Well the Native Americans aiming for federal recognition say no, but if I was a casino developer, I’d say yes.
Well the Native Americans aiming for federal recognition say no, but if I was a casino developer, I’d say yes.
The Pamunkey tribe is an important tribe to US history- they met some of the first English settlers in 1607. Unfortunately, they have been fighting a losing battle for Federal recognition for most of modern American history.
Their current reservation space is based on treaties signed in 1646 and 1677 with the English government.
The tribe was part of the Powhatan confederacy, which populated the area now know as Richmond.
As the Pamunkey people get closer to federal recognition, bigger names have been caught up in the cause.
“Go into the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian, at the foot of our Capitol, and there are permanent exhibits about our Virginia tribes,” Senator Tim Kaine told the Washington Post. “We recognize them as a museum piece, we just don’t recognize them as living, breathing people.”
Because Native American lands, when federally recognized, have tribal sovereignty, the states around the land have limited ability to forbid a number of activities there – including gambling, collecting taxes, and numerous other benefits to make up for 400 years of exploitation and mistreatment.
The thing is, the Pamunkey people won’t talk specifics about whether their Federal reservation- situated off Interstate 64 halfway between Richmond and Williamsburg (see map above)- could have a casino in the future.
But considering the tourist attraction that is Williamsburg, it seems like a no-brainer to extend them tourism dollars a bit north.
That’s making casino-giant MGM nervous, because they’re building a huge $1.2 billion dollar gambling complex in Maryland, right across the Potomac from Northern Virginia.
Read more about this story in the Washington Post.
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