(CNN) The Rappahannock Tribe, a Native Tribe in Virginia, has reacquired 465 acres of sacred land at Fones Cliff.
Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and US Fish and Wildlife Service Director Martha Williams celebrated the tribe's reacquisiton of the land Friday, according to a press release from the Department of the Interior.
"We have worked for many years to restore this sacred place to the Tribe," said Rappahannock Tribe Chief Anne Richardson, according to the Chesapeake Conservancy .
"With eagles being prayer messengers, this area where they gather has always been a place of natural, cultural and spiritual importance.".
Fones Cliff is the ancestral home of the tribe, located on the eastern side of the Rappahannock River in Virginia.
The area, located inside the Rappahannock River Valley National Wildlife Refuge, will be publicly accessible and placed in trust with the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
"The Department is honored to join the Rappahannock Tribe in co-stewardship of this portion of their ancestral homeland. »
