Dana Hedgpeth,
(c) 2026 , The Washington Post
Tue, July 28, 2026
Their land was taken centuries ago. Now the Pamunkey tribe is getting it back.
The 13 acres overlooking the river that bears their name have long been a part of the Pamunkey Indian Tribe's ancestral homeland.
The land in King William County, Virginia, was taken from them centuries ago, but through a recent $1.9 million deal, the tribe regained ownership and plans to expand its cultural and economic presence in the region.
The return of the land marks a milestone for the Pamunkey tribe, which gained federal recognition in 2015 and has roughly 530 enrolled members. The purchase also reflects a broader movement by Native nations across the country to reclaim territorial lands lost through broken treaties, forced dispossession and private acquisition.
Known as Windsor Shades estate, the property - about two hours south of Washington - has a long history. It was for centuries one of several villages where Pamunkey chiefs lived, and it was called Kupkipcock in the Powhatan Algonquin language. English explorer John Smith documented it in an early 1600s map of Native American villages. The property later became a Revolutionary War landmark. It remained in private ownership for decades.
"This is land that was taken from us in the 17th century, and getting it back now is righting a historical wrong," said Ashley Atkins Spivey, a citizen of the Pamunkey tribe and an anthropologist. "This land was ours for thousands and thousands of years, and the non-Indigenous occupation of it is a blip in time, compared to the relationship and connection our people have to it."
Officials with the Pamunkey tribe said they're considering plans to use the land to provide cultural, educational and economic opportunities, possibly using it as an event space or partnering with an operator to host wine tastings.
When the deal closed in May, Pamunkey Chief Kevin Brown said that the purchase was "more than a real estate transaction; it is an act of historical recognition and cultural preservation."
Two other Virginia tribes have also recently regained pieces of their homelands. The Rappahannock tribe closed a deal for 700 acres, part of a decade-long effort to reclaim more than 2,000 acres in an area known as Fones Cliffs in Richmond County. Earlier this month, Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed an agreement placing 28 acres of land in King William County that were once part of the Mattaponi Indian Tribe's original land into a state trust for the tribe.
At Windsor Shades, archaeological evidence shows that the Pamunkeys occupied the site long before English settlers arrived. Pamunkey tribal chiefs, including Opechancanough - the younger brother of Powhatan, one of the most famous and powerful Native chiefs on the East Coast - lived there with their families. Nearby, other Pamunkey communities helped produce food and paid tribute to the chiefs and their families.
Smith referred to the village as "a king house" in his writings and on his map, historians said.
"It's profoundly meaningful that this property is returning to the Pamunkey tribe," said Jennie Dotts, the Long & Foster real estate agent who represented the tribe. "It was their land originally, and now it is theirs once again. That's a satisfying sense of history coming full circle."
Around 1640, the property Windsor Shades became part of a roughly 5,000-acre land grant awarded to English settler William Claiborne by the Virginia colony after his forces defeated the Pamunkeys in battle, according to historians and the real estate company involved in the sale.
Built in the mid-1700s, the house on the property is one of Virginia's best-preserved examples of an 18th-century Tidewater structure. The property became well-known in the 1750s after a ferry was established there and a tavern opened in the English basement of the house, with an outside stairway entrance. Historians believe that George Washington stopped regularly at the tavern while traveling between Mount Vernon and Williamsburg, based on a dozen entries in his diaries.
In 1781, the Marquis de Lafayette and his troops crossed the Pamunkey River at Ruffin's Ferry on the property before heading to the Battle of Yorktown.
Windsor Shades, about 15 minutes from the tribe's reservation, later became a tobacco plantation and was eventually placed under a historic easement. The five-bedroom brick house features several chimneys. The spot where the tavern was is now a dining room and contains what Dotts said is one of Virginia's largest interior fireplaces, with an eight-foot opening. Dotts said she specializes in historic properties and "rarely comes across one so historically intact and meticulously preserved."
Windsor Shades is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is named as a Virginia historic landmark.
The sale came about after one of Atkins Spivey's research associates, who serves on a local historical board and is married to a Pamunkey tribal member, learned that Carl and Lynn Fischer, who had owned Windsor Shades since the late 1990s, planned to put it on the market. Brown, the tribal chief, became involved in the spring.
Tribal leaders said it is unfortunate that so much time passed before they were able to reacquire Windsor Shades, but they are relieved to have it back in Native hands.
"It took so long because we were dealing with massive amounts of European colonial expansion, and we didn't have the capacity to fight that army of invaders," Atkins Spivey said. "While we've been able to survive, we didn't have the funds or resources to buy a piece of land back until recently. Now we have the economic capacity to do that."
