Virginia Commonwealth University VCU Scholars Compass Theses and Dissertations Graduate School 2020 Recovering Lost Voices: The Rappahannock Tribe and the Jamestown Festival of 1957 Woodie L. Walker II Virginia Commonwealth University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd Part of the American Studies Commons, Oral History Commons, Public History Commons, and the United States History Commons © The Author Downloaded from https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/6283 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at VCU Scholars Compass. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of VCU Scholars Compass. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Recovering Lost Voices: The Rappahannock Tribe and the Jamestown Festival of 1957 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts at Virginia Commonwealth University By Woodie L. Walker II Bachelor of Liberal Studies, Department of History and American Studies, University of Mary Washington, 2018 Copyright Woodie L. Walker II 2020 All Rights Reserved Director: Professor Gregory D. Smithers, Department of History, College of Humanities and Sciences, Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, Virginia Approved May 5, 2020 1 Abstract This thesis employs the interdisciplinary methodologies of ethnohistory and oral history to examine the legacy of the 1957 Jamestown Festival through the experiences and memories of Rappahannock people. “Recovering Lost Voices: The Rappahannock Tribe and the Jamestown Festival of 1957” adds to the historiography of Virginia Natives by revealing that Rappahannock participation in the Jamestown Festival was the culmination of centuries of cultural preservation, greatly influenced and made immediate by their experiences in “Jim Crow” Virginia during the twentieth century. This research establishes that the enduring legacy of the Festival for the Rappahannock Tribe was political influence, culminating in state and federal recognition of their community. For the first time in a scholarly setting, contemporary members of the Rappahannock Tribe share their memories of the Festival, and the meaning they give to the experiences of their relatives who worked there. Narrators include Chief Anne Richardson, Tribal Member Jamie Ware-Jondreau, and Tribal Council Chair Barbara Williams. These oral histories complement archival sources by documenting Rappahannock voices revealing how their involvement in the Festival built upon an existing sense of community, and inspired efforts on the part of longtime Rappahannock tribal members to publicly assert their Indianness. 2 Table of Contents Abstract …………………………………………………………………………………………...1 Acknowledgements .………………………………………………………………………………3 Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………….…4 Chapter One Twentieth-Century Activism….……………..…………………………………………..14 Chapter Two Asserting Identity: The Jamestown Festival of 1957..……..……………………..….......40 Chapter Three Silent No More …………...………………………………………………………….......61 Epilogue ...……….………………………………………………………………………………78 Appendix 1: Chief Anne Richardson 2017 Transcript ...………………………………………..82 Appendix 2: Chief Anne Richardson 2019 Transcript ………………………………………...103 Appendix 3: Barbara Williams 2019 Transcript ……………………………………………….112 Appendix 4: Jamie Ware-Jondreau 2020 Transcript ……..……………………………………125 Bibliography……………………………………………...…………………………….…...….139 3 Acknowledgements It is appropriate to recognize some of the many people who supported and contributed to this research. Dr. Gregory Smithers from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) provided invaluable feedback as my thesis advisor. His knowledge of Native American history, oral history, and sense of humor kept this project focused – and made it fun. Dr. Kathryn Shively, also from VCU, generously gave her time and expertise and reminded me to never forget the “big picture.” Dr. Edward DuBois Ragan, from Centenary College of Louisiana, is the longtime historian of the Rappahannock Tribe. The idea for this thesis started with him and I am grateful for his patient guidance. Any shortcomings in this project are mine alone. Dr. Jason Sellers, from the University of Mary Washington, has been a mentor since my days as an undergraduate. Without his influence, this thesis would never have been written. Nancy Egloff from the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, and Dr. Danielle Moretti-Langholtz from the College of William and Mary, provided archival material and personal contacts with a sense of fellowship that left me humbled and grateful. Dr. Emilie Raymond, Director of Graduate Studies for the VCU History Department, provided guidance and kindness throughout my graduate experience. My oral