(The Center Square) – Federal recognition for the nation’s ninth largest Native American tribe has gotten a nod from second-term Republican President Donald Trump and other members of North Carolina’s congressional delegation.
Not all are full team ahead with the Lumbees.
Principal Chief Michell Hicks of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, one of eight tribes with a presence in the state, said the presidential memorandum directing the secretary of the Interior Department to conduct due diligence in submitting a plan is prudent.
“The Lumbees have a history of shifting claims, including claiming Cherokee ancestry and other historical tribes,” Hicks said in a statement emailed to The Center Square. “Experts have repeatedly found that their claims cannot be verified through historical or genealogical evidence. Any process for evaluating Lumbee’s claims must be rooted in objective standards and a thorough, evidence-based review. Self-identification and sincere belief in Indian ancestry, while meaningful on a personal level, cannot mean tribal nationhood and sovereignty.”
He added that protecting the integrity of federal recognition is critical “for the hundreds of tribal nations whose sovereignty must not be put at risk.”
Federal recognition can be gained by an act of Congress; the Department of the Interior’s Office of Federal Acknowledgement process; or by federal court decision.
The memorandum by Trump directs the Interior secretary to analyze the legal pathways.
The Cherokees, 16,000 strong, are the only fully federally recognized tribe in the state. Their home is on the 56,000 acres Qualla Boundary, about a 45-minutes plus drive west of Asheville. That’s adjacent to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and north-northeast of the Nantahala National Forest.
The Lumbees have about 55,000 in Robeson, Hoke, Cumberland and Scotland counties in the southeastern part of the state between South Carolina and the Sandhills. Pembroke is the economic, cultural and political center of the tribe.
The Lumbee Fairness Act, reintroduced in both chambers of Congress, has drawn support and opposition based on geography as opposed to the recent trend of party partisanship. Joining Rep. David Rouzer, R-N.C., in bringing the bill in the House of Representatives were Reps. Mark Harris, R-N.C.; Richard Hudson, R-N.C., Valerie Foushee, D-N.C.; Dr. Greg Murphy, R-N.C.; Deborah Ross, D-N.C.; Don Davis, D-N.C.; Addison McDowell, R-N.C.; and Tim Moore, R-N.C.
Sens. Thom Tillis and Ted Budd, both Republicans from the state, brought the bill in the Senate.
House members who did not sign on as cosponsors are Republican Reps. Chuck Edwards, Virginia Foxx, Brad Knott and Pat Harrigan, and Democrat Alma Adams.
“The Lumbee people have waited for decades for full federal recognition,” Harris said. “But we can’t lose momentum now. The House and Senate must pass the Lumbee Fairness Act to codify this recognition once and for all. I look forward to working with my colleagues to get this across the finish line.”
The Lumbees are the largest tribe east of the Mississippi River. The state recognized the tribe in 1885. In 1956, Congress passed legislation and Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed it recognizing the tribe but without benefits that every other federally recognized tribe receives.
“This is a great step for the new administration, and we encourage Congress to move forward with codifying this policy of President Trump toward full federal recognition of the Lumbee people,” Lumbee Tribal Chairman John Lowery said in a statement.