Tribe plans for a historic park like Jamestown in Suffolk

Repost of my "When I was 69" about the Nansemond Tribe

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Chapter three Native American roots

Thelma Dennis, Pocahontas Cook, Walter Bradby(?)
Pamunkey Tribe
Richmond, Virginia, c.1920
Virginia Historical Society, Foster Collection # 27610

 

Nansemond Pow Wow dancer

 

Nansemonds and Suffolk city council work on terms for Mattanock Town project

By Jeff Sheler
The Virginian-Pilot
© February 1, 2013

 

SUFFOLK VA:The city and the Nansemond Indian Tribal Association have signed an agreement that clears the way for the transfer of city park land to the tribe for an Indian cultural center and tourist attraction.
The signing was announced by the city late Thursday. The agreement broke a deadlock that threatened the tribe's plans to build Mattanock Town, a replica Indian village on 71 acres in city-owned Lone Star Lakes Park.
The city's announcement said keys to the property were handed to tribal leaders following the signing.

Going back in earlier articles shows the efforts that have taken place since the town agreed to the idea proposed by the Nanoseconds.

Suffolk returns 100 acres of Indian ancestral homeland
By Jeff Sheler
The Virginian-Pilot©
 November 26, 2010

Growing up on the edge of the Great Dismal Swamp in Chesapeake, Barry Bass remembers, he was always aware of his Indian heritage.
His grandfather, Earl "Running Deer" Bass, was chief of the Nansemond tribe. His ancestors were part of the empire ruled by Powhatan, the father of Pocahontas. They traded and fought with the Jamestown settlers and farmed and hunted along the banks of the river that now bears their name before the English ran them off in the mid-1600s.
Earlier this week, Bass, now the Nansemond chief, returned to his ancestral homeland - mostly to remember, but also to celebrate the historic return of the land to the Nansemond people by the city of Suffolk.
After a nine-year struggle, the city agreed last week to give the Nansemonds roughly 100 acres of prime riverfront land in Lone Star Lakes Park.
The tribe plans to use it for Mattanock Town, an $8 million replica of a 17th century village, cultural center and burial ground.
"When I'm here, I can sense that my ancestors are still here," said Bass, sitting under a colorful autumn oak and gazing out upon the rippling river. "It took a while, but now I feel like we're home."
Over the next five years, Bass and his tribe will raise funds and oversee the design and construction of what the city hopes will be a popular tourist attraction, drawing up to 50,000 paying visitors a year.
Plans call for a museum, tribal center, gift shop, hiking trails and other tourist-friendly facilities. The project is to be privately funded.
A key historic feature, Bass said, will be a dispersed Indian village - a series of wooden longhouses scattered around the property and separated by garden plots, just as a Nansemond village would have appeared in the 17th century.
"We want this to be a working village, not like something you see in a museum," he said. "When people come here in different seasons, we want them to see the changes, the different crops, and so on."
Bass said the project already has received some donations and pledges of support. Once the paperwork is completed and the tribe officially takes ownership, he said, they will seek grants, corporate sponsors and individual donors.
Supporters hope Mattanock Town will complement Jamestown as a tourist destination for history buffs, school groups and others interested in experiencing a re-creation of traditional Indian culture.
The tribe has been working closely for years with historians, archaeologists and anthropologists to see that the village accurately resembles 17th century Indian life in the Tidewater region.
"They are re-creating the Algonquian culture, of which the Nansemonds were a part," said Helen Clark Rountree, a retired Old Dominion University professor and expert on the Algonquians. "They had ways of life and language very similar to other Indians living up and down the James River."
The original Mattanock Town, Rountree said, was one of four Nansemond villages in the Lone Star Lakes vicinity that were mentioned in the writings of Capt. John Smith. "We can't be sure of the exact site, but the modern village is very close to the original site."
Bass traces his own roots to the 1638 marriage of Englishman John Bass to the daughter of a Nansemond chief who became a Christian convert. Virtually all modern Nansemonds are descendants of that marriage, Rountree says.
Like most Nansemonds, Bass' family scattered centuries ago and its members gradually were assimilated into the English culture.
For Bass and the rest of his tribe, one reason for undertaking the project is to preserve and transmit the Nansemond culture among their own. Of some 350 members of the Nansemond Indian Tribal Association, Bass said, the largest concentration is in southern Virginia. But many are scattered around the country.
To join the tribe, one must establish a genealogical connection to a known Nansemond. While some members, like Bass, have known of their roots for generations, some, he said, have dis covered their heritage recently and know little about Indian ways.
"We wanted this land back because it means so much to us," said Bass, who works for a Virginia Beach construction company. "But we want to give back to the city, too, and to share our history and culture with the public and with our own people. If that means being a tourist attraction, then that's what it will be."
Jeff Sheler, (757) 222-5563, jeff.sheler@pilotonline.com

The Nansemond Indian Tribe held a reception Sunday to thank supporters of its quest to receive part of its ancestral land back to build a tourist attraction called Mattanock Town. From left, Chief Barry Bass, Assistant Chief Earl Bass and Mattanock Town project facilitator Dot Dalton present friendship feathers to former City Councilman Joe Barlow and current Councilman Robert Barclay.

Published  Monday, January 10, 2011

The Nansemond Indian Tribe welcomed dozens of supporters to its ancestral land for a “thank-you” reception on Sunday.

The invited guests crammed into Lone Star Lakes Lodge for food and fellowship with members of the tribe and other supporters. The tribal association recently won its 10-year quest to get the city to transfer part of its ancestral land back to the tribe.

“I had so many people that I had to thank,” said Chief Barry Bass. “They’ve stuck with me about 10 years.”

...

