Looking at their website, they've done better research than most. They claim continuous and even documented existence as a community, though the paper trail is actually a bit thin after 1850. Their membership is explictly limited to those who can prove descent, though there are honorary memberships. One thing that bothers me is their limiting their elected to chiefs to those of hereditary lines alone. Plus the need for them to only be shown dressed in regalia and to post their Indian names for all to see. Usually those two are a sure sign of people who are deeply worried they won't be seen as "Indian enough" but for me it's a sure sign that maybe they aren't. I also wondered what the heck their "war chief" does. Seems he mostly shows up at public events to smudge.
A discussion over at powwows.com had some interesting things to say.
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http://www.powwows.com/gathering/native-issues/33219-cheroenhaka-nottoway.htmlDANCINGEAGLE
BikerBoyNDNStyle
Walt Brown is a very political person. He will do anything for some time on the mic. I know that they split up a couple of years ago, and, some started their own tribe per say. Some even say that they are related to the Meherrin tribe. I just don't know how true that is.
Lapis Queen
Junior Dancer
I know that they split up a couple of years ago, and, some started their own tribe per say. Some even say that they are related to the Meherrin tribe. I just don't know how true that is.
No relation here! They want people to believe that. . . but no. From what I understand, there are some people (who will remain nameless) that got this "idea" to start this up. Where they are getting their information from from is uncertain. It's unfortunate that some Meherrin members got sucked into this mumbo jumbo and went along with it. Who knows what go through people's minds.
eap7
~Erica~
That article was interesting to me...Julianne Jennings, who's blessing the river, used to live up here in New England. She'd go around to powwows in MA and RI and tell people she was one of the few MASSACHUSETT Indians left (there's no Massachusett tribe anymore). She'd sing songs allegedly in the Massachusett language and tell crazy stories. Now she's Nottaway? Wondered where she'd gone. lol
DANCINGEAGLE
BikerBoyNDNStyle
Getting back to the original topic, the Cheroenhaka Nottoway are really not a tribe. They are a group of people trying to legetimize themselves by saying that they are ndn. Just a few years ago, the "tribe" split because some of the people did not agree with the views of the "chief". The ones that split are now calling themselves something else. The rest of the people are trying to get recognition in VA. It has only been in the past 8-10 years that they came together and said that they were ndn.
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Found a bio of their chief.
http://www.firstlandingfoundation.com/walterredhawkbrown.html....Chief Red Hawk, a renowned “First (Native) American Speaker,” has given public and, private school and community college presentations throughout Hampton Roads, Southside Virginia, Richmond, Washington DC, North Carolina and South Carolina. He has been the invited guest speaker for Native American History Month at many military posts and bases in our area – Fort Monroe, Fort Eustis, Joint Forces Staff College, and the Navy Exchange Service Command. Since 2002 Chief Red Hawk has given Native presentations to thousands of our first through fifth grade students as a means of preparing them to pass the Native American portion of Virginia Standard of Learning (SOL) Exam.
As a local leader serving on the Southampton County Board of Supervisors, Chief Red Hawk, appeared at First Landing on April 26, 2007 in “Full Native Regalia” along with other local leaders, and signed a proclamation declaring the “Year of Regional Citizenship” in Hampton Roads. As a celebration of Citizenship and who we are in My Hampton Roads, Chief Red Hawk, the first person to be profiled, appeared on WAVY TV 10 On Your Side’s weekly news report “My Hampton Roads” as narrated by Andy Fox. He is a member of the Archeological Society of Virginia, Nansemond Chapter. He is a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel, serves as Vice Chairman of the Franklin / Southampton Republican Party Unit, and claims the honor of being one of thirty First Americans to attended the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York as an “Alternate Delegate.’’
