Virginia Indians

Chickahominy Indian Tribe

Image of Chief Adkins

Chief Steve Adkins

The Chickahominy Tribe is located in Charles City County in Virginia, midway between Richmond and Williamsburg. This is near the area in which they lived when Jamestown was founded. At that time, the Tribe lived in villages along the Chickahominy River from Jamestown to the middle of the current county of New Kent.

Because of their proximity to Jamestown, the Chickahominy people had early contact with the English settlers. They helped the settlers survive during their first few winters here by trading food for other items. Later, the Tribal members helped teach the settlers how to grow and preserve their own food.

As the settlers began to prosper and expand their settlements, the Chickahominies were crowded out of their homeland. In the treaty of 1646, the Tribe was granted reservation land in the Pamunkey Neck area of Virginia, near where the Mattaponi Reservation now exists. Eventually, the Tribe lost its reservation land and the Tribal families began a gradual migration to the area called the Chickahominy Ridge, where they now reside. The families began to purchase land to live on and established Samaria Baptist Church, which serves as an important focal point. They also purchased land near the church for Tribal use.

In the early part of the 20th century, the families of the Tribe pooled their meager resources to build a school, Samaria School, on the Tribal land so their children could get an education. They also paid the teachers salaries out of these donated funds. Here, the children could attend school up to the eighth grade. To further their education, many of the Chickahominy students went on to Bacone High School and Junior College, a Baptist affiliated school for Indians located near Muskogee, Oklahoma. Later, Samaria School became part of the county school system and eventually the high school level was added, allowing the Indian students to get a complete secondary education in their home community. In 1968, the county fully integrated the school system and the Indian school building became the county primary school.

In 1972, the Tribal members again pooled their resources for the benefit of the Tribe, this time to purchase additional land and to construct a Tribal Center. This building is used for business meetings and community gatherings. In addition, the Chickahominy children meet there on Saturdays to learn more about their culture. In this setting, they learn pottery, beadwork, leather craft, dancing, and Tribal history, all taught by Tribal members.

Each year, a Fall Festival and Powwow is hosted by the Tribe on its property near the Tribal Center, with people in attendance from all over the United States, particularly the East Coast. This event is open to the public and serves the dual purpose of allowing the Indian people to socialize and of educating the general public to Indian dances and culture.

At the time of the settlers arrival, the Tribe was led by a council of elders and religious leaders. Today, it is led by an elected chief with the aid of two assistant chiefs and a Tribal council of both men and women.

There are approximately 750 Chickahominy people living within a five-mile radius of the Tribal Center, with several hundred more living in other parts of the United States.

The Chickahominy Tribe was granted official recognition by the state of Virginia in 1983.

Contact the Chickahominy Tribe at:

8200 Lott Cary Road
Providence Forge, VA 23140
804-829-2027