Virginia Tribal Nations Call for Greater Role in Chesapeake Bay Conservation

RICHMOND, Va. — Leaders from Virginia’s seven federally recognized Tribal Nations have issued a formal resolution calling for full partnership in the Chesapeake Bay Program Partnership, demanding greater recognition of their sovereignty and a significant role in the ongoing restoration of their ancestral lands and waters.

Resolution #1.2025, signed on January 15, 2025, by chiefs representing the Pamunkey, Chickahominy, Chickahominy-Eastern Division, Monacan, Nansemond, Rappahannock, and Upper Mattaponi tribes, declares Tribal Nations as sovereign governments with the right to protect and restore their traditional territories.

The resolution, issued through the Indigenous Conservation Council (ICC), calls on the Chesapeake Bay Executive Council to:

1. Include the ICC as a full signatory to the revised Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement, ensuring Tribal Nations can exercise their treaty rights and serve as equal partners in the bay’s protection.
2. Establish and fund an Indigenous Guardianship Program to support the tribes’ capacity to manage and restore large landscapes within the watershed.
3. Create an Advisory Committee for Tribal Nations within the Chesapeake Bay Program structure to guide these efforts, aligning the partnership with internationally recognized Indigenous stewardship models.

The ICC, formed by the leaders of all seven tribes, seeks to advance the sovereignty and capacity of the region’s original stewards, who have managed these landscapes for centuries.

“Tribal Nations are not mere stakeholders but sovereign governments with the same political status as state and federal authorities,” the resolution states, emphasizing the legal obligations enshrined in treaties like the Middle Plantation Treaty of 1677.

The call for a more inclusive approach comes as the Chesapeake Bay Executive Council prepares to revise the landmark Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement in 2025, potentially expanding the framework to address long-standing gaps in collaboration and capacity building for tribal governments.

For many of the tribes, the resolution also represents a critical step in addressing centuries of unmet treaty promises and land dispossession, aligning their environmental stewardship with broader efforts to restore ecosystem health and biodiversity across the 64,000-square-mile watershed.

The seven Virginia tribes gained federal recognition between 2016 and 2018, with the Pamunkey Tribe receiving the designation in 2016 and the others recognized through the Thomasina E. Jordan Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal Recognition Act of 2018.

The resolution concludes with a call for respect and recognition of the tribes as critical partners in restoring the Chesapeake Bay’s ecological health.