Their land was taken centuries ago. Now the Pamunkey tribe is getting it back.
The 13 acres overlooking the river that bears their name have long been a part of the Pamunkey Indian Tribe's ancestral homeland.
The land in King William County, Virginia, was taken from them centuries ago, but through a recent $1.9 million deal, the tribe regained ownership and plans to expand its cultural and economic presence in the region.
The return of the land marks a milestone for the Pamunkey tribe, which gained federal recognition in 2015 and has roughly 530 enrolled members. The purchase also reflects a broader movement by Native nations across the country to reclaim territorial lands lost through broken treaties, forced dispossession and private acquisition.
Known as Windsor Shades estate, the property - about two hours south of Washington - has a long history. It was for centuries one of several villages where Pamunkey chiefs lived, and it was called Kupkipcock in the Powhatan Algonquin language. English explorer John Smith documented it in an early 1600s map of Native American villages. The property later became a Revolutionary War landmark. It remained in private ownership for decades.
"This is land that was taken from us in the 17th century, and getting it back now is righting a historical wrong," said Ashley Atkins Spivey, a citizen of the Pamunkey tribe and an anthropologist. "This land was ours for thousands and thousands of years, and the non-Indigenous occupation of it is a blip in time, compared to the relationship and connection our people have to it."
Officials with the Pamunkey tribe said they're considering plans to use the land to provide cultural, educational and economic opportunities, possibly using it as an event space or partnering with an operator to host wine tastings.
When the deal closed in May, Pamunkey Chief Kevin Brown said that the purchase was "more than a real estate transaction; it is an act of historical recognition and cultural preservation."
Two other Virginia tribes have also recently regained pieces of their homelands. The Rappahannock tribe closed a deal for 700 acres, part of a decade-long effort to reclaim more than 2,000 acres in an area known as Fones Cliffs in Richmond County. Earlier this month, Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed an agreement placing 28 acres of land in King William County that were once part of the Mattaponi Indian Tribe's original land into a state trust for the tribe.
At Windsor Shades, archaeological evidence shows that the Pamunkeys occupied the site long before English settlers arrived. Pamunkey tribal chiefs, including Opechancanough - the younger brother of Powhatan, one of the most famous and powerful Native chiefs on the East Coast - lived there with their families. Nearby, other Pamunkey communities helped produce food and paid tribute to the chiefs and their families.
Smith referred to the village as "a king house" in his writings and on his map, historians said.
"It's profoundly meaningful that this property is returning to the Pamunkey tribe," said Jennie Dotts, the Long & Foster real estate agent who represented the tribe. "It was their land originally, and now it is theirs once again. That's a satisfying sense of history coming full circle."
Around 1640, the property Windsor Shades became part of a roughly 5,000-acre land grant awarded to English settler William Claiborne by the Virginia colony after his forces defeated the Pamunkeys in battle, according to historians and the real estate company involved in the sale.
Built in the mid-1700s, the house on the property is one of Virginia's best-preserved examples of an 18th-century Tidewater structure. The property became well-known in the 1750s after a ferry was established there and a tavern opened in the English basement of the house, with an outside stairway entrance. Historians believe that George Washington stopped regularly at the tavern while traveling between Mount Vernon and Williamsburg, based on a dozen entries in his diaries.
In 1781, the Marquis de Lafayette and his troops crossed the Pamunkey River at Ruffin's Ferry on the property before heading to the Battle of Yorktown.
Windsor Shades, about 15 minutes from the tribe's reservation, later became a tobacco plantation and was eventually placed under a historic easement. The five-bedroom brick house features several chimneys. The spot where the tavern was is now a dining room and contains what Dotts said is one of Virginia's largest interior fireplaces, with an eight-foot opening. Dotts said she specializes in historic properties and "rarely comes across one so historically intact and meticulously preserved."
Windsor Shades is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is named as a Virginia historic landmark.
The sale came about after one of Atkins Spivey's research associates, who serves on a local historical board and is married to a Pamunkey tribal member, learned that Carl and Lynn Fischer, who had owned Windsor Shades since the late 1990s, planned to put it on the market. Brown, the tribal chief, became involved in the spring.
Tribal leaders said it is unfortunate that so much time passed before they were able to reacquire Windsor Shades, but they are relieved to have it back in Native hands.
"It took so long because we were dealing with massive amounts of European colonial expansion, and we didn't have the capacity to fight that army of invaders," Atkins Spivey said. "While we've been able to survive, we didn't have the funds or resources to buy a piece of land back until recently. Now we have the economic capacity to do that."
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