Virginia Indians

Monacan Indian Nation

Chief Kenneth Branham

Bear Mountain in Amherst County, Virginia has been the home of the Monacan people for more than 10,000 years. Archaeological studies reveal that Monacans had been cultivating corn and other crops for more than 900 years before the colonists arrived in Virginia.

Early written histories record that in 1607 the Monacans (along with their Mannahoac allies) controlled the area between the Fall Line of the rivers near Richmond and Fredericksburg, west to the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The most western of Virginia's eight state-recognized tribes, the Monacans are outside the original Powhatan empire and represent the Siouan language system and culture.

The Monacans, with more than 1400 members, are involved in the struggle to preserve their heritage and customs. St. Paul's Episcopal Mission, at Bear Mountain, is the site of their ancestral museum and cultural center. The land on which the tribal center sits was returned to the Monacan Nation by the Episcopal Diocese in 1995, ending nearly a century of church-control over a small tract held sacred by the Monacans.

Since that time, the tribe has purchased more than 100 acres on Bear Mountain and has obtained two other parcels of land in the area. Tribal members have begun a cultural education program, an Elders program, and a tribal scholarship fund. They have obtained numerous grants to fund their projects, totaling more than $500,000, and they have established a unique partnership with Natural Bridge to build an interpretive village representing Monacan culture in the 1700s.

The tribe holds an annual powwow in May of each year, and a Homecoming event on the first Saturday of October. The Monacans are at the forefront of a movement to reclaim their heritage.

State recognized: February 14, 1989

Contact the Monacan Indian Nation at:

P.O. Box 1136
Madison Heights, VA 24572
804-946-0389