In the 21st century, African fashion is in the global spotlight, from runways to its use by celebrities in music videos and film. It is almost impossible to ignore. When influential people like Beyoncé and Michelle Obama step out on red carpets wearing African clothing, they turn heads, and reinforce trends to follow.
The building doubles as an administrative headquarters. In a room off to one side of the galleries, the chief and seven-member tribal council meet. For elections and sensitive issues, they circle a basket for proposals and drop in a kernel of corn to vote in favor, a pea to vote against. Behind the museum is a restored, one-room clapboard schoolhouse from the early 20th century where Pamunkey children attended school until the 1940s. Although the reservation is very much a thriving rural community, there is no mistaking its deep Native bearings.
The Tribal T-shirt caption of the 21st Century
But overwhelming evidence establishes the Pamunkeys' existence and continuity as a tribal community. Census, church and tribal records allowed genealogical researchers to flesh out a sort of massive family tree stretching back to the 18th century. Every one of the current 208 tribe members can demonstrate a generation-by-generation descent from Pamunkey Indians who were alive to witness the creation of the United States. 2ff7e9595c
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