YORKTOWN, Va. — Naval Weapons Station (WPNSTA) Yorktown entered into a historic Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) Comprehensive Agreement during a formal signing event with leadership from federally recognized Native American tribes in the region on Wednesday, October 14, 2026. The landmark agreement was signed by Capt. Dan Patrick, WPNSTA Yorktown’s Commanding Officer alongside Chief Keith Anderson of the Nansemond Indian Nation, Chief Tribal Administrator Stephen Adkins and First Assistant Chief Wayne Adkins both respectively of Chickahominy Indian Tribe.
The agreement also formalizes an enduring compact with the Pamunkey Indian Tribe, Rappahannock Tribe and the Upper Mattaponi Tribe. It marks the first NAGPRA Comprehensive Agreement established and signed by any U.S. Navy installation within the Navy Region Mid-Atlantic Area of Responsibility; and creates a unified and dignified standard for proactive consultation between the U.S. Navy and federally recognized tribes.
During the brief ceremony, Capt. Patrick noted that safeguarding the nation’s defense and honoring ancestral grounds are not opposing priorities, but deeply intertwined callings…