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Pamunkey Schoolhouse Photograph, May 31, 1937

CONTENT WARNING

Materials in the Library of Virginia’s collections contain historical terms, phrases, and images that are offensive to modern readers. These include demeaning and dehumanizing references to race, ethnicity, and nationality; enslaved or free status; physical and mental ability; and gender and sexual orientation. 

Context

Indigenous peoples, including Virginia Indian tribes, were not considered American citizens even after ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment. Between 1880 and 1920, many tribes established their own schools, as Black citizens did, likely for similar reasons; state and local funding for white schools far outstripped the schools for other children, and Indigenous people were segregated into their own schools. After a 1930 update to the Racial Integrity Act, Indigenous people's identities were erased from state records as officials defined them as "Black" on all state forms. Indigenous schools offered a way to maintain tribal identities in the wake of this discrimination.

This photograph of the Pamunkey Indian School in King William County was taken in 1937 as part of a photographic survey commissioned by the Virginia Department of Education. The school was located on the Pamunkey Indian Reservation, which had been established in 1646 and may be the oldest reservation in North America. The Pamunkey established a school there during the 1880s in a log cabin near the entrance of the reservation. This schoolhouse in this picture was built in 1909. It served children in grades one through seven, and like other Indigenous students across the commonwealth, those wishing to continue their education had to attend boarding schools away from the reservation. All but one of these schools were located outside of Virginia. The Pamunkey School closed in 1948 because of low attendance, and the remaining students were transferred to the Mattaponi Reservation School. The Pamunkey Indian School is now part of the tribal museum on the Pamunkey Reservation.


Citations/For Further Reading:

Ashley Craig, "Indigenous Education in Virginia," Uncommonwealth, Library of Virginia, https://uncommonwealth.virginiamemory.com/blog/2024/04/17/indigenous-education-in-virginia/

Pamunkey Indian Tribe and Reservation, "Cultural Resources," https://pamunkey.org/cultural-resources#:~:text=According%20to%20a%20Tribal%20Ledger,from%201st%20through%207th%20grade.

Citation: Pamunkey Schoolhouse Photograph, May 31, 1937; Pamunkey Indian School, Pamunkey Indian Reservation, King William County, School Buildings Service Photograph Collection, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia

Standards

VS.1, VS.2, VS.9, USII.1, CE.1, CE.3, VUS.1, VUS.8, GOVT.1, GOVT.3

Suggested Questions

Preview Activity

Look at It: Look carefully at the Pamunkey School House photograph. From the picture, what can you determine about the size of the school? What do you think it might have been like to attend the school? What do you notice about the children in the photograph?

Post Activities

Analyze: Why do you think Indigenous peoples were not considered American citizens? Why do you think that Virginia officials erased Indigenous identity from state records in the twentieth century?

Current Connections: The Pamunkey Indian School building still stands on the Pamunkey Indian Reservation as part of a museum and cultural center. Why is important for this building to be left intact? What might this symbolize for the Pamunkey people?