Looking Ahead: Strengthening Tribal Sovereignty in the Chesapeake

For thousands of years, Tribal Nations in the Chesapeake have practiced diplomacy by forming agreements, sharing stewardship responsibilities, and caring for land and water in ways that long predate today’s governments. That history isn’t abstract; it continues to guide how Tribal Nations navigate relationships with state and regional partners today; a point we underscored in a recent Chesapeake Bay Journal op-ed written with the Chesapeake Legal Alliance on why Tribal Nations deserve a formal seat in Bay leadership, a movement supported in solidarity by more than 33 Tribal Nations.

This year, we reached an important point in that ongoing story. On November 6, the Commonwealth of Virginia, along with other members of the Chesapeake Bay Program Partnership, advanced a new Executive Council (EC) charge directing the Partnership to explore how to formally recognize Tribal sovereignty and Indigenous Knowledge within its restoration work. The charge, titled “Tribes as a Formal and Enduring Partner in the Chesapeake Bay Program Partnership,” tasks the Principals’ Staff Committee with developing recommendations by July 1, 2026 on how Tribal Nations should be included as full partners in the Bay Program. On December 2, the Chesapeake Executive Council will vote on whether to adopt that charge and launch a six-month process.  The fact that this vote is even happening, that sovereignty and Indigenous Knowledge are being considered at the highest level of Bay leadership, is meaningful in its own right. It reflects years of organizing, patience, and persistence from Tribal Nations who have long asserted their rightful place in this work.

This work arrives at the same time Virginia’s new government-to-government consultation law took effect on July 1, 2024. Under Va. Code § 2.2-401.01, the Commonwealth established a Tribal Consultation Ombudsman and mandated state agencies to build formal consultation processes with federally recognized Tribal Nations. This statutory change marks the first time Virginia has codified statewide consultation responsibilities in law, and it lays the foundation for meaningful partnership across the region.

This year, the Indigenous Conservation Council commissioned a report on best practices in government-to-government consultation and conveyed this to the Commonwealth on the one-year mark of this policy being enacted. The goal: to help guide effective and meaningful conversation between governments. The Government-to-Government Consultation in Michigan: Best Practices and Implementation report dug deep on best practices that have emerged over more than two decades of practice in the State of Michigan with critical insights and perspectives from Tribal Nations.  READ THE REPORT:

Government-to-government consultation in Michigan 6 27 25.pdf

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With a new administration arriving, we have a real opportunity to move from consultation as a policy aspiration to consultation as an everyday, government-to-government practice that meaningfully influences how decisions are made about land, water, and climate across the Commonwealth and the Chesapeake region.

We welcome Governor-Elect Spanberger and her transition team, to look at their tenure as a pathway to embrace the benefits of meaningful government-to-government consultation from the start with these principles in place:

1. For consultation to work, it must begin early, at the idea stage, not once decisions are already made, and it must genuinely reflect Tribal Nations’ decision-making authority. 
   

2. It must honor Tribal decision-making authority as Sovereign Nations and rights holders on equal footing rather than treating Tribal Nations as afterthoughts or stakeholders.
   

3. It requires skilled relationships rooted in trust, guided by trained Tribal liaisons who understand sovereignty and have the authority to represent leadership.  

4. Consultation must be meaningful, not procedural, which means two-way dialogue, clear pathways for how Tribal input influences outcomes, and a focus on mutually beneficial solutions. 
   

5. And, finally, it must be supported by real resources: Tribes need staffing and stable funding to engage fully, and agencies need consistent processes that make consultation predictable, enforceable, and taken seriously across government.

Native American Heritage Month is a time when many institutions pause to highlight Indigenous histories and cultures. For ICC, it is also a reminder that honoring Indigenous Knowledge means honoring Indigenous decision-making every day of the year. Tribal sovereignty is not symbolic. It belongs in permitting processes, conservation plans, procurement decisions, and the daily work of restoring the Chesapeake.

There is a bright path ahead for this region. With committed partners, a new administration, and clear direction from Tribal Nations, we have the tools to build a restoration movement rooted in sovereignty and guided by those who have cared for these lands and waters since time immemorial.