WASHINGTON (WAVY) — More than $1.4 million in federal funding is headed to four Native American tribes in Virginia to support affordable housing initiatives.
U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner announced the funding in a news release Thursday.
The funding will support the tribes’ housing development, housing services, crime prevention and safety, and other affordable housing activities.
“These past two years have been difficult for all of us, with some of the most extreme pandemic impacts falling on tribal communities,” the senators said in a prepared statement in the news release. “It’s critical that we not only respect their sovereignty and self-determination, but help them access resources to address urgent issues, like the affordable housing crisis.”
The funding came through the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Indian Housing Block Grant program.
Here’s which tribes will get funding, and how much:
- $327,533 for Chickahominy Indian Tribe in Providence Forge
- $86,178 for Chickahominy Indian Tribe-Eastern Division in Providence Forge
- $409,437 for Monacan Indian Nation in Madison Heights
- $220,655 for Upper Mattaponi Indian Tribe in King William
- $184,484 for Nansemond Indian Nation in Suffolk
- $86,095 for Pamunkey Indian Tribe in King William
- $88,003 for Rappahannock Tribe in Indian Neck
The Pamunkey Indian Tribe was the first in Virginia to be federally recognized, opening up the opportunity to benefit from federal programs. The decision was announced by the United States Department of the Interior on July 2, 2015, and the decision date was effective Jan. 28, 2016.
In 2016, Warner and Kaine led an effort to federally recognize six other tribes in Virginia, including the Chickahominy, Eastern Chickahominy, Upper Mattaponi, Rappahannock, Monacan, and Nansemond. The Thomasina E. Jordan Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal Recognition Act was signed into law on Jan. 30, 2018.
