WASHINGTON — Members of the Congressional Black Caucus are urging the Obama administration to withhold federal recognition of a Native American tribe pending an investigation into its history of banning intermarriage with blacks.
The Interior Department has proposed recognizing the Pamunkey tribe in southeast Virginia; that status would make members eligible for special benefits in education, housing, and medical care and would allow the tribe to pursue a casino. A decision on recognition, the first for a Virginia tribe, is due by March 30.
A report by the department said the significant number of marriages within the tribe and efforts to encourage them helped show the group as a distinct community that has existed from historical times.