the last time that Timothy M. Kaine will step outside his house in the morning to find two dead deer and a turkey on his doorstep.

But yesterday, the outgoing Virginia governor and his wife, first lady Anne Holton, stood outside the Executive Mansion in Richmond to preside over a Thanksgiving tradition that dates to the late 1600s -- Virginia's Indian tribes paying tribute to the governor.

On a damp and gray but mild morning, Kaine welcomed about 200 people, including members of several generations of Indians in traditional garb, as well as Capitol Square tourists and the families of state workers.

The annual gift of wild game commemorates the peace treaty with Virginia's Indian tribes that was signed by England's King Charles II and royal governor Herbert Jeffreys in 1677.

Kaine thanked tribe members -- "the first Virginians," whose ancestors greeted the first European settlers to Jamestown in 1607 and forged bonds of friendship and cooperation that helped them take root in the New World.

And the governor, who during his term has been an ardent supporter of efforts by the Virginia tribes to gain federal recognition, expressed optimism that it would happen before he leaves office in mid-January.

"This relationship is one of the things I give thanks for," he told the crowd.

A bill sponsored by Reps. James P. Moran, D-8th, and Robert J. Wittman, R-1st, cleared the U.S. House of Representatives this year. The legislation, slightly modified, is being carried in the Senate by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., where it recently cleared a committee on a voice vote.

Kaine, who has testified before Congress on behalf of the tribes, has called the federal government's failure to grant recognition a "grave injustice" that needs to be remedied.

[HokieMom]

Virginia Tribes: Recognition

When Capt. John Smith walked ashore at Jamestown, he did not encounter an uninhabited land. Indians preceded him. Numerous place names and other references attest to the Indian presence. Yet except for the retelling of quaint stories about Pocahontas, Virginia long pushed its original residents out of sight and mind. For the commonwealth’s tribes, federal recognition at least symbolically would help to correct the record.

Legislation to confer tribal recognition is working its way through Congress, and is given its best chance for success ever. Fears that recognition could lead to casinos apparently have been overcome.

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