Mattaponi

The Mattaponi (/lang//pron/,/m//æ//t//ə//p//oʊ/'/n//aɪ/) tribe is one of only two Virginia Indian tribes in the Commonwealth of Virginia that owns reservation land, which it has held since the colonial era. The larger Mattaponi Indian Tribe lives in King William County on the reservation, which stretches along the borders of the Mattaponi River, near West Point, Virginia. The Mattaponi were one of six tribes inherited by Chief Powhatan in the late 16th century. The tribe spoke an Algonquian language, like other members of the Powhatan Chiefdom. The paramount chiefdom of the Powhatan numbered more than 30 tribes by the time the English arrived and settled Jamestown in 1607. In addition, a Mattaponi band had long been settled outside the reservation at an unincorporated hamlet called Adamstown, located on the upper reaches of the Mattaponi River. This has been identified as Indian land in records dating to the 17th century. In 1921, this Upper Mattaponi Tribe of Adamstown organized as an official group. They have been recognized as a tribe by the Commonwealth of Virginia and own of land in Hanover County. Federal status was granted to the Upper Mattaponi Tribe through the passage of the Thomasina E. Jordan Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal Recognition Act of 2017 on January 12, 2018. The Mattaponi Indians are classified as a branch of Pamunkey Indians, who are also federally recognized. The Mattaponi and Pamunkey have an identical cultural foundation, and come from the same historic political body.

According to archaeologists, indigenous peoples of successive cultures have been living in the area now called Virginia for as long as 15,000 years. In 1656–1657, the King and chiefs of the Mattaponi Tribe signed peace treaties with the Court of Rappahannock County and the justices of Old Rappahannock County. Tribal members were to be treated equally as Englishmen in court and civil rights.

During the 20th century, the Mattaponi Tribe and its reservation have been repeatedly acknowledged by the Commonwealth's Governors and Attorneys General. The Mattaponi Tribe has also been repeatedly
identified in scholarly publications and newspaper articles. The tribe has a traditional government, the Mattaponi Tribal Council, which controls the affairs of the reservation. It holds the land in common but assigns plots for members' use, settles internal disputes, maintains tribal property, and protects the interests of the Mattaponi Tribe in relationships with local, state, and federal governments. It maintains its obligations under the Treaty of Middle Plantation of 1677 by giving annual tribute to the Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

The Upper Mattaponi Tribe were a band settled on the upper reaches of the Mattaponi River. They did not belong to the reservation, and were organized around a lead family of Adams. Their founder was likely James Adams, who acted as an interpreter between the Mattaponi and English from 1702 to 1727. The settlement in the 19th century was recorded as Adamstown. The Upper Mattaponi tribe did not have separate recognition until 1921. However, the members of this tribes are descendants of a group of Indians who lived near Passaunkack during the 1700s. In 1921 the group organized as the Upper Mattaponi Tribe, and have been recognized by the state of Virginia. During the 1920s after being officially recognized, the tribe found it difficult to maintain their culture and identity. The state Racial Integrity Act of 1924 banned interracial marriage in the state of Virginia. The subsequent legislation required racial identification on birth certificates and marriage certificates and, in an effort at suppression of African Americans, many Upper Mattaponi were reclassified as black in official records because of being of mixed race. At the time there was disregard for how people identified culturally. As a result, their continuity as a people was disrupted by records being inaccurate. Mollie Holmes Adams, named one of the Virginia Women in History for 2010, was a member of the Upper Mattaponi Tribe.