(The Center Square) – Full federal recognition for the Lumbees, the largest tribe east of the Mississippi River, is on the way from second-term Republican President Donald Trump.
Reintroduction has happened in both chambers of Congress and on Thursday it got the extra kick expected. In the Oval Office of the White House just after 3 p.m., Trump told pool reporters he “loved” the Lumbee Tribe and North Carolina.
His directive on Thursday was a presidential memorandum to the secretary of the Interior Department – former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum is the nominee – requesting submission of a plan to advance full federal recognition.
On Sept. 23 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 from the White House says, “Federal recognition grants tribes’ certain governmental autonomy, land protections, and access to federal programs and services, like health care through the Indian Health Service.”
The state recognized the tribe in 1885. In 1956, Congress passed legislation recognizing the tribe but without benefits every other federally recognized tribe receives.
In the 118th Congress, Major Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., never allowed House Resolution 1101 known as the Lumbee Fairness Act to get a vote in the upper chamber after it had passed the House.
North Carolina Republican Sens. Thom Tillis and Ted Budd put forth a bill in their chamber. In the House, a companion bill was sent forward by Reps. 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.
Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s signature is affixed to the 1956 Lumbee Act.
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 directs the Interior secretary to analyze the legal pathways.
