According to a resolution passed by the Virginia General Assembly honoring her life, "Thomasina Jordan was instrumental throughout the years in bringing Indian issues to the forefront in the General Assembly, including legislation to correct birth certificates to identify Native Americans as such, allow animal parts and feathers to be used in religious regalia, and memorialize the United States Congress to grant historic federal recognition to Virginia’s state-recognized tribes."[1]
Congress first considered a recognition bill, as championed by Jordan and others, in 2000.[2] Six Virginia tribes eventually gained federal recognition in 2018 under an act bearing her name, the Thomasina E. Jordan Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal Recognition Act of 2017.[3][4]