That occurred 18 years after the legislation was first introduced. Jordan Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal Recognition Act. In January 2018, the US Congress passed and President Trump signed the Thomasina E. In 2016, the 200-person Pamunkey tribe succeeded in getting Federal recognition via the administrative process of the US Department of the Interior. They were here before Virginia was called Virginia, but the federal government still doesn't recognize them. As one reporter noted in 2010 about the Native Americans in Virginia: 1 As a result, there are no Federal treaties and no Federal reservations involving the Virginia tribes.
Virginia's tribes were conquered by English colonists long before the Federal government was created in 1788. Recognition by the Federal government is a totally separate process.
Virginia has a state-controlled process that has granted official recognition to 11 tribes.
Source: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Federally-Recognized Tribes in EPA's Mid-Atlantic Region Seven Virginia tribes have obtained Federal recognition Federal Recognition of Native American Tribes in Virginia Federal Recognition of Native American Tribes in Virginia