Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indian Tribe of Southampton County, Virginia, Federal Recognition Act

This bill would give federal recognition to the Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indian Tribe of Southampton County, Virginia. With recognition, the Tribe and its enrolled members become eligible for the same federal programs and services other federally recognized tribes receive, even if the Tribe does not have a reservation yet. The federal government must set the service area for delivering those services within 120 days after the law takes effect. It confirms the Tribe’s current membership list and rules, and keeps the present governing body in place unless the Tribe elects a new one under its own rules. The bill also notes the Tribe’s long history in the region and that Virginia already recognizes the Tribe at the state level.

The Interior Department must take into federal trust, if the Tribe asks, any Tribe-owned land in Southampton County that was acquired on or before January 1, 2007. The Department has three years to decide, and any such trust land can be treated as reservation land if the Tribe requests it. The bill bars the Tribe from running casino-style gaming under federal law, and it does not change any hunting, fishing, trapping, gathering, or water rights.

• Who is affected: The Tribe and Tribal citizens enrolled as of the law’s enactment date.
• What changes: Federal recognition and access to federal tribal services; option to place certain existing Tribe-owned lands into trust as reservation; no gaming allowed; no changes to hunting, fishing, gathering, or water rights.
• When: Service area set within 120 days of enactment; trust-land decisions due within three years of the Tribe’s request; eligible lands must have been acquired on or before January 1, 2007.