Get in Touch

Resolved Case

Rassawek SAVED

  • Victory — In March 2022, after a four-year battle, the Water Authority agreed to an alternate route, sparing Rassawek.
  • About the Case

Protecting Rassawek: A Landmark Victory for the Monacan Indian Nation

Rassawek, the ancestral capital of the Monacan Indian Nation, sits at the confluence of the James and Rivanna Rivers in Central Virginia.

From 2018 to 2022, Cultural Heritage Partners proudly represented the Monacan Indian Nation in their successful fight to protect their historic capital, Rassawek, from a water withdrawal and pump station project proposed by the James River Water Authority. During our four-year fight to oppose the JRWA project, we exposed flaws in the project’s environmental permitting and archaeological methods; represented the Nation in negotiations with federal, state, and local agencies and political leaders; built a broad coalition of Tribal Nations, preservation groups, faith communities, and environmental advocates; coordinated successful media outreach with journalists and scholars; and supported the Nation in related litigation with amicus briefs. This multifaceted strategy resulted in a significant win for the Nation and in 2022, after four years of pressure, the James River Water Authority agreed to investigate an alternative route identified by the Monacan Indian Nation.

What Was at Stake

Rassawek – The Monacan Capital

In opposing the James River Water Authority project, the Monacan Indian Nation fought to protect the cultural landscape of Rassawek, the sanctity of Monacan burials, and the archaeological value knowledge embedded in this sacred place. Rassawek, located at the confluence of the James and Rivanna rivers in central Virginia, was a site of central importance for the Monacan people beginning at least 4,730 years ago. By 1607, when John Smith mapped much of indigenous Virginia, Rassawek was the Monacan’s “chiefest town” to which other Monacan towns paid tribute. Beginning in the 1880s, Smithsonian anthropologists documented important archaeological resources and extensive human burials at Rassawek. Locating the JRWA project on top of Rassawek would have desecrated Monacan ancestors, caused enduring changes to the site’s setting and presence, and would have rushed and botched archaeological investigations of the highest sensitivity. To hear more about Rassawek’s importance from Monacan Chief Emeritus Kenneth Branham, watch the video below.

Sovereignty and Meaningful Tribal Consultation for Virginia Tribes

The Nation also fought for their rightful seat at the table as a federally-recognized Tribe entitled to meaningful and informed consultation from the Army Corps of Engineers, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and local governments. The Rassawek case was the first major test of tribal consultation rights since the 2016 and 2018 acknowledgements of Virginia’s seven federally-recognized Tribes. The JRWA had ignored early concerns from archaeologists about the sensitivity of the site and the Army Corps process did not initiate consultation with the Nation until they were considering a Memorandum of Agreement to conclude the Section 106 process under the National Historic Preservation Act.

Legal, Permitting, and Archaeological Issues in the Case

CHP identified significant legal, permitting, and cultural resources errors in our representation of the Nation. In 2020 the Nation filed a 1,124 page document with the Army Corps of Engineers outlining these concerns:

  • JRWA and the Army Corps had illegally segmented project permitting, allowing construction of most of the water pipeline and water treatment plant under another permit application before initiating tribal consultation.
  • The Army Corps had inappropriately evaluated the importance of the cultural resources harms from the project, and had erred in not requiring the project be permitted under an individual permit or requiring a robust alternatives analysis under NEPA.
  • The Army Corps had failed to provide adequate opportunity for public comment because it failed to make the complete permit application available.
    JRWA’s archaeological consultant had misrepresented her degree subject, causing the Virginia Department of Historic Resources to find her not qualified under the Secretary of Interior qualifications for archaeological research.
  • JRWA’s archaeological consultant had violated the project burial permit, lied to state officials, mischaracterized the resumes and expertise of field staff, and used construction workers and untrained archaeological staff to investigate the eligibility of sites.
  • The archaeological research design for the data recovery had been plagiarized from a researcher studying another area of Virginia, used other consultants’ work against their will, mischaracterized the field methods in practice across the sites, and would have investigated less than 5% of the sensitive site before destroying it.
  • The bad-faith and incompetent archaeological work conducted to date on the project represented anticipatory demolition of the site.

Building a Winning Coalition

CHP’s work in this case involved not only participation in consultation meetings and submitting comments, but in developing a responsive and motivated grassroots and grasstops advocacy strategy. We coordinated press coverage from local Virginia and national news outlets, resulting in close to one hundred articles in four years. We also coordinated with allies, advocates, and elected officials to ensure that a wide range of decisionmakers and stakeholders understood the key issues at stake in this case.

