Stafford’s Board of Supervisors agreed Tuesday night to reconsider leasing county-owned land to the Patawomeck Indian Tribe, but tension between tribe officials and two local historians remains high.
The supervisors voted 4-3 to advertise a public hearing about leasing 6.5 acres near Aquia Landing Park to the tribe. After the hearing is held, the supervisors will take a separate vote on the lease itself.
The tribe leased the land from March 17, 2015, until March 17 of last year, with the idea that it would be a site honoring Stafford’s first residents.
But when the supervisors in May talked about renewing the lease, the discussion turned to one about the legitimacy of the Patawomeck, an issue the Free Press investigative podcast, “The Tribe” explores. Two Stafford historians claim the group is really just a collection of White people inaccurately claiming indigenous heritage and connection to a tribe wiped out in the 1600s.
Then, in November, the board voted not to renew a lease with the tribe. But the decision came with a caveat: The matter could be brought up again if more origin information was disclosed by the Patawomeck.
It’s not clear whether that happened, but the issue came up Tuesday because board Chairman Deuntay Diggs asked for it to be added to the agenda, Stafford government spokesman Andrew Spence said. Diggs represents the George Washington District, where the tribe is based.
The chairman voted with board Vice Chairwoman Maya Guy and Supervisors Kecia Evans and Darrell English to advertise the public hearing. Supervisors Crystal Vanuch, Pamela Yeung and Tinesha Allen voted against the move.
Discussion among the supervisors focused not so much on the tribe’s status as on whether Stafford should lease land to an outside organization or keep it to perhaps be used for a county-regulated park.
“I know we have the parks strategic plan that we’re trying to expand, and I’m not saying that the tribe isn’t good neighbors or good stewards of the project,” Allen said, “but I feel like we need to start taking control of more of our land so that we can start initiating projects.”
Diggs, however, for the second time at a supervisors meeting, claimed that criticism of the tribe is racist.
“Before we even can get to this conversation, we have this other thing going on in the background, which I find the whole topic to be inappropriate, parts of it’s uneducated, parts of it come across as just racist and just disgusting tropes,” he said.
Outside the meeting and after the vote, Rick and Jerrilynn MacGregor, the historians who maintain the tribe is illegitimate, were incensed about the supervisors’ action. Jerrilynn MacGregor said the supervisors don’t care whether Patawomeck officials are telling the truth.
“That’s what is so frustrating,” she said. “The folks in here simply don’t care.”
The MacGregors’ claims are based on what they say is a lack of historical records. They contend that nothing exists in writing to confirm the tribe’s history after the 1600s, and that the Virginia General Assembly didn’t have proper records when it voted to give the modern-day Patawomeck official state recognition.
The records don’t exist, Rick MacGregor said.
“If they did exist, they could produce them and they could shut us up,” he said.
The tribe, on the other hand, has said it has released several documents showing the group’s lineage.
To boost their position, the MacGregors on Tuesday gave the supervisors a package of official records they say shows Patawomeck Chief Charles “Bootsie” Bullock isn’t a Native American. And the historians said they will continue submitting documents.
“We can do this for months,” Jerrilynn MacGregor said.
A few seconds later, the MacGregors came face to face with Charlie Payne, a prominent lawyer in the Fredericksburg area who is a member of the tribe and who represents the organization.
“Your daddy, Togie, was never an Indian,” Rick MacGregor said to Payne, whose late father, Charles “Togie” Payne, was a county supervisor. “He [knew] that, and you know it.”
“I don’t know about all that,” Charlie Payne responded. “And I’m not going to make that statement publicly.”
The MacGregors continued. Rick MacGregor again said no pertinent records were turned over to the General Assembly.
“So, I don’t understand this, Charlie. I don’t understand,” MacGregor said. “You’re probably a distant cousin of mine. My great-great grandmother was a Payne.”
“Been here since early 1700s,” Payne said.
Then MacGregor called the tribe’s existence a “fraud.”
“And that’s all it is,” he said.
“That’s a strong word, guys,” Payne said.
“It is a strong word,” MacGregor said.
“I’m not here to debate it,” Payne said. “I like you guys. You’re good people. I’m not here to debate it.”
“I’m not against anybody,” MacGregor said. “I’m against the fraud.”
Incentive grants
Faced with an issue that’s less controversial, the supervisors voted unanimously to give incentive grants of $250,000 each to LongHorn Steakhouse and Olive Garden, restaurant chains that want to come to Stafford.
The grants would give each eatery a 35% meals tax reimbursement for a period of three years, up to $250,000.
The restaurants, who have the same corporate owner, would provide the equivalent of 85 full-time jobs in Stafford, $7 million in capital investment and about $500,000 in annual local and state tax revenue, according to county documents prepared for Tuesday’s meeting.
The reimbursement grants would be issued only if the restaurants met those requirements.
Karen Fox, who lives in the county’s Hartwood District, said during public comment time at Tuesday’s meeting that she supported issuance of the grants. But she said that, when trying to land new businesses, Stafford’s government should aim higher than “entry-level steakhouses and Americanized Italian food.”
“We need development that complements our community, supports our local businesses and gives people a reason to come here, not just pass through,” Fox said. “Raise the bar, create a destination, build something worthy of Stafford and its people.”
