Mattaponi Indian Tribe’s mission is sustainability and harmony

Mission: Build a sustainable community on the Chesapeake Bay that will extend the thousands of years of Mattaponi history and heritage and, in doing so, demonstrate to all people how they may live successful and rewarding lives in harmony with the earth.

The Mattaponi Indian Reservation was established on ancestral land in an1658 treaty with Virginia. Situated on the Mattaponi River, the tribe was identified by the name Mattaponi and at that location by John Smith in 1607. It was one of the tribes under the famous Chief Powhatan. The treaty requires an annual tribute payment to Virginia’s governor of fish and game which the tribe still honors along with their neighbors the Pamunkey.

Fishing has always been central to the Mattaponi’s culture, shad in particular. Today the tribe operates a fish hatchery started with a grant from the Virginia Institute for Marine Science. According to their website, “Each year the Mattaponi people return millions of shad fingerlings into the river, putting back more than they take away.”

Other buildings on the reservation include homes, a church, an Indian museum and a community building that once served as a tribal school. Land is held in common but plots are assigned for members’ use.

Tribal Governance

The Mattaponi has its own sovereign government, the Mattaponi Tribal Council, made up of a chief, a vice chief and seven council members. The Custalow family has been prominent in tribal leadership for many years. The tribal roll has about the same number as were identified by the English in the 1600s, around 450 members, of whom about 60 live on the reservation.

The reservation, located in King William County east of Richmond off routes 360 and 30, consists of about 125 acres, part of it wetland, which they are hoping to expand. To this end, the non-profit Mattaponi Heritage Foundation has been formed to seek funding. Their dream of the Mattaponi:

 “Combining modern science with indigenous knowledge about the ecology of the river and bay, the Mattaponi people seek to show all of mankind how to live in harmony with the natural world while sustaining the highest quality of life.”

Pamunkey Indians seek federal recognition for the tribe of Chief Powhatan

           

The Pamunkey Indian tribe of Virginia has filed for federal acknowledgment as a self governed nation in Virginia. The tribe’s 1,200-acre reservation on the Pamunkey River in King William County is the oldest continuously inhabited Indian reservation in America. This is the tribe and the land where the famous Pamunkey Chief Powhatan once ruled, father of Pocahontas.

The tribe filed its petition with the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs on Oct. 14, 2010 documenting how the Pamunkey has remained an identifiable Indian tribe with self-governance throughout the centuries of English and American rule.

Supporting evidence

Evidence supporting its claims of sovereignty include newspaper articles showing that the Pamunkey pay an annual tribute to Virginia’s Governor every Thanksgiving to honor their part of the 1646 and 1677 treaties. In full tribal dress, they come to Richmond bearing gifts of wild game like deer or turkey along with traditional pottery. It’s said that they have never missed a payment since the treaties were signed hundreds of years ago.

Federal acknowledgement would establish a government to government relationship and provide access to federal services and benefits for the some 200 tribal members.

Open to the public

The Pamunkey reservation is about 50 miles east of Richmond and is open to the public on weekends, 10-4 Friday and Saturday and 1-4 on Sunday. A museum and gift shop sells many Pamunkey handcrafted items including pottery that is made using centuries-old techniques with clay dug from the Pamunkey River. The tribe has also constructed a miniature village and railroad depot on the reservation.

According to the Pamunkey’s website, their “museum is the only documented history of a tribe that has existed on its present homeland since the Ice Ages.”

Visitors can mapquest the reservation at 175 Lay Landing Road in King William, Virginia 23086.

The Pamunkey were the largest tribe in the Algonquian Powhatan Confederacy. It was the Pamunkey who gave gifts of food to the Jamestown settlers in 1607 and kept them from starving that winter. It is one of only two tribes that still retain reservation lands assigned by the 1646 and 1677 treaties, the nearby Mattaponi being the other.

Raven’s Roost provides rock climbing on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Raven’s Roost is an overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway with stunning views and rock climbing opportunities.

Located at milepost 10 south of Interstate 64, the overlook provides great views of Torrey Ridge and the Shenandoah Valley looking west. A trail on the south end of the parking lot crosses a broad rock ledge where ravens roost, hence the overlook’s name. Ruins of an old iron furnace from the 1800s is nearby.

The Raven’s Roost trail goes down to the base of the cliff, which is great for trad and top roping. The trail is steep and turns from south to west before reaching the base. The rock is metamorphic.  Although a bit smooth with no continuous crack systems, because of the angle of the strata, there are plenty of in-cut edges for climber holds on the west-facing side of the cliff making for safe climbs.

