THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 28, 1996 TAG: 9601260270
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PHYLLIS SPEIDELL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
The Nansemond Indians are looking for a home - again.
More precisely, the tribe wants to establish a cultural center/museum, a place where they can offer educational programs for the public, hold tribal meetings and display the numerous artifacts currently held by tribe members.
More than a year ago, the tribe had hoped to renovate a small cottage on the grounds of Driver Elementary School. The Suffolk Public Schools agreed to lease the building to the tribe on a perpetual lease that could be terminated by the School Board on 30 days' notice.
``We were really excited about it, but our potential financial backers found the 30 day clause a problem,'' said Earl Bass, tribal council member. ``The people of Driver were very supportive, but the building needed so many repairs that is was not cost effective.''
The tribe terminated the lease agreement in December 1995.
``We are looking for land to build on someday or a building to renovate,'' added Bass, a Cradock resident. ``But it has got to be something that we can say is ours.''
The Nansemond Indians, part of Powhatan's Confederacy in the 1600s, had developed their principal settlement near Reid's Ferry in Suffolk. Today, tribal members are scattered all over Tidewater. The tribe holds its meetings in Chesapeake at Indiana Methodist Church, a former Indian mission and school.
``We call ourselves the Tribe of Hampton Roads,'' Bass said. ``Since our ancestors lived primarily in the Chuckatuck and Driver area, we would like to establish a place there, but we would take a place anywhere.''
Among the artifacts collected by the tribe are the relics of a canoe, dug out of the Nansemond River bed not far from Dumpling Island. Bass guesses that the canoe may be more than 300 years old.
Helen Rountree, a professor of anthropology at Old Dominion University, suggests that carbon dating might authenticate the canoe's age.
``Nansemond canoes were made from cypress from the Dismal Swamp or from the river near Jamestown and not more than a half dozen of them have been found in eastern Virginia,'' she said.
Bass also hopes that a new permanent cultural center will allow the tribe to establish a burial ground to reinter Nansemond remains currently held at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
The Nansemond Tribal Association is a nonprofit organization. Their powwows are open to the public at no cost as a community education outreach program and, even with some donations from visitors, the tribe is lucky to break even.
To make their dream of a cultural center come true, the tribe will need some help. ``We have worked for everything we have so far, and we are not very good beggars,'' Bass said. ``We are open to any possibilities.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MICHAEL KESTNER
Barry W. ``Big Buck'' Bass examines an old tribal canoe.
by CNB