NORFOLK, Va. (AP) - Two Native American tribes in Virginia are clashing over ancestral claims to land that could be the site of the state's first casino.
The Virginian-Pilot reported Sunday that the Nansemond tribe objects to the Pamunkey tribe's claim that its ancestral lands stretched as far south as Norfolk. That's where the Pamunkey have proposed building a $700 million resort and casino.
The Pamunkey's reservation is about 40 miles east of Richmond. The tribe also greeted English settlers at Jamestown in the early 1600s and claims Pocahontas among its lineage.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs would have to approve the casino. Among the things it would consider is the Pamunkey's claim that it had a presence in what is now Norfolk.
The Nansemond tribe claims it inhabited that land, not the Pamunkey.