Difficulty on the ascents of the various routes range from 5.1 to 5.12 according to rockclimbing.com.

Bouldering is also available on the granite traverse wall at Raven’s Roost.

Elevation at Raven’s Roost is 3200 feet, 1800 feet above the valley floor.

For more pictures, see my slide show.

Rockfish Gap joins Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway

Rockfish Gap is an old junction in Virginia’s majestic Blue Ridge Mountains where the Skyline Drive meets the Blue Ridge Parkway. Visitors can enjoy stunning views at Afton Overlook, the first stop south on the Blue Ridge Parkway, or turn north onto Skyline Drive for a trip through the scenic Shenandoah National Park off of Route 250 over Afton Mountain. The parkway is free and the drive has a fee.

After sightseeing or hiking the Appalachian Trail in the Rockfish Gap area, visitors can stop at the Afton Mountain Vineyards Afton which is open daily from 10-6 (closed Tuesdays). This is one of the state’s first farm wineries with some vines dating back decades. The farm produces the usual Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon but also wines unusual for Virginia producers -- Gewürztraminer and Sangiovese.

 

People wishing to spend the night may find accommodations in the Afton Mountain Bed & Breakfast Inn, an 1848 Victorian farmhouse at 10273 Rockfish Valley Highway in Afton. The inn has lots of antiques and original heart pine floors, an original staircase and stained glass entranceway with wireless internet access and private baths.

 

A gap with a history

 

Rockfish Gap is the site of an old Indian trail that became Three Chopt Road, also known as Three Notched Road, in the 1700s. This is the trail that opened the Shenandoah Valley to westward expansion. It was at Rockfish Gap where sitting president James Monroe, former presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison and Chief Justice John Marshall met in a tavern in 1818 with others and selected Charlottesville as the site for the University of Virginia.

 

A railroad tunnel was built under Rockfish Gap in the 1850s and used by Stonewall Jackson to move troops in 1862 during the Civil War. The old tunnel – a nearby town Crozet is named after its engineer – is still in good shape.

 

Located between Charlottesville and Waynesboro off of Interstate 64, Rockfish Gap is 78 miles from Richmond .

Drivers should turn on their headlights and pay attention to the fog warning signs as they ascend Afton Mountain as dense fog can roll in suddenly. There have been multi-car pileups – two involving over 60 vehicles. Rock slides have also been reported, adding to the excitement of crossing Afton Mountain. Rockfish Gap is also known as a wind gap.  

Humpback Rocks farm museum on the Blue Ridge Parkway offers glimpse back in time

Humpback Rocks Visitor Center and Farm Museum is a great stop for people driving the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia. Located at milepost 5.8 just south of Skyline Drive, visitors can get a feel for life as it was in the 19^th century by walking the mountain farm trail which is open year-round.

The National Park Service has assembled actual buildings from nearby locations to create the homestead, which consists of an original log cabin and several outbuildings. The self-guided walking trail provides signs explaining the setting. The farm museum shows how mountain people used the abundant resources around them to be self sufficient.

Actual farming takes place at the mountain homestead in season, when interpreters are on site in period costumes demonstrating local crafts and skills.

The Visitor Center and Hiking Trails

Humpback Rocks Visitor Center offers exhibits and books about the area as well as gifts and crafts. To get there, visitors can take Interstate 64 or U.S. Route 250 between Charlottesville and Waynesboro.

Humpback Mountain is named for an outcrop of rocks near its peak of 3,080 feet. A short distance south of the visitor center is a trail where tourists can view geology and flora in the area or hike a longer trail to the rocks, which takes about 40 minutes. Hikers who reach the summit can see in all directions, and the Appalachian Trail is nearby.

Manatees in Florida

My daughters Susan and Anne arrived in Sarasota County, Florida today to visit Grandma and Uncle Andrew. They visited the jetty park in Venice and what did they see right off the bat? A manatee! Susan snapped a picture and emailed it. She wrote: "It was just one feeding on rock algae for about 30 minutes, then it swam out and came back with two friends. I was about 15' away from them when I took that picture.  It was super cool!!!!!"

James River in Powhatan County

The James River attracks a lot of boaters in the Richmond, Virginia area. Here is a shot from Watkins Landing in Powhatan County looking west (upstream).