history narrators, Chief Anne Richardson, Barbara Williams, and Jamie Ware-Jondreau, shared personal memories and gave meaning to this project. I hope I have done justice to their family members, who made Powhatan’s Lodge a turning point in the history of Virginia’s Native communities. Lastly, I want to thank my daughters, Jessica and Holly, who give meaning to every day of my life. 4 Introduction On a bright summer day in 2017, members of the Rappahannock Tribe gathered near Warsaw, Virginia, to celebrate a donation to the tribe of nearly one acre of land in their ancestral homeland. A consortium of environmentalists, local officials, former politicians, and journalists attended the event. Tribal representatives included singers, dancers, drummers, and Chief Anne Richardson, the fourth generation of her family to lead the Rappahannock people. Standing just downstream from Fones Cliffs, a thousand- acre, environmentally-sensitive tract of land rising more than one hundred feet above the river, Chief Richardson called the donation, “An important symbol for the tribe, to be able to be back on the land of our ancestors for the first time in more than 350 years.”1 She described the enduring relationship Rappahannocks have with the natural environment, sentiments made even more poignant because Fones Cliffs, one of the most important Bald Eagle nesting sites in the Chesapeake Bay region, was under serious threat from development as a golf and equestrian resort. Bald Eagles have important spiritual significance for Rappahannock culture. The threat to their habitat inspired Virginia Warner, daughter of former U.S. Senator John Warner, to purchase the 0.8-acre parcel and donate it to the tribe. Chief Richardson acknowledged the team that coordinated the purchase, which included the Chesapeake Conservancy, and said the land would be used in support of the tribe’s Return to the River program. Assistant Chief Mark Fortune said Return to the River is part of the tribe’s cultural preservation efforts, educating young tribal members about plant life and wildlife, and how their ancestors 1 Rob Hedelt, “Rappahannock Tribe renews ties with ceremony,” The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, Va., July 2, 2017. 5 depended on the river ecosystem for sustenance. In closing, Chief Richardson pledged to protect the eagles and the river: Oh, it’s beautiful here. Everything is lush and green. It’s kind of untouched. And untouched is why the eagles have come here to nest. And we are here to stand to protect the eagles and their nesting ground, and the lush beauty of this place, and the river.2 There are multiple levels of significance in this moment, layered in spirituality and a coordinated effort to conserve a precious natural resource. Rappahannocks consider the eagle as a “sacred bird” and a “messenger from the Creator.”3 It’s a transcendental connection deeply entwined in their cultural traditions. Concern for eagle nesting habitat today is a meaningful extension of their historical and spiritual connection to the land, informed by modern ecological concerns. The land donation meant Rappahannocks could literally Return to the River, preserving and passing on their culture in a place where their ancestors lived long before European contact. It is also important to recognize that by this act, Senator Warner and his family, government officials, and the conservation community in general, affirmed the Rappahannocks as a cultural community with a vested interest in the conservation of their homeland. Writers like the journalists who chronicled the Return to the River celebration have been telling the story of the Rappahannock people, and their relationship with the river that bears their name, for more than four hundred years. A more complete story, a tale of humans interacting with the tidewater environment of Virginia, extends back another ten thousand years. It’s a story of the first Americans, and the world they 2 Inigo Howlett, “With Gift of land Near Fones Cliffs, Rappahannock Tribe Expands Return to the River Initiative,” Virginia Currents for WCVE News, Norfolk, Va., July 27, 2017. 3 For more about contemporary Rappahannock spiritual connections to the environment, see Chief Anne Richardson, “Life Along the Rappahannock: An Oral History Project,” interviewed by Woodie Walker, Aug. 21, 2017, at Kendale Farm, Port Royal, Virginia. Hereafter cited as Richardson, “Life Along the Rappahannock.” 6 inhabited. Geography defines this landscape and influences the cultures that dwell there. The landscape is dominated by four rivers and three peninsulas extending into the Chesapeake Bay. Like four fingers, the Potomac, Rappahannock, York, and James Rivers flow from west to east into the Bay. In