Power of Resilience.
We are cheering on the GREAT news that the Suffolk City Council voted last night to transfer Mattanock Town to its rightful stewards with the goal of protecting of environmental and cultural resources. We are standing in solidarity and happiness with The Nansemond Indian Nation for this reunion with their land that has been hundreds of years in the making! Mattanock Town is the ancestral lands of the Nansemond located directly on the river and was formerly a mining site that was shut down by the EPA. Since the 1980s the Nation has been trying to regain jurisdiction over their land. The Nation partnered with Virginia Institute of Marine Science and Chesapeake Bay Foundation to develop a restoration plan in 2022. They have been actively working on oyster restoration, tree planting, and forest management to repair this wounded landscape. They made this commitment even as their future jurisdiction was in question and the threat of eviction lingered as they decided it was inappropriate to transform the site into a tourist attraction per an initial agreement with the City. Moving forward, the Nation will be working with partners to place an easement on the property to ensure they can steward it in the way in which meets with tribal goals for cultural protection. Kudos to tribal leadership and staff who refused to give up to bring this decision to fruition!! Thank you to City of Suffolk, VA Council leadership for supporting land transfer in a way that respects the importance of cultural resources! https://lnkd.in/e4CPsjug #LandBack #Indigenous #conservation
CEO, D. Daye Hunter Designs, LLC | Afro-Indigenous Storyteller 🗣️ | Author 📖 & Keynote Speaker 🎙️ | Cultural Competency & Mindfulness Trainer 🏔️ | Program Manager, Indigenous East 🌱
7moBí:wa! Congrats on this momentous news!