Truckin' on the Western Branch

Ceremonial dancer at Nansemond Pow-Wow. Image by Sheally

Baltimore and Philadelphia. About then a segregation law passed in Virginia, which again forced the Indian community to return to the courts for affidavits certifying their race as Indian. By this time, Bill Portlock was gone, and new county officials had little regard for the Indian community.

Soon after, Frank Speck, another anthropologist, showed up and suggested to the Nansemond people that they organize as a tribe. The people never had a person officially designated as a Chief; they always had a “chief Man,” usually a senior member, who was called upon to guide them along. Sabry Bright said that Augustus Bass was usually called upon when decisions were required. She remembered her father and grandfather at a meeting to choose somebody to go to the governor to seek help with the tribe. As a result of Speck’s visit, the people elected James Michael’s son, Jesse Lindsay Bass, as Chief. After he passed away, his son, Earl Lawrence Bass, was elected Chief. Members of the tribe served in the armed forces, and many left the old homesteads and moved into the surrounding towns, taking jobs at the naval base at Little Creek and the Norfolk and Portsmouth shipyards. By the 1950s members were scattered locally, with some as far away as California. Meanwhile, Oliver Perry did extensive genealogical research and discovered that his family was connected to the Nansemonds. He worked with state and federal officials, notably Congressman Owen B. Pickett, to gain state recognition for the tribe.

In 1983, owing to the efforts of Emeritus Chief Oliver Perry, acting as Assistant Tribal Chief (an honorary title for all the work he did), the tribe organized as a corporation of Virginia and finally gained official status as a Virginia Indian Tribe, along with the other seven tribes of Virginia. Official recognition was awarded in 1984.

Lee Lockamy with his collection of Indian artifacts. Images by Sheally

200