RALEIGH — The U.S. House passed a measure to recognize North Carolina’s Lumbee Indian Tribe last week, inching closer to fulfilling a campaign promise made by President-elect Donald Trump in September and when he campaigned in 2020.
Congressman David Rouzer (N.C.-7th) introduced the Lumbee Fairness Act earlier this year. The measure has the support of the North Carolina Congressional delegation in both chambers of Congress.
“The Lumbee people are an integral part of our Southeastern North Carolina community,” Rouzer said in a press release. “They are our neighbors and our friends. We attend church together. Our children go to school together. But for generations, the Lumbee Tribe has been denied full federal recognition and tribal sovereignty.”
Rouzer said he was proud the House passed his bill to “ensure the Lumbee people have the same rights and benefits as the other federally-recognized tribes across the country.”
Lumbee Tribal Chairman John Lowery thanked Rouzer and the co-sponsors for passage of the act before the Christmas holiday break.
“This is a great step towards Congress rectifying the 1956 Lumbee Act and ensuring that the remains of the Indian Termination Era policy continues to be dismantled,” said Lowery. “To our allies in Congress and Indian Country, continue to push forward and let us see this bill adopted by the Senate and finally finish what our ancestors began almost 140 years ago.”
The Lumbee Tribe was recognized by the state of North Carolina in 1885 and has sought federal recognition since 1888.
Congress recognized the Lumbee as an Indian Tribe when they enacted the Lumbee Act in 1956, but that legislation denied the Lumbee federal services and benefits. The current act amends the 1956 recognition to include “all services and benefits provided by the Federal Government to federally recognized Indian tribes.”
The tribe’s membership is 55,000, spanning Robeson, Hoke, Cumberland and Scotland counties.
Congress has put forth bills to recognize the tribe more than 30 times, with the House passing such measures six times. Most recently, Rep. Richard Hudson (N.C.-9th) introduced bills to recognize the tribe in 2020 and again in 2021. Both passed the House but did not receive a vote in the Senate.
North Carolina Sens. Thom Tillis and Ted Budd reintroduced the Lumbee Recognition Act in 2021 to no avail.
