It’s Thanksgiving this week, which means members of the Mattaponi and Pamunkey Indian Tribes will soon meet with Gov. Glenn Youngkin for Virginia’s annual Tribute Ceremony.
A key figure in the development of this tradition was George Major Cook, a former leader of the Pamunkey who changed the date of the tribe’s presentation of tribute to the governor to the fall to help attract more media attention.
Cook’s great grandson Erick Krigsvold, an artist who lives in the Richmond area, told me that attention is still needed at a time when Native Americans continue to fight back against their erasure from the public consciousness.
Krigsvold grew up hearing people say Virginia is home to no Indian reservations, when it actually has two.
“The biggest thing is we just want to show people that we’re actually still here,” Krigsvold said in an interview. “We actually exist, and we’re modern people.”
Krigsvold told me that effort has become somewhat easier in recent years as younger people have shown more interest in Native American culture. That’s a relief for many Native Americans after decades of having their identities denied in Virginia.
“There’s just a new generation of Virginia native people that really want to live more out loud,” Krigsvold said.
So what does the Tribute Ceremony mean in 2025? For Krigsvold, it means Native Americans are holding up their end of the bargain.
“It’s holding up our treaty,” he said. “No matter what, it needs to be done. Because if we don’t, then we lose our sovereignty.”
