Lumbee Tribe Gains Federal Recognition

The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina’s official logo. With almost 60,000 members, the Lumbee are the largest tribe east of the Mississippi River and the 9th largest in the United States. Photo Credit: Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina

Aspen Hickman, Staff Writer for The Powderhorn

North Carolina is home to a variety of native groups in all regions of the state. From the Outer Banks to the Smoky Mountains, the first inhabitants of the state remain present today. North Carolina has 8 state-recognized indigenous tribes, the largest of which is the Lumbee Tribe. Until recently, though, the Lumbee were not recognized federally. 

“Every President that would come through would say, ‘we're going to make you federally recognized,’” said Dana Lowery, the Media Specialist at Watauga High School and a member of the Lumbee tribe. “Every class that I've ever talked to, I say, ‘Y'all, it's not gonna happen. It's just not gonna happen in my lifetime. I just don't have faith.’ I have voted and it's never happened, and now it's happened. I'm just shocked.”

Though the Lumbee have been recognized by the state of North Carolina for 140 years, federal acknowledgement has been much harder to come by. Many indigenous groups in the Southwestern U.S. have treaties with the government that establish recognition and restitution, while the Lumbee does not, and unlike NC’s other major tribe, the Eastern Band of Cherokee, the Lumbee also don’t have a reservation. 

“We tried in 1885 to get fully federally recognized. We tried in 1936. Then in the 1950s, we were partially federally recognized. Then in 2004, we tried again, and now we're here. So that's the reason I've had my doubts,” said Lowery.

For the Lumbee, federal recognition likely won’t mean a reservation. Most of the Lumbee population resides in Robeson County in Southeastern NC, and many of the county’s amenities are already run by Lumbee members. Lowery described this system as a sort of unofficial reservation. What federal recognition does provide is better access to a variety of federal support systems.

“For a long time when I worked with my tribe, even as a high schooler and junior high schooler, I'd say, ‘I don't want us to get free money, because I've worked on other reservations, and all they do is sit around and wait for money,’” said Lowery. “As an adult, I see, we don't want a hand out, but we need help up.”

Lumbee members will now have easier access to healthcare, Wi-Fi, housing support, education, federal loans, and other programs through the federal government. Robeson County has the second highest poverty rate in North Carolina, and the benefits provided by federal recognition will help to ease that hardship.

“I don't expect my children to have grandkids, but that's who it benefits. This is for my children. Getting their first home or continuing their education, if they don't have health care, it's now on this federal level. Which is pretty big,” said Lowery.