Even through the noise of the North Carolina fish market, Joseph Jones' excitement is palpable. On Dec. 17, Congress recognized his people, the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, as a full-fledged American tribe, entitled to government benefits, health care and possibly a casino.
“It took a long time, but we finally did it, man,” says Mr. Jones, whose family owns the Lumbee Fish Market in Pembroke, N.C., in a telephone interview. “People are constantly working, constantly pushing it, constantly going to the White House, constantly telling Congress that we are Native, no matter what people say about us, and we are proud to be Native American.”
President Donald Trump, who has long professed his “love” for the Lumbee people, signed the National Defense Authorization Act into law on Dec. 18. This defense funding bill included the Lumbee Justice Act, making the Lumbee the 575th recognized tribe in the United States. The tribe instantly became one of the largest in the country. It took the Lumbee more than 30 attempts to earn federal recognition as its members battled accusations from other tribes that they had not proven their historical origins and continuity of government.
Why did we write this
The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, with more than 55,000 members, has earned federal recognition from Congress after decades of trying. The designation would open up more government benefits for tribal members and fulfill a campaign promise by President Donald Trump.
The recognition is partly a testament to the growing political power of the Lumbee Tribe, which has more than 55,000 members. It highlights how the Lumbees became a powerful voting bloc in North Carolina and quietly made an impact on the national stage. Opposition to their recognition from other Native American tribes also highlights how questions of identity persist as the Lumbee Tribe looks to build on its new federal recognition.
“It's a really exciting window into this moment. It's kind of a victory for racial justice” under the leadership of a president who has attacked the social justice movement on many fronts, Julian Brave tells NoiseCat, a writer and director and member of the Canim Lake Band Tsqéscen̓ from California. “The tribe has been an interesting political chameleon because its identity has always been indigenous but has transformed over time.”
Origin of the Lambee Tribe
The Lumbee call themselves the “dark water people.” Although there are Lumbee outposts in Baltimore and Philadelphia, most today live in the Lumber River region of Robeson County, North Carolina, where tribal ties are strengthened and understood through questions such as: “Where do you go to church?”
The story of the founding of Lumbee is, according to some historians and tribal leaders, intertwined with European-American history. In one theoryThe Lumbees appeared after Europeans may have left the “Lost Colony of Roanoke” in what is now North Carolina in the late 16th century to live with local Native Americans on Croatoan Island. Lambee Tribe website says that some of the ancestors of the tribe have always lived on the Lumbee River, while others migrated from parts of the Carolinas and Virginia. Lumbee is the name the tribe chose for itself in the 1950s.
In 1934, a team that included a Harvard University professor traveled to Robeson County to evaluate the tribe's right to recognition. They found that while the tribe was undoubtedly indigenous, it did not meet the federal definition, which at the time only considered race and not culture, ancestors or relatives.
Often, Lambis do not look Indian, including those with freckles and red hair. Many of them have the same “Tuscarora eyes,” a gray tint that many attribute to early colonial settlers. Leaders and tribal members say it's a testament to the tribe's inclusiveness, which values family ties more than percentage of ancestry.
Supporters of the Lumbee Tribe say a historical struggle for legitimacy is driving the fight for federal recognition of the Lumbees in part because of who is considered Native and who is not.
“The Lumbee are a shining example of how to exercise self-determination against the strongest opposition: America's insistence on their invisibility,” writes Emory University historian and Lumbee tribal member Malinda Maynor Lowry in The Lumbee Indians: An American Struggle.
North Carolina has recognized the tribe since the 1880s, but Congress, which controls federal recognition, has consistently rejected the Lumbees until now. The Lambies watched as 23 other tribes have gained recognition since the 1970s. The latest was the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians in Montana, which was recognized in the 2019 defense authorization bill.
Influence and money on the line
In some ways, the Lumbee Tribe's struggle for recognition may have less to do with proving its historical heritage and more to do with issues of the purse strings.
Staunch opposition comes from the 15,000-strong Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation.
The Lumbees will be “the first to receive recognition without demonstrating any historical tribal ancestry,” Michel Hicks, chief of the Eastern Cherokee Tribe, told Congress in November.
Indian tribes can obtain federal recognition in several ways, including an act of Congress, a federal court order, and recognition by the Department of the Interior's Office of Federal Recognition. This office reviews petitions based on “anthropological, genealogical, and historical research methods.”
In a statement, Mr. Hicks criticized the Lumbee Tribe for seeking recognition through Congress “instead of a merit-based federal recognition process. This, without a proven history, language, tradition, land base and treaty rights, sets a dangerous precedent for moving forward regulation and undermines the standards that protect tribal nations and federal Indian laws,” he said. wrote.
Meanwhile, the award-winning drumming group War Paint has Lumbee members and regularly hosts powwows with the Eastern Band. This cultural acceptance, some say, suggests that opposition may also extend to gambling markets. The Eastern Band of the Cherokee Tribe operates a casino in Cherokee, North Carolina, on the other side of the state from Robeson County.
The Eastern group “has a history of protecting its gaming market, and this could potentially get in the way of that,” says Matthew Fletcher, a professor at the University of Michigan Law School and author of “Ghost Road: Anishinaabe Responses to Indian Hatred.”
“Another aspect of concern is that the amount of money Congress allocates in a given year for public services is limited, so the Eastern Bend can expect some reductions given that the Lumbee will be one of the largest tribes in the country in the future,” he adds.
“Never give up”
Members of the Lumbee Tribe have increasingly voted Republican in recent years.
In October 2020, President Trump held a rally in Robeson County where he pledged support for federal recognition of the Lumbee Tribe. As candidates in 2024, both Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris pledged to support Lumbee's recognition.
Robeson County, which has a population of just ended 40% of indigenous people voted for President Barack Obama in two elections before switching to support Mr. Trump in the last three presidential elections.
North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis, a Republican, first introduced the Lesbian Justice Act of 2023 in Congress. This week, Republicans and Democrats lined up to include the Lesbian Fairness Act in the defense authorization bill.
Speaking on the Senate floor Dec. 17 wearing a local bolo tie, Mr. Tillis later praised the tribe's “resilience, service and dignity” as it fought for “fair treatment.”
“I thank the Lumbee Tribe for never giving up on our nation, and I am honored that our nation has finally stopped abandoning them,” Senator Tillis said in a video message. North Carolina's Democratic Gov. Josh Stein also supported the new recognition.
Most immediately for the Lumbees, the tribe now faces what could be called a nation-building project as federal subsidies increase.
“They're going to have to build infrastructure, law enforcement, tribal courts, social services—everything you can imagine,” says Professor Fletcher, who is also chief judge of the Grand Traverse Tribe of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, the Pokagon Tribe of Potawatomi Indians and the Poarch Tribe of Creek Indians. “It's a great opportunity for them. But they're starting from scratch.”
Mr. Jones, a fishmonger in Pembroke, says his people are up to the challenge given the long struggle for legitimacy and support in one of North Carolina's poorest corners.
“We're not looking for money, we're looking for help for our seniors,” Mr. Jones says.
