Kenneth Branham – C-VILLE Weekly

After years of public outcry, the James River Water Authority has abandoned its plans to build a water intake and pump station at Rassawek, the historic capital of the Monacan Indian Nation.

Last week, the authority—a partnership between Fluvanna and Louisa counties—unanimously voted to apply for permits for an alternative project site, located about two miles upstream from Rassawek. JRWA has also agreed to transfer ownership of its portion of Rassawek to the Nation.

During a virtual press conference last week, Monacan Tribal Chief Kenneth Branham, along with attorneys Greg and Marion Werkheiser of Cultural Heritage Partners, celebrated the long-awaited victory, and reflected on the painful battle to protect the historical and cultural site.

“This has been a long road,” said Branham. “We are glad to be moving forward in a spirit of cooperation, to ensure the citizens get their drinking water, and our ancestral capital of Rassawek and the burials of our ancestors are protected.”

Located in Fluvanna County, Rassawek has been an important site for the Monacan Indian Nation for over 4,000 years. British colonist John Smith included Rassawek in his 1612 map of Virginia, and the Smithsonian Institution documented the archaeological resources and human burials at Rassawek beginning in the 1880s.

Before Europeans colonized North America and committed genocide against Indigenous peoples, the Monacans occupied around half of what is now Virginia. Today, the Nation—with around 2,600 citizens—is the largest federally recognized tribe in the state.

In 2014, the JRWA began planning to build a water pump station and pipeline, which would eventually serve the growing Zion Crossroads area, on top of Rassawek. Though the state’s department of historic resources, preservation groups, and archaeologists warned them about Rassawek’s historical and cultural significance, the authority purchased land at the site in 2016.

JRWA did not alert the Monacan Indian Nation of its plans until 2017. The following year, the tribe hired legal counsel, who discovered through public records that the authority had 13 alternative sites for the project from the beginning—but wanted to cut costs by building it on top of Rassawek.

“The tribe had been told that the water authority had looked at a bunch of alternatives and determined that none of them were viable,” explained Greg Werkheiser. “What we discovered when we went in and did a request to the public records…was that, very freely in these documents, the water authority’s advisors were saying ‘yes, there are other viable sites but let’s go with the cheap one.’”

After the water authority applied for a permit in 2020, more than 12,000 individuals and organizations spoke out in support of the Monacans. The National Trust for Historic Preservation put Rassawek on its annual list of America’s most endangered historic places, rallying even more support for the cause.

“We are all caretakers of human stories. If saving Monacan history was the only business of the Monacan people, then Rassawek would have been lost a long time ago. But with citizens and leaders of all walks of life and backgrounds, many non-Monacans saw the fight for our history as their fight,” said Branham. “It’s only by preserving stories…that we can make a strong society.”

The same year, the state disqualified JRWA’s archaeologist, and the tribe filed a lengthy complaint with the Army Corps of Engineers, detailing why the project should not be legally permitted.

In light of this strong public outcry, JRWA brought the project to a halt in August 2020, and agreed to look into alternative options. It hired archaeologists approved by the Nation to ensure there were no human remains at the second site, which already has a road nearby. “If there were archaeological remains there, they were undoubtedly destroyed when that roadway was put in,” said Greg Werkheiser.

The archaeologists confirmed there were no burials at the alternative site last December, and the Nation agreed to officially support building there. JRWA plans to apply for a new permit for the alternative site this spring.

During the press conference, the attorneys reflected on Virginia’s long, painful history of oppressing Indigenous peoples. In the early 20th century, Walter Plecker—a physician, eugenicist, and white supremacist—headed Virginia’s Bureau of Vital Statistics, and helped to pass the Racial Integrity Act of 1924. In addition to criminalizing interracial marriage, the law required every newborn child be classified either as “White” or “Colored,” aiming to erase Indigenous peoples and their identity. State registrars changed birth certificates from “Indian” to “Colored,” and Indigenous peoples were banned from white schools, hospitals, and other public areas.

Branham briefly shared the struggles he faced growing up in Amherst County, thanks to Plecker’s eugenicist efforts. He and his siblings all had different races on their birth certificates, and were not allowed to attend public school until 1962—eight years after Brown v. Board of Education.

“People put us down and didn’t take the time to get to know us. We are proud of who we are,” said Branham.

Decades of erasure made it extremely difficult for Virginia’s tribes to meet the strict criteria for federal recognition. Six Virginia tribes—including the Monacans—did not win federal recognition until 2018.

Last fall, former Virginia governor Ralph Northam issued an executive order requiring the state to consult with tribes on permits that could affect their environmental, historic, and cultural resources. It will remain in effect unless Governor Glenn Youngkin amends or rescinds it. During this year’s General Assembly session, a bill codifying the requirement into state law passed the Democratic-majority state senate, but stalled in the Republican-majority House of Representatives. The House Agriculture Committee agreed to discuss the bill again next year.

“The fight to save Rassawek is one of the first instances in which a Virginia tribe has drawn a hard line in the sand and leveraged its new federal recognition status,” said Greg Werkheiser. “It will not be the last time a tribe draws a line in the sand.”

The attorneys expressed hope that the victory at Rassawek will help other tribes to preserve their land and resources nationwide, and stressed the importance of using multiple strategies at once to win the battle.

“It was not legal arguments, political lobbying, grassroots advocacy, public and media messaging, or coalition building alone that resulted in success—it was an all-of-the-above strategy,” said Greg Werkheiser. “Citizen volunteers proved indispensable.”

