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Leaders and representatives of the Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indian Tribe of Southampton County presented a tribal honorary plaque and a tribal certificate to retiring Southampton County Administrator Michael W. Johnson at the county’s Board of Supervisors meeting May 24.

As noted in a press release, Chief Walt Red Hawk Brown specifically praised Johnson for the 20 years — 2002-22 — that he supported the goals, history, culture and traditions of the tribe.

Brown reflected on the 2006 Peke Wampum Belt and Pipe Ceremony on the banks of the Nottoway River near the county courthouse wherein county administrators and chairmen of the boards of supervisors from Nottoway, Sussex, Surry, Isle of Wight and Southampton counties attended and presented the tribe with resolutions affixed with their respective county’s seal, recognizing the Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indian Tribe as an official tribe of Southampton  County, Virginia, which became a catalyst leading to Virginia state recognition for the tribe.