It’s always great to be a Virginian. We have both large cities and small, rural hamlets, beaches and mountains with the rolling hills of the Piedmont in between. Whether you’re a history buff, an outdoor enthusiast or a sports fanatic, our Commonwealth has something for everyone. To me, though, Thanksgiving Week is the most quintessentially “Virginia” week of the year because during this week, in addition to the refreshingly uncommerical Thanksgiving holiday, two other significant events occur that are unique to our Commonwealth.
Tomorrow, the Mattaponi and Pamunkey nations will pay their annual tribute to the governor in a ceremony that dates back to the 1677 Treaty of Middle Plantation. Under the treaty, the Pamunkeys would become subjects of the English king, receive the king’s protection from their enemies–and from unfair treatment by other Englishmen–and maintain the right to possess their lands in exchange for an annual tribute to be paid to the governor. Just under 100 years later, Virginians would declare themselves independent of the British crown, but the Pamunkey and Mattaponi continue to honor the agreement their ancestors made with those early Virginians. For that matter, the Commonwealth has maintained its agreement; the Pamunkey and Mattaponi continue to possess their lands in King William County.
Growing up as a student of history, it was always a thrill to watch on TV as the descendents of Powhatan and Opechancanough carry on a tradition started around the time of Bacon’s Rebellion; many of our sister-states aren’t even that old, yet here in Virginia, history lives on every Thanksgiving. (Perhaps the most remarkable element of the ceremony is that 300+ years of history notwithstanding, the Mattaponi and Pamunkey were able to weather the Kaine Administration with their 1677 tax rate untouched!)
By comparison, the other unique tradition of Thanksgiving Week in Virginia is significantly younger: the Commonwealth Cup. Since 1996, the Wahoos of the University of Virginia have played the Hokies of Virginia Tech annually, although the Hoos and Hokies have a rivalry that extends to 1895. The game divides workplaces, neighborhoods and families as almost everyone in Virginia has an opinion about which of the schools is best. At the heart of this rivalry is the divide between, as one of my friends calls it “culture vs. agriculture.” UVa, with its illustrious history as “Mr. Jefferson’s University” and its prestigious academic reputation in law, medicine and the liberal arts, has become synonymous with aristocratic, old-school Virginia. Virginia Tech, founded after the Civil War as the Commonwealth’s land-grant university, with its emphasis on military service, agriculture, engineering and the “practical sciences,” reflects the egalitarian new south–an institution where the son of a poor farmer could hike across two mountains to attend classes that would better his station in life (okay, I honestly tried to be unbiased).
Saturday’s game will be even more intense as the Hokies (10-1, 6-1) ranked fifth-place in the BCS, face the Hoos (8-3, 5-2) ranked 24 and 25 in the AP and USA Today polls, respectively, to decide which team will represent the Coastal Division in the ACC Championship game next month. Both teams have enjoyed success this season, largely due to the spectacular play of their quarterbacks, Logan Thomas (VT) and Michael Rocco (UVa) both of whom, ironically, are from Lynchburg and played for different high schools in the “Hill City.”
So while counting your blessings this Thanksgiving, don’t forget to thank our Creator that you live in the great Commonwealth of Virginia, where history lives and where old traditions are renewed every year.