“This resolution reveals the false choice between preservation and development,” added Marion Werkheiser. “Early and honest dialogue with tribal nations and other potentially impacted communities can identify concerns, speed development, and avoid unnecessary project costs and delays.”

According to the attorneys, the Rassawek site is owned by multiple people. Cultural Heritage Partners will facilitate conversations between the tribe and other landowners, and develop a long-term plan for “both the tribe’s regular access and eventual stewardship and ownership,” explained Greg Werkheiser.

Branham emphasized that there will be no future economic development at Rassawek.

“We want to possibly clean it up and show the beauty of that particular spot,” added the chief. “We want to make sure we never, never have to do this fight again.”

Unfortunate confluence: Ancient Monacan site intersects with Louisa’s growing thirst

In John Smith’s 1612 map of Virginia, at the point where the Rivanna River meets the James, he marked Rassawek, the capital of the Monacan Indians. Jump forward 400 years and the site is on another map, this one targeting it as a pump station to quench Zion Crossroads’ thirst.

Louisa and Fluvanna counties joined forces in 2009 to form the James River Water Authority to pump water from the James for a long-term water supply for growth-booming Zion Crossroads, which depends on wells for its water, says AquaLaw attorney Justin Curtis, who represents the water authority.

“There is a real and immediate need for water in the area,” says Curtis. “This is not a problem that’s getting better. It will only get worse.”

The water authority applied to the Army Corps of Engineers for a water intake and pump station permit at Point of Fork, the modern-day designation for Rassawek. That triggered Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, which requires the Corps to consider adverse effects to the Monacan site and “avoid, minimize, or mitigate,” says Marion Werkheiser with Cultural Heritage Partners, which represents the Monacans.

The James River Water Authority knew the land was a significant historic site, says Werkheiser. “They ignored it and bought it anyway” in July 2016. “They didn’t reach out to the tribe until May 2017.”

Rassawek today is called Point of Fork. Carrie Pruitt

The Monacan Indian Nation received federal recognition in January 2018. “Archaeological testing shows artifacts that go back 200 generations,” says Werkheiser.

“Rassawek was the capital of the Monacan confederacy, and several other towns paid tribute to Rassawek,” says Monacan Chief Kenneth Branham. “It is where we conducted ceremonies, lived, and died, for thousands of years.” To build the pump station, a four-acre site will be excavated, says Werkheiser. “That is not acceptable to the Monacans,” who want the Army Corps of Engineers to deny the permit, and also want Virginia’s Department of Historic Resources to deny a permit for anticipatory burial, in the event human remains are found.

Curtis acknowledges that possibility is a “sensitive” issue. “We’re all hoping no human remains will be disturbed,” he says. “Historically people haven’t buried their dead at the confluence of two rivers. We’ve already done a number of archaeological digs and haven’t found any.”

If the project is approved, archaeologists will go into the site first “to learn as much as they can about the people who were there first,” says Curtis. Artifacts will be turned over to the Monacans, and the James River Water Authority has pledged $125,000 to the Monacan Ancestral Museum, he says.

The Monacan Nation has been asked to provide its protocol if remains are found, says Curtis. “They will be treated respectfully,” and the Monacans can re-inter them in Amherst, where many live in the 21st century.

“We have been through reburials before, and it is a traumatic experience for all involved,” says Branham. ”I can’t ask our tribal members to go through that again for a pump station that could be built elsewhere.”

He asks the Army Corps and Governor Ralph Northam “to respect our tribe and to work with the water authority to find a location for their project that does not disturb our ancestors.”

There’s always the possibility construction could disturb burial sites, whether African Americans or colonists, Curtis says.

In fact, the U.S. 29 Western Bypass was kiboshed in 2013 when a historic African American cemetery was discovered in its path.

Curtis says there are historically significant sites all along the James River. Point of Fork has been “occupied for thousands of years for the same reasons we need to be there now: It’s a source of water.” He adds, “No one disputes it’s a very important site.”

If the Rassawek site is not used, what would be a nearly mile-long pipeline would grow to 5 or 10 miles, says Curtis.

Not only does Louisa have a connection pipe waiting, it’s also built the Ferncliff water treatment plant, which has no water to treat at this point, says Curtis.

And that points to Louisa’s biggest problem: development without the water to support it.

Rae Ely has her own beef with Louisa County’s handling of water resources. “There is no groundwater at Zion Crossroads. They’ve tested and tested. That didn’t stop them and they did all that building.”

Ely lives in Louisa’s historic Green Springs district. In 2006, the county built a three-mile pipeline to Green Springs, and said, according to Ely, “We’ll pump out their groundwater.”

Green Springs residents have been tracking the depletion of their groundwater for 13 years, she says. “It’s dropping like a rock.”

She alleges that “the powers that be have been lying and claiming the James River water will be here any day now, while failing to say the Monacans opposed it.”

Ely, who has been an attorney for more than 30 years, says, “I know federal law favors the Monacans. They’re going to win. That’s a nonstarter.” And her neighbors are prepared to seek an injunction to stop Louisa from pumping out Green Springs’ groundwater, she says

“Louisa County got out over its skis and built all this commercial development,” says Ely. And it has 2,000 homes and apartments ready to be approved, “all looking for water and it’s not there,” she says.

Ely compares the development going on in Louisa, based on water from the James that isn’t coming any time soon, to a gold rush. She offers a one-word piece of advice to the county: “Moratorium.”