For the first time in centuries, on a stretch of land surrounded by trees with the backdrop of a glittering river, the Nansemond Indian Nation had its annual pow wow on land it officially owned.
“It’s just a wonderful time of celebration,” Assistant Chief David Hennaman said. “The turnout was absolutely huge, and I like to think it was people that were coming to help us celebrate for the first time being the sole owners of this property and tribal land.”
The Nansemond are the indigenous people of the Nansemond River, a tributary of the James River in what is now Suffolk. The name means “fishing point,” and the tribe fished, harvested oysters, farmed and hunted in the area long before English settlers arrived.