Ultimately, the Nation’s fight was strengthened by support from the National Congress of American Indians, United South and Eastern Tribes, Virginia’s six other federally recognized Tribal Nations, the Southern Environmental Law Center, Preservation Virginia, the Sierra Club, the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia, the Council of Virginia Archaeologists, and many others—including elected leaders such as Governor Ralph Northam, Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, and Congressman Donald McEachin.

In 2020, Rassawek was named to both Preservation Virginia’s list of Virginia’s “11 Most Endangered Places” list and the National Trust’s list of “America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places.”

Where We Are Today

After the resounding Army Corps public comment, JRWA agreed to pause their permit application to explore the feasibility of an alternative route for their water withdrawal project. Called “Alternative 1C” in the alternatives analysis, this route placed the water withdrawal further upstream on the James River, outside of the high sensitivity Rassawek area. JRWA agreed to hire archaeologists trusted by the Nation, and the resulting investigative reports were thorough and showed little risk of encountering ancestral remains on this alternative. Holding up its end of their proposed bargain, the Nation provided JRWA a letter officially supporting the project at the alternative site. JRWA, which for years insisted that no viable siting alternatives existed, voted unanimously on March 16, 2022, to relocate the project away from Rassawek. From 2023 to 2025, CHP assisted the Nation in the review of the archaeological testing and data recovery along the alternative route. In 2024, JRWA began construction along the route.

This case was arduous for the Nation, for JRWA, for CHP, and for many of the dedicated advocates who fought for change in Virginia. The delays, wasted construction costs, financing payments, and additional construction costs ultimately numbered in the tens of millions of dollars. Had JRWA and the Army Corps consulted the Nation early and listened to concerned archaeologists when the issues were first brought to light, much of this cost would have been avoided. However, the case was ultimately a triumph and a turning point for expectations for tribal consultation in Virginia. In 2024, Virginia’s General Assembly passed a bill requiring consultation with federally-recognized Tribes on a variety of state permits, ensuring that Tribes’ concerns are heard early in the process in order to avoid a case like this in the future.

  • PRESS COVERAGE

In The News

Tribal Truths WVTF

"Monacan Indian Nation: Saving Rassawek – How historical racism is still with us"

June 1, 2023

The Washington Post

"Battle over Native American burial site in Virginia ends in tribal victory"

March 16, 2022

Virginia Mercury

"Revealed: The 11 Most Endangered Historic Places in America"

March 16, 2022

The Washington Post

"Preservation group lists Indigenous site in Va. among nation's most endangered landmarks"

September 24, 2020

National Geographic

"Native American capital among 11 most endangered historic sites"

September 24, 2020

The Washington Post - PAYWALLED

"Virginia's Monacan tribe uses new federal status to take a stand for what could be its long-lost capital"

January 5, 2020

c-ville

"Virginia's Monacan tribe uses new federal status to take a stand for what could be its long-lost capital"

December 11, 2019

Key Documents

Follow for Updates

Follow Cultural Heritage Partners for the latest developments:

Facebook Linkedin

Media Contact

Further Resources

In 2017 JRWA, a joint initiative of Fluvanna and Louisa counties, announced without consulting the Nation that it would develop its project on and thereby destroy a site first documented by Captain John Smith in 1612 as “the chiefest town” in the Monacan territory, which covered half of what is today Virginia. Monacans occupied Rassawek through 200 generations, beginning 4,730 years ago. Beginning in the 1880s, the Smithsonian documented the important archaeological resources and extensive human burials at Rassawek.

The resulting highly contentious four-year battle drew national attention and the involvement of tens of thousands of private citizens and organizations representing millions of American Indians and historic preservationists. Soon after, the National Trust for Historic Preservation named Rassawek to its annual list of the country’s 11 Most Endangered historic sites. JRWA took a pause. They consented to hire archaeologists trusted by the Nation, and the resulting investigative report showed little risk of encountering ancestral remains on the project alternative supported by the Nation.

On March 16, 2022, the Nation provided JRWA a letter officially supporting the project at the alternative site. JRWA, which for years insisted that no viable siting alternatives existed, voted unanimously to abandon their plans in favor of building on an alternative route two miles from Rassawek.

This page memorializes the details of this fight and the extensive support from across the nation that helped reach this resolution. Documents are provided as an archive and have not been kept updated.

