(The Center Square) – Presidential signature is expected on congressional action that will give full federal recognition of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina.
A proposal authored by Rep. David Rouzer, R-N.C., was included with the National Defense Authorization Act of 2026. The $900.6 billion bill for Department of Defense authorizations, military construction, energy security, military pay raises, border security and strategic competition passed the Senate 77-20 on Wednesday.
Second-term Republican President Donald Trump’s campaign in 2024 included assurances to the Lumbees he would fight for them. The Lumbee Fairness Act pushed by Rouzer was part of the package. Trump’s signing was expected as soon as later Wednesday.
“I want to thank President Donald Trump for his support and his advocacy,” Rouzer said in a video message from his Washington office. “We wouldn’t be here today without his help. I also want to thank Chairman John Lowery, chairman of the Lumbee Tribe, who has done an incredible job, been persistent, been very determined, and worked really, really hard to make this day a reality.
“I also want to thank Sen. Thom Tillis, who has been so valiant in his efforts to see us to this day. Sen. Ted Budd as well.”
Rouzer said his colleagues from North Carolina in the U.S. House of Representatives and former U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr were also instrumental in the achievement.
“God is good, and without Him, we would not have achieved what he have today,” Lowery said in a social media video. “I can proudly say, that I’m the last chairman that has to come to D.C., fighting, pushing, advocating for full federal recognition.
“Now our children, and our grandchildren and our great-grandchildren, can come up here working, fighting and promoting other things for our people.”
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 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.
Their efforts for full recognition have been consistently challenged by the Eastern Band of Cherokees, a tribe of about 16,000 making its home on the Qualla Boundary adjacent to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Principal Chief Michell Hicks, in a November congressional hearing, said the Lumbees should go through the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office in the Office of Federal Acknowledgment. He said then, “If there is a tribe, the process will show it.”
On Jan. 23, Trump gave a directive via presidential memorandum to the secretary of the Interior Department – former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum was the nominee at the time – requesting submission of a plan to advance full federal recognition.
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.
On Sept. 23, 2024, during his campaign, Trump said, “Today, I’m officially announcing that, if I am elected in November, I will sign legislation granting the great Lumbee Tribe federal recognition that it deserves.”
A release in January from the White House said, “Federal recognition grants tribes’ certain governmental autonomy, land protections, and access to federal programs and services, like health care through the Indian Health Service.”
North Carolina is home to eight tribes: the Cherokee-Eastern Band, Coharie, Haliwa-Saponi, Lumbee, Meherrin, Occaneechi-Saponi, Sappony and Waccamaw Siouan. All are recognized by the state; only the Cherokee-Eastern Band and the Lumbee will have full federal recognition.
