Native American Heritage Month | Virginia.gov

Indians have lived in what is now called Virginia for thousands of years. We are still learning about these people, but Virginia history clearly did not begin in 1607. If you ask any Virginia Indian, “When did you come to this land?,” he or she will tell you, “We have always been here.”

Recent archaeological digs in Virginia have provided compelling evidence that humans inhabited Virginia at least 18,000 years ago, thousands of years before previously thought

Starting in the 1640s, colonists forced tribal members off the land and transformed it into plantations, forcing them to move onto “reservations.” The Pamunkey Indian Reservation was established in 1646 and may be the oldest reservation in North America.

Native American peoples, including Virginia Indian tribes, were not considered American citizens even after ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment. They often faced discrimination and were denied the equal protection of the laws.