Comments from the Monacan Indian Nation

 

  • The Nation’s June 8 2020 press release about the public response to the Corps. 
  • Most recent comments submitted in response to the James River Water Authority individual permit application (large file, last updated June 7, 2020)
  • Letter to the JRWA requesting consideration of the Forsyth alternative route
  • Monacan Nation will continue to fight, Letter to the Editor, Chief Kenneth Branham, Central Virginian, March 12, 2020
  • Open Letter from Monacan Chief Kenneth Branham to the Fluvanna and Louisa County Boards of Supervisors (March 5, 2020)
  • Analysis of the JRWA’s flawed and selective investigation of itself (January 30, 2020)
  • Letter to the Army Corps of Engineers notifying them of documents that show that JRWA approved misconduct at Rassawek (December 16, 2019)
  • Open Letter to the Louisa and Fluvanna County Board of Supervisors Calling for an Independent Investigation of JRWA and Consultants at Rassawek (December 18, 2019)
  • Media Advisory: Rassawek Revelations Disqualify JRWA from Receiving Federal Permit (Oct. 24, 2019)
  • Letter to the Army Corps of Engineers notifying them anticipatory demolition has taken place in violation of the National Historic Preservation Act, and the Corps will be in violation of federal law if it grants a permit to JRWA. (October 21, 2019)
  • Remarks delivered at August 13, 2019 JRWA public meeting outlining the six mistakes JRWA has made to create this unfortunate situation
  • Remarks delivered at the Army Corps of Engineers consulting party meeting on August 9, 2019 detailing the multiple failures of the Corps’s permitting process to date
  • Comments of the Tribe urging the Army Corps of Engineers to require an individual permit instead of a nationwide permit, and to perform a legally required analysis of alternative locations to put the pump station (June 5, 2019)
  • Op-ed in the Daily Progress from the Tribe urging preservation of Rassawek (June 23, 2019)
  • Comments of the Tribe urging the Department of Historic Resources to deny the permit application from JRWA to dig up Monacan burials (July 23, 2019)
  • Letter from the National Congress of American Indians opposing issuance of the JRWA permit (June 7, 2020).
  • Resolution from the United Southern and Eastern Tribes urging preservation of Rassawek and requesting that the Corps find the project not in the public interest (June 5, 2020).
  • Letter from the Upper Mattaponi Tribe (May 7, 2020).
  • Letter from the Pamunkey Indian Tribe (May 6, 2020).
  • Board Resolution from the Alliance of Colonial Era Tribes affirming the importance of human burial places and asking the federal and state governments to ensure appropriate processes are followed (July 23, 2019).
  • Public letter of support signed by more than 3,600 individuals and organizations asking the Corps and DHR to deny permits to this project
  • Letter from the President’s Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, encouraging the Army Corps to reconsider its approach, and supporting the Monacans’ concerns (August 10, 2020)
  • Letter from the City of Richmond opposing the project (June 5, 2020).
  • Letter from Congressman Donald McEachin requesting an EIS and a public hearing (June 6, 2020).
  • Transcript of the March 11 2020 Meeting of the James River Water Authority, where around 100 people attended and dozens of Fluvanna and Louisa County residents spoke out unanimously against the project.
  • Letter from Preservation Virginia and the Southern Environmental Law Center opposing the project and requesting an EIS and a public hearing (June 4, 2020).
  • Letter from former Director of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Kathleen Kilpatrick (June 4, 2020).
  • Letter from the retired Director of the Louisa County Historical Society, Elaine Taylor (May 29, 2020).
  • Letter from the National Trust for Historic Preservation (May 7, 2020).
  • Letter from the Baltimore Yearly Meeting Committee on Indian Affairs (April 10, 2020).
  • Letter from the Piedmont Group of the Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club requesting a public hearing (April 28, 2020).
  • Letter from the Southern Environmental Law Center and Preservation Virginia requesting an Environmental Impact Statement for the JRWA project (March 5, 2020).
  • Letter from Southern Environmental Law Center and Preservation Virginia explaining why JRWA must select another site (February 3, 2020)
  • Episcopal Resolution Requesting Reconsideration of Water Intake Site to Avoid Monacan Nation Ancestral Village and Grave Sites and to Provide Improved Protection of Graves of Native American and Enslaved People (November 16, 2019)
  • Letter from DHR notifying JRWA that their burial permit application must include a revised research and data recovery plan. The plan must be developed by a qualified archaeological consultant and meet with approval from both DHR and the Monacan Indian Nation. (September 6, 2019)
  •  
  • Letter from the Council of Virginia Archaeologists requesting the Corps review the project under an individual permit, incorporate archaeological peer review, and improve the Treatment Plan (September 9, 2019).
  • Letter from Preservation Virginia expressing concern with the review process for the project and with the planned agreement documents (June 5, 2019).
  • Letter from Preservation Virginia expressing concerns about the project and planned agreement documents (December 21, 2018).
  • Letter from Fluvanna Historical Society opposing the finalization of the planned agreement documents (December 14, 2018).
  • Letter from Virginia Canals & Navigation Society requesting that the Army Corps deny a permit for the JRWA project (December 21, 2018).
  • Transcript from the March 11 2020 James River Water Authority meeting, with around 100 attendees opposed to the project.

Press Coverage of Opposition (reverse chronological)