The historic reacquisition spans 465 acres in the Northern Neck of Virginia

More than 350 years after English settlers drove the Rappahannock out of what is now eastern Virginia, the Native American tribe has reacquired 465 acres of its ancestral homeland.

Per a statement from the Department of the Interior and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the historic reacquisition includes a section of Fones Cliffs, a rocky outcropping on the east side of the Rappahannock River where Native people lived hundreds of years ago. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland—the first Native American person to hold the position—announced the land’s return last Friday.

“It is special to us because the bones of our ancestors are there,” Rappahannock Chief Anne Richardson told Gregory S. Schneider of the Washington Post prior to the announcement.

Located within the Rappahannock River Valley National Wildlife Refuge, along the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail on the Northern Neck of Virginia, Fones Cliff is an important habitat for migratory bald eagles and other birds. The cliffs span four miles and tower 100 feet above the river, where birds feed on fish. Held in a conservation easement (an agreement permanently limiting the use of a set area of land), the property in Richmond County will eventually be open to the public.