Chickahominy people

The Chickahominy are a federally recognized tribe of Virginian Native Americans^[1] who primarily live in Charles City County, located along the James River midway between Richmond and Williamsburg in the Commonwealth of Virginia. This area of the Tidewater is not far from where they were living in 1600, before the arrival of colonists from England.^[2] They were officially recognized by the state in 1983 and by the federal government in January 2018.

The Eastern Chickahominy split from the main tribe in 1983 and were recognized as a separate tribe by the state that year, and by the federal government in January 2018. They are based in New Kent County, about 25 miles (40 km) east of Richmond. Neither tribe has an Indian reservation, having been displaced from their land by colonial settlement in the 17th century, but they have purchased lands that they devote to communal purposes.

Both tribes are among the 11 who have organized and been officially recognized by Virginia since 1983. Federal status was granted to the Chickahominy and Eastern Chickahominy tribes through passage of the Thomasina E. Jordan Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal Recognition Act of 2017 on January 30, 2018.^[3]