Virginia SR 139: Commending the Mathomank Village Tribe.

Bill Text

Bill Tracking - 2017 session > Legislation 

• 
• 

• Virginia General Assembly
• LIS Home
• LIS Help
• Privacy Statement
• Live Help 

• LIS Classic
• Login

SEARCH SITE

QUICK LINKS 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
Log in 
LIS Home 
General Assembly Home 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
Session Tracking: 
Bills & Resolutions 
Members 
Committees 
Meetings 
Calendars 
Communications 
House Minutes 
Senate Minutes 
Statistics 
Lobbyist-in-a-Box 
Personal lists 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
Search: 
Code of Virginia 
Administrative Code 
Bills & Resolutions 
Summaries 

OTHER SESSIONS 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
2023 Session 
2022 Session 
2022 Special Session I 
2021 Session 
2021 Special Session I 
2021 Special Session II 
2020 Session 
2020 Special Session I 
2019 Session 
2019 Special Session I 
2018 Session 
2018 Special Session I 
2018 Special Session II 
2017 Session 
2016 Session 
2015 Session 
2015 Special Session I 
2014 Session 
2014 Special Session I 
2013 Session 
2013 Special Session I 
2012 Session 
2012 Special Session I 
2011 Session 
2011 Special Session I 
2010 Session 
2009 Session 
2009 Special Session I 
2008 Session 
2008 Special Session I 
2008 Special Session II 
2007 Session 
2006 Session 
2006 Special Session I 
2005 Session 
2004 Session 
2004 Special Session I 
2004 Special Session II 
2003 Session 
2002 Session 
2001 Session 
2001 Special Session I 
2000 Session 
1999 Session 
1998 Session 
1998 Special Session I 
1997 Session 
1996 Session 
1995 Session 
1994 Session 
1994 Special Session I 
1994 Special Session II 

VIRGINIA LAW PORTAL

• Code of Virginia
• Virginia Administrative Code 

• Constitution of Virginia
• Charters
• Authorities
• Compacts 

• Uncodified Acts
• RIS Users (account required) 
SEARCHABLE DATABASES

• Bills & Resolutions
session legislation
• Bill Summaries
session summaries 

• Reports to the General Assembly
House and Senate documents 

• Legislative Liaisons
State agency contactsACROSS SESSIONS

• Subject Index: Since 1995
• Bills & Resolutions: Since 1994
• Summaries: Since 1994 
Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.

2017 SESSION

• history | 
pdf | 
print version 
17105242D

SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 139 

Offered February 8, 2017 

Commending the Mathomank Village Tribe. 
---------- 

Patron-- Lucas 

---------- 

Referred to Committee on Rules 

---------- 

WHEREAS, the Mathomank Village Tribe has a rich heritage in 
 what is now Isle of Wight County, and its members have made many valuable 
 contributions to life in the Commonwealth over the course of more than 445 
 years of documented history; and

WHEREAS, the Mathomank Village Tribe traces its roots to the 
 village of Mathomank, the capital of the Warraskoyack Tribe, which was one of 
 the 30 tribes forming the Powhatan Empire; the tribe�s territory was located 
 south of James River, and Warraskoyack means �point at the end of a river� in 
 the Algonquian language; and 

WHEREAS, in 1571, a missionary named Robert Poole settled on 
 Mulberry Island in Warraskoyack territory; after the St. Bartholomew�s Day 
 Massacre in France in 1572, many French Huguenots fled to the area as refugees, 
 and Robert Poole established the Rushmere community in 1582; and 

WHEREAS, in 1607, the English explorer John Smith encountered 
 the Warraskoyack Tribe while mapping the shore of the James River, and he was 
 welcomed into Mathomank when he returned to the area in 1608, 1610, and 1611; 
 and 

WHEREAS, during the Anglo-Powhatan Wars, Mathomank was burned 
 and destroyed by the English in 1622, but many of its inhabitants fled away 
 from the shorelines and sought shelter with other tribes; Chippokes Plantation 
 State Park is named after a respected chief of the Quioughcohannock who was 
 killed during the massacre at Mathomank; and 

WHEREAS, the Hughes family arrived in the area in 1624, and by 
 1642, members of the Bailey, Hughes, Johnson, King, Poole, and Rowlett families 
 served as interpreters in the area and lived among the Native Americans in what 
 had by then been renamed as Isle of Wight County; and 

WHEREAS, around this time, John King and others successfully 
 negotiated on behalf of the Warraskoyack Tribe to achieve licenses allowing the 
 members of the tribe to farm, fish, and hunt freely in the area; and 

WHEREAS, in the late 1600s, Isle of Wight County adopted the 
 Act of Tolerance to allow cohabitation between Native Americans and European 
 settlers, and the inhabitants of the reformed Mathomank village embraced their 
 cultural diversity, incorporating traditional practices with new techniques and 
 technologies from the English and the French; in 1690, Ferguson Wharf was 
 established as the Warraskoyack port at Mathomank; and

WHEREAS, members of the Warraskoyack Tribe taught E. M. Todd 
 the art of preserving hog products with salt, and the information spread 
 throughout the local settlements, giving rise to the region�s proud tradition 
 in ha