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Wolf Creek Cherokee Tribe to honor native lives lost at Battle of Bloody Run
The Wolf Creek Cherokee Tribe will be holding a small ceremony on Saturday, January 16, 2016, to honor the native American persons who lost their lives during the battle of Bloody Run in 1656.
“We will start the prayers at 2pm on Libby Hill, ” says Chief Terry Price, “and follow with a few songs by our drummers. We hope the community will join us.”
The Battle of Bloody Run took place in 1656 at what is now the area now occupied by the 200 and 300 blocks of North 30th Street. The fierce battle between the colonial forces, their native allies, and the opposing native forces earned the site its name of Bloody Run, as the creek was said to have run red with blood. (See also: The Battle of Bloody Run by Tricia Noel).
Members of the Wolf Creek Cherokee Tribe, Inc. of Virginia are the Cherokee people of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Wolf Creek Cherokee Museum at 7400 Osborne Turnpike is open Wednesday and Saturday from 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM.
It was Pamunkey Indians and their Chief that died at Bloody run, not Cherokee right?
Ok this whole ordeal is seriously problematic, and would literally take me pages to fully explain all of the Indigenous politics behind the bullshit that is this so called ceremony.
I am a Pamunkey Indian person, for those of you who don’t know who the Pamunkey are, we occupy the oldest Reservation (as defined by TREATY) in the United States, that is located in King William County. We were the central leading force, politically and geographically, behind the Powhatan Chiefdom. For example, all of the paramount leaders of the Chiefdom from Wahunsenacawh (Powhatan) to Cockoeske, Queen of Pamunkey who signed our last treaty in 1677 were all Pamunkey.
Our numerous 17th century treaties with England established a government to government relationship between the two nations and defined Indian Territory in Virginia that would later be referred to as Reservations. Those treaty rights and our government to government relationship was then subsumed under the Virginia state government following the American Revolution.
This is the reason why, only until recently, the Pamunkey Tribe was not recognized by the United States government. Our treaties were signed with England a century prior to the creation of the United States of America. In short, our recognition by the state of Virginia, and recently by the United States government is predicated on CENTURIES of expressing and documenting an Indian identity through ensuring our treaty rights were and are continually upheld by the Commonwealth, residing on our Reservation, maintaining a governmental body with our own tribal laws, and practicing traditions that include hunting, fishing, and pottery making.
MOST IMPORTANTLY, for anyone who knows anything about colonial history and the Battle of Bloody Run it was the Pamunkey Chief Totopotomoy (husband of the formerly mentioned Cockacoeske) and hundreds of Pamunkey warriors that lost their lives at this Battle.
The NATIVE way would have been to ask permission of the Pamunkey Indian people to honor OUR ancestors that had given their lives at this battle.
This “tribe” is not recognized by the state of Virginia, and is listed on the Cherokee Nation’s list of fraudulent groups claiming to be Cherokee Indians. This circus of a ceremony is just a PR propaganda scheme that does have anything to do with genuine attempts to honor the lives of Pamunkey ancestors and other Indigenous people (NOT the Cherokee) who died at this battle.
I also want to add that I do not have issues with people exploring or expressing their Indigenous heritage, but when that expression infringes on Pamunkey ancestry and attempts to rewrite history in the name of media attention, we have a serious problem.
And unfortunately the majority of the non-Native public in this state (that includes Virginia’s governmental leaders and legislators) have absolutely no clue about the complex history and contemporary reality of Virginia’s Indian people. The “All Indians are the same” and the “I’ve talked to/ know one Indian so I’ve talked to them all” are seriously egregious stereotypes that are at play here and I couldn’t stay silent
Wolf Creek Cherokee bless battle site at Libby Hill Park
http://www.richmond.com/local/article_c37e7557-013e-51f5-9246-271c99ab1017.html