Land
Acknowledgment

I have lived on stolen Monacan Land, in what is now known as Lynchburg, VA, for my entire life.

As https://nativegov.org/ states, THE LAND THAT SURROUNDS US IS PART OF WHO WE ARE; IT REFLECTS OUR HISTORIES. The following is shared from: www.monacannation.com.

The Town of Lynchburg was established in 1786. Prior to this, a settlement had developed at Bethel, on the James River, and both Indian and white people were known to live there. According to one source, “It is common knowledge among older people of the area that the graveyard (at Bethel) contains a mixture of Whites and Indians who have lived in the vicinity for the past two centuries.”

By 1807, the settlement of Monacan ancestors on Johns Creek had been named “Oronoco,” after a type of dark-leaf tobacco grown in the area. One source has suggested that the Indians helped their new neighbors to grow this tobacco, thus contributing greatly to one of the greatest tobacco markets in the world at that time, which became the City of Lynchburg. The settlement at Oronoco was listed as a post town on a map of the county, and from this settlement grew the modern Monacan Nation.

The Virginia legislature passed a Race Law in 1823, which declared that any child of an Indian, and any descendant of a Negro, up to the great-grandchild, would be counted as a mulatto. This designation was used for all non-whites in Virginia until after the Civil War.

Virginia passed its Racial Integrity Law in 1924, which prohibited intermarriage between those considered white and those having any mixture of colored blood more than one-sixteenth. This law was to have a disastrous effect on the Monacan people and resulted in many of their records being changed by state officials without their knowledge.

The Monacan Nation, headquartered in Amherst County, has survived almost four hundred years since the first settlers landed at Jamestowne. Today the tribe numbers over 2,000 people, as more descendants discover their heritage and return to Amherst to celebrate their Indian culture. The tribe operates numerous programs designed to assist tribal members and to educate the general public. It has paid off its land purchase on Bear Mountain and acquired new parcels as well. The Monacan Nation, one of the few American Indian nations that still remain in their ancestral homeland, has made significant contributions to Virginia's history and development, and it continues to be a strong group, dedicated to the survival of Indian people in Virginia and throughout the hemisphere.