Outside the lodge, small wooden stakes with orange flags stand at intervals around the property, indicating that surveying work already has begun. Assistant Chief Earl Bass said he anticipates a deed-signing ceremony within the next few months.

“We’ll have the deed-signing, and that will kick it up a notch,” he said.

...

Various other supporters included former mayor Andy Damiani, anthropologist and author Helen Rountree, tribe members, Chuckatuck residents and local business owners.

“Thank you from the bottom of my heart,” Barry Bass told the gathered supporters Sunday. “This is a thanks for you and all y’all have done for us.”

http://www.suffolknewsherald.com/2011/01/10/nansemonds-thank-supporters/

(photo missing)
Barry Bass, chief of the Nansemond tribe, celebrated a 2010 council vote to return ancestral grounds at Lone Star Lakes in Suffolk. But plans for a museum and village have not broken ground. (Steve Earley | Virginian-Pilot file phot0.

Tribe's dispute with Suffolk leaves land locked 

• By Jeff Sheler
  The Virginian-Pilot
  © January 15, 2013
  SUFFOLK
  Two years ago, with considerable hoopla, the city agreed to deed 70 acres of prime riverfront property to the Nansemond tribe for Mattanock Town...
  For the tribe, it meant reclaiming part of its ancestral homeland and a chance to showcase life in an Indian village in the early 1600s.
  Today, the property has yet to be conveyed, and the $8 million project is in limbo because of a dispute over conditions the city has placed on the land.
  The city says it wants to ensure the property is used for the stated purpose, yet the tribe says it needs an unencumbered title to get financing. City officials say a development agreement must be executed before the property is transferred, but negotiations are stalled.
  "The ball is in their court," Deputy City Manager Patrick Roberts said.
  He noted that when the City Council, after considering the matter for years, approved the transfer in November 2010, among the conditions were that the project would not include a casino, that the property would never be sold or transferred and that construction would begin within five years, or the land would revert to the city.
  "That's what they agreed to in 2010," Roberts said. "It's not something we're suddenly trying to impose on them now."
  Gregory Stillman, a lawyer representing the Nansemond Indian Tribal Association, said the tribe has never had a problem with the casino ban and has no plans to sell the property or use it for anything other than the replica village.
  The sticking point, he said, is the city's insistence on a conditional right to retake the property in five years.
  "They've got to convey a fee-simple title to the property, or we don't own it," Stillman said. "And if we don't own it, nobody is going to give us a grant or loan us money on it."
  Not all real estate lawyers agree with that assessment.
  "There's no question it would place a restriction on the marketability of the land," said Bruce Mills, a real estate lawyer in Virginia Beach. "But as long as they do something within that five years... they should be able to borrow money on it."
  Dot Dalton, president of the Mattanock project's board of directors, says another problem with the proposed agreement is a requirement that the tribe make yearly financial reports to the city even after the project is completed.
  "It's like they are giving us a long-term lease instead of a title," Dalton said. "It's just not acceptable."
  ...........
  "Some of the original boundaries went out into the river," Roberts said. "We're not interested in transferring river beds." Consequently, he said, a survey completed by the city in June 2011 shows the property ending at the shoreline.
  Dalton said that was unacceptable.
  "I own waterfront property, and my property line extends out into the creek," she said. "This would prevent us from building docks or having access to the river. We never agreed to that."
  .......
  "It's very important, and we need to do it right," Brown said. "It will be good for the city, and we want to see it go forward."
  Despite the delays, Dalton said, the tribe has continued working with engineers and architects on the project's design.
  Plans call for a museum, tribal center, gift shop, hiking trails and other tourist-friendly facilities. They also include an Indian burial ground.
  A key feature, according to the tribe, would be a dispersed Indian village, a series of wooden longhouses scattered around the property and separated by garden plots, just as a Nansemond village would have appeared in the 17th century.
  Dalton said the project's board has met with several potential financiers who have shown an interest in the project.
  "Even in this economy, there is all kinds of grant money out there," she said. "We're raring and ready to go. Now all we need is the land."
  Jeff Sheler, 757-222-5563, jeff.sheler@pilotonline.com
  http://hamptonroads.com/2013/01/tribes-dispute-suffolk-leaves-land-locked  

Mattanock agreement signed

Published 7:19pm Thursday, January 31, 2013

Suffolk officials reported Thursday evening that a development agreement has been signed with the Nansemond Indian Tribal Association, paving the way for the planned Mattanock Town development.........

Fed up with the delay, City Council voted Jan. 16 to give the tribe an ultimatum: Sign the agreement by June 30 or risk losing Mattanock Town forever.

City Chief of Staff Debbie George said Thursday evening the signing occurred after a meeting between Chief Barry Bass, Assistant Chief Earl Bass, Mayor Linda T. Johnson and City Manager Selena Cuffee-Glenn. .......

George added that the agreement was “materially unchanged,” because any changes would have had to be approved through City Council again.

“This project has been a long time coming,” Johnson was quoted as saying in a press release. “We know that with trust and our ability to work together, Mattanock Town will be an overwhelming success.”

Chief Barry Bass was also quoted in the press release.

“We are pleased that we were able to reach an agreement with the city,” he said. “We look forward to making Mattanock Town a reality. We appreciate the faith that Mayor Johnson and City Council have in the project. We are also thankful for the continued support of the citizens of Suffolk. We will make this a project that not only preserves our heritage but also is something the citizens of Suffolk will be proud to have in their city.”

http://www.suffolknewsherald.com/2013/01/31/mattanock-town-agreement-signed/

Well, now all the information I've read today is gathered here in one place.  This is good.  These people have worked very hard so far.  They still have a long way to go with plans and construction ahead of them.