National Native News: North Carolina’s Lumbee Tribe is now 575th federally recognized tribe
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It’s official — with the swipe of President Donald Trump’s pen, North Carolina’s Lumbee Tribe is now the 575th federally recognized tribe.
Correspondent Matt Laslo has the story from Washington.
Dozens of members of the Lumbee Tribe traveled from North Carolina to Washington to be a part of history this week.
Tears were heard in the gallery after the U.S. Senate approved the measure granting the Lumbee federal recognition Wednesday.
And after President Trump signed it into law Thursday, Lumbee Chairman John Lowery could barely contain his joy.
“Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning, and our joy is here. It’s here. We finally achieved what our ancestors fought so long and so hard to achieve.”
There are roughly 60,000 members of the Lumbee, making it the largest Native American tribe east of the Mississippi River.
North Carolina officials recognized the tribe after the Civil War in 1885, but not federal officials.
U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) has helped lead the fight in the Senate in recent years.
“Yeah, we’re a little bit excited after 137 years, on their part, about 40 years on Senate members part, it’s good to see it get done.”
Tillis is retiring at the end of his term next year, but he says the decade-long battle for federal recognition for the Lumbee shows Washington isn’t totally broken — even if the tribe and North Carolina lawmakers fought an uphill battle for years now.
“A lot of educating and just, you know, prioritize the way. This is the way this works, right? You come in, you use leverage, you have discussions, you build a case. I think that’s what happened. I really appreciate the delegation. This was a well-coordinated effort.”
Back in 1956, Congress partially recognized the Lumbee, but that left the tribe locked out of federal health services. And it meant the tribe couldn’t operate casinos or marijuana dispensaries like other tribes. Chairman Lowery says it’s a new day for the Lumbee.
“The 1956 act, which left us in legal limbo, is now erased. It is no more and we are now fully, fairly recognized.”
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians fought the federal recognition of the Lumbee, which passed as a part of an annual $900 billion defense authorization bill.
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