(gentle ambient music) - [Narrator] Throughout coastal Virginia, rivers run across the landscape, past small towns and hamlets, and eventually end in the Chesapeake Bay.

Many of these rivers that meander through this part of Virginia are named after the storied Indian tribes that lived along their shores.

For centuries, the people of one of these tribes, the Chickahominy have lived in harmony with the land and the river that bears their name.

Located in Charles City County, Virginia, the Chickahominy Indian Tribe was a large and important community that played a monumental role in the early development of our country, and in the survival of the first permanent settlers in Virginia.

But the story of what happened to this tribe after first contact is not an unusual one.

Like all Indian tribes in America, over time, they were marginalized and discriminated against, and treated as less than by the onrushing settlers into their lands.

But the Chickahominy People are resilient, and they have refused to allow this marginalization to be the end of their story.

(gentle ambient music) The Chickahominy Tribes' tight communal bonds have remained, and rather than fading away, their modern history is one of survival, resistance, and renewal.

After years of discrimination, this tribe is changing the old narratives, and now leading the way to respond to modern challenges, while also reclaiming parts of their history that were once lost.

Just as the river that bears their name has flowed throughout time immemorial, so too has the story of resilience of the Chickahominy Tribe.

(gentle inspirational music) (gentle guitar music) In the Chickahominy creation story, the Great Hare traveled to the Chickahominy River from the rising sun, carrying a magic bag that contained the Chickahominy People.

He sprinkled them at this beautiful place along the river, so that they might live there forever.

They did live here four centuries, aligned with the Powhatan Confederacy, which was a network of tribes that once stretched across an area called Tsenacommacah, or what is now called Eastern Virginia.

For over 10,000 years, they thrived in these lands by farming, hunting, fishing, and gathering from the fertile soil and river.

But unfortunately for them, their lives would change forever in 1607, as soon as three small ships arrived from England, and eventually landed at Jamestown.

These strangers from England were a curiosity to the tribe at first, but these new settlers brought new tools and unusual items that were used to open trade between the groups.

Captain John Smith recorded the first meeting with the Chickahominy in 1607, writing down their name for the first time in recorded history, calling them the Chickahaminanaugh, which in their Algonquin language means "The Course Pounded Corn People" or the Hominy People, due to their particular skill of growing corn.

During this first meeting with Smith, the Chickahominy People provided corn for Smith and his men, and would do so often enough that future historians would say that Chickahominy corn undoubtedly saved the English settlers from certain starvation.

- So prior to European contact, before the settlers came, we lived in multiple villages on the Chickahominy River, and John Smith recorded those in some of his studies, because he was, of course, a great mapmaker, and studied all the rivers in the area.

One of the villages that he listed was Mamanahunt, and he listed it as one of the principal villages of the tribe.

- Mamanahunt is located in a strategically valuable location, and it's believed by experts to have been the seat of Chickahominy tribal government during the time of the arrival of the English colonizers.

This piece of land is without question the most culturally significant site to the Chickahominy People.

- [Narrator] When the English arrived, the Chickahominy were already well-established.

They were fierce warriors, and skilled diplomats, respected by their neighbors.

But as with many Native tribes, the arrival of Europeans introduced both opportunity and suffering, disease, land loss, and forced relocation.

- As time went on, with the interaction with the colonists, they wanted more land as they grew tobacco, and expanded beyond Jamestown, and it led to conflict, and eventually to the Treaty of 1646.

And part of what that treaty did was to move tribes from their general area to everybody living in the same area, what is now like King William and King and Queen County on the Mattaponi River and Pamunkey River.

So around 1646, 1648, Chickahominy Tribe was moved from the Chickahominy River.

- [Narrator] As the centuries passed, the Chickahominy endured the pressure of colonization, the wars of expansion, and the slow erosion of their traditional lands.

They fought to maintain their identity, their language, and their way of life, even as they were pushed into smaller and smaller corners of Virginia.

But they persevered, and held on to their legacy, and familial bonds.

(tribal chanting) Today, the Chickahominy Tribe continues its journey of resilience.

Recognized as a tribe by the state of Virginia in 1983, and officially recognized in 2018, the Chickahominy People are reclaiming their place in history, but their work isn't just about remembering the past, it's about shaping the future.

Part of that reshaping happened recently, when the 800-acre seat of Chickahominy power was returned to the tribe.

Mamanahunt known as Wilcox Neck when it was under English ownership, includes extensive hardwoods, pine plantations, farm fields, cypress swamps, wild rice, and tidal fresh marshes.

