Chickahominy Indian Tribe Eastern Division
In Memoriam
Welcome to our “In Memoriam” page. On this page we celebrate the life of Tribal members that have went to be with our Creator.
Raymond Craig Stewart, 78, longtime councilman of Chickahominy Indian Tribe- Eastern Division passed Saturday October 3, 2020. His donations in time, money and materials were instrumental in the completion of the CIED tribal center. His efforts will be remembered for generations to come.
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Craig, you will be missed but not forgotten.
The tribe has it’s thoughts and prayers with the Jefferson family. Jace was a kind and gentle being and will be missed immensely. Thank you for sharing him with us.
https://www.vincentfh.com/obituaries/Jace-Jefferson/#!/Obituary
We would like to send our condolences to the family of Raymond Earl Adkins, who passed February 21. 2019. He was the last surviving child of Robert Walker Adkins Sr and Susan Adkins. Thank you to his family for their continued support with the tribe. May God grant you peace in this difficult time.
In remembrance of our beloved late chief, Gene Adkins. This is taken from the Richmond Times Dispatch, December 30, 2018 edition, article “Faces of 2018: They left their mark, and left us”
Chief Gene Adkins, 77
Why You Knew Him:
An East Chickahominy Indian Chief, he worked for decades, not only to secure federal recognition for his tribe, but also for the Chickahominy, Upper Mattaponi, Rappahannock, Nansemond, and Monacan tribes.
What He Did:
He didn’t think it would happen in his lifetime, but he never gave up. He knew that if recognition came, it would mean opportunities for education, housing and health care for his people – opportunities from which he would likely never benefit. He grew up learning and loving the heritage of his ancestors, a “landless” tribe that had no reservation, but one where members handed down property for generations to their kin. He was a charter member of the Virginia Indian Tribes Alliance for Life, which gathered resources in the fight to be recognized. He and his tribal allies walked the streets of Washington, D.C., often at their own expense, with handouts and signed petitions, attempting to lobby legislators. They got nowhere, so they hired a lobbyist. Virginia recognized his tribe in 1983. On Jan. 29, 2018, President Donald Trump signed H.R. 984, the Thomasina E. Jordan Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal Recognition Act of 2017.