After 350 years, the Rappahannock Tribe Gets Land Back

On Friday, the Rappahannock Tribe celebrated a historic win: the reacquisition of 465 acres of their ancestral homeland at Fones Cliffs, a sacred stretch of bluffs on the eastern side of the Rappahannock River in eastern Virginia.

“We have worked for many years to restore this sacred place to the Tribe. With eagles being prayer messengers, this area where they gather has always been a place of natural, cultural and spiritual importance,” Rappahannock Chief Anne Richardson said.

The federally recognized Rappahannock Tribe can trace its history in the area to before the 1600s, when English explorer John Smith arrived on their shores. The  tribe lived in at least three villages on the Cliffs—Wecuppom, Matchopick and Pissacoac—before being chased away some 350 years ago.

“My people have lived here since the beginning,” Chief Richardson told an All Things Considered reporter earlier this year.

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