The previous owners placed conservation easements, so it remains in somewhat the same condition as it was when Captain John Smith and his crew visited in early December, 1607, to trade for corn.

Finally, after centuries, Mamanahunt is once again officially Chickahominy land.

(gentle music) - One of the big efforts that we have now that we have land on the Chickahominy River again, we want to continue to improve the land, and also to improve the river again, to ensure that future generations would be able to use the river, and enjoy the way we have, but it's been a big part of who we are as the Chickahominy Tribe.

We're river people, we come from the river, and the river was an important part of who we were and how we lived, and so we wanna continue to see that prosper, and so a lot of what we're doing now is there are efforts to try to make sure that that happens as we do studies, as we see things that maybe we can improve, the quality of the water, the quality of the land that the water moves against, it's just very important to us that now, particularly now that we have the river, we've always been concerned about it, even when we didn't have land on the river, but now that we have land, we feel it's even more important that we continue to try to improve the river, and take care of it as best we can.

(birds chirping) (tense music) - The Chickahominy River is the lifeblood of our people.

It provided food, water, and transportation, but it also connects us to our ancestors.

We've made it a priority to protect and preserve the river, not only for ourselves, but for future generations.

Our ancestors taught us that the earth and water are sacred.

Our responsibility is to honor that sacredness every day.

(gentle ambient music) - [Narrator] Today, the Chickahominy Tribe is leading efforts to restore and protect the Chickahominy River, facing new environmental challenges like pollution, habitat destruction, and climate change.

Through partnerships with local governments and environmental organizations, the tribe is working tirelessly to ensure that the river remains a source of life for future generations.

They have been working to restore wetlands, improve water quality, and engage the community in conservation efforts.

It's not just about the river, it's about teaching the next generation how to be stewards of the land.

It's about healing the wounds of the past, and restoring balance to the environment.

To help improve the stewardship of the river and surrounding land, the tribe is working closely with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, National Coastal Resilience Fund, and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science to better understand endangered species that once were abundant in the river, including a particular interest in understanding how pollution is affecting the once bountiful Atlantic sturgeon population.

- Sturgeon are endangered all across their habitats, across North America, no matter what species they are, because of historic overfishing, specifically with the caviar industry, so what happens when you take a bunch of reproductive females from habitat, you're going to decrease the number of that population.

And so while these fish are rebounding, we still don't know exactly what habitat they love, what makes them thrive, and so we're really focused on habitat restoration, or making sure that there aren't barriers for their restoration.

(gentle music) (motorboat whirring) (people chattering) (gentle music) We are looking at a couple of different things in the water today, we're looking at water quality, where we're measuring temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, and salinity, a couple different factors that might affect habitat quality.

We do know some things about what Sturgeon prefer, or try to avoid, but just getting a bigger picture of what the habitat quality is here, even if it's just a snapshot in time today.

And then we're also taking water samples themselves for EDNA or Environmental DNA.

I was very excited to be introduced to the folks at the Chickahominy Tribe, because they're so enthusiastic about natural resources, and we have some of the same passions about making sure that our resources are here for generations to come, and so it's really nice to have that positive energy to work together towards the same goals.

- [Narrator] But the Chickahominy Tribe's commitment to their community is not just about the land and the river, it's also about their people.

Through language revitalization programs, cultural education and family outreach, the tribe is passing down the wisdom of their ancestors to the next generation.

- I'm very fortunate to have grown up within a community, where my father, he always talked about the Chickahominy history, he always told me who my family was, former Chiefs that I'm related to, we have some extremely knowledgeable tribal members, as well, who are very open and ready to teach the younger generations about our history.

- We have always been here, even when our tribe was not officially recognized.

When we were forced into the shadows, we kept our traditions alive through family, through ceremony, through stories passed down from generation to generation.

Our ancestors' blood still runs through these waters, that connection to this land is unbreakable.

- We're teaching our kids to be proud of who they are, to speak our language, and to understand our history, and to know that they are the future of this tribe.

We want them to feel that connection to the river, to the land, and to each other.

That's how we ensure our culture doesn't just survive, it thrives.

(gentle music) - The Chickahominy People have faced unimaginable challenges throughout their history, but they have never lost their connection to the land and the water.

Today, they stand stronger than ever, working together to ensure that their traditions, their people, and their river endure for generations to come.

(gentle music) - Our story is one of survival, yes, but it's also one of renewal and resilience.

We are not just people of the past, but of the future.

Our roots run deep in this land, and as long as this river flows, so will we.

(gentle inspirational music ending) (gentle piano music)