Stephen Adkins. Photo by Dan Addison / University of Virginia



Stephen Adkins, the chief of the Chickahominy Tribe , is running for a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates.

Adkins is seeking the Democratic nomination for the 74th district. In addition to leading his tribe, he has served on the Charles City County School Board and was a deputy director for the Virginia Department of Human Resource Management.

“You have to be a consensus-builder to reach a desired outcome," Adkins said at a candidates' forum, The Henrico Citizen reported. "And sometimes the answer is no. But you say no to folks in a way that you can help them understand it.”

Adkins has been lobbying for passage of S.465 , a bill to extend federal recognition to the Chickahominy Tribe and five others in the state. The Senate Indian Affairs Committee approved the measure in March but it has not yet come up for consideration in the Senate

“The history of these tribes is intertwined with the birth of our nation, and their federal recognition status is long overdue,” Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Virginia), who introduced H.R.872 in the House , told Capital News Service. “I’m proud to work with the Virginia tribes to ensure that they are granted the recognition that they have been denied for far too long.”

Get the Story: Forums draws candidates for 12th Senate, 74th House seats (The Henrico Citizen 5/19) Indians Struggle for Recognition in Their Own Land (Capital News Service 5/18)

Related Stories: Editorial: Virginia's tribes need federal recognition from Congress (04/17) Sen. Kaine optimistic on success for tribal recognition measure (4/14) Senate committee approves two federal recognition measures (03/19) Senate Committee on Indian Affairs schedules business meeting (3/12) Lawmakers introduce bill to extend recognition to Virginia tribes (02/11) Tim Kaine: Correct historical wrong and recognize Virginia tribes (12/08)

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