For Lumbee tribe, ‘the time has come’ to finally be federally recognized
by Lucas Thomae, Carolina Public Press March 10, 2025
Who gets to claim the title of American Indian? That is the question at the center of a fight over potential federal recognition for the indigenous Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina.
For more than a century, the Lumbee — with a claimed membership of 60,000 people concentrated in the southeastern part of the state — have fought for federal recognition and the benefits that come with it.
Those perks include health care funding, housing programs and, of course, the opportunity to establish casinos.
A bipartisan coalition of lawmakers have supported bills to grant federal recognition the past few congressional cycles, but up to this point none have made it all the way to the president’s desk to be signed into law.
That may soon change.
‘An issue of fairness’
During his first week in office, President Donald Trump made good on his campaign promise to support the Lumbee cause with a memo to the Department of the Interior directing them to draft a plan to grant full federal recognition.
Once completed, the directive will reverse a 1956 law that acknowledged the tribe as the “Lumbee Indians of North Carolina,” but denied them federal benefits that typically come with that recognition.
A note: Both the state and federal government, and many tribes themselves, use the term “American Indian” to refer to the indigenous people living in the United States.
Lumbee Chairman John Lowery spent a week in Washington, D.C. last month as consultations for the carrying out of the president’s memorandum began. Lowery told Carolina Public Press he left the U.S. capital feeling “cautiously optimistic” about finally achieving full federal recognition.
“We have very strong support from both sides of the aisle,” Lowery said. “At the end of the day, whether Democrat or Republican, individuals understand that this is an issue of fairness.”
It’s also an issue that is somewhat complicated.
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, the only federally-recognized tribe in the state, vehemently oppose granting the Lumbee the same statusthrough congressional action rather than the typical application process carried out by the Department of the Interior. In fact, Cherokee opposition to Lumbee recognition dates back to at least 1910.
Principal Chief Michell Hicks, the leader of the Eastern Band, told CPP that such a move would be a “slippery slope” that encourages illegitimate tribal groups to falsely claim federal benefits.
“It is a dangerous decision that will open up the floodgates to others wanting to do the same thing,” he said.
Lumbee lineage holds the key
The Cherokee are an indigenous people who once populated parts of what is now North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama. They had long been a sovereign nation with their own government prior to European colonization of the region.
Today, the Eastern Band is one of three federally-recognized Cherokee tribes and the only one not located in Oklahoma. They are descendants of a small group of Cherokee people who remained in North Carolina after the U.S. government forcibly relocated them to reservations in the 1830s.
By the mid-1900s, the Eastern Band had organized into its own tribal nation fully acknowledged by the federal government. More than 16,000 Cherokee people live and work on their reservation lands which stretch across Swain, Jackson, Cherokee and Graham counties near the western tip of the state.
The Lumbee, on the other hand, have a history that is less cohesive. Their story is one of mixed cultures and ambiguous identity.
Even the name “Lumbee” is a modern construction, thought to have originated in the 1950s from the Lumber River that flows through the tribe’s claimed territory.
Since the 1880s, the group has petitioned Congress for federal recognition under names such as “Cherokee Indians of Robeson County” and “Croatan Indians” — a reference to a once-popular theory that they were descended from European settlers of “The Lost Colony” and nearby indigenous people.
Later research on the origin of the Lumbee suggests they are descended from a mix of people with indigenous, European and African heritage.
That lineage matters because the federal acknowledgement process requires petitioners to prove they are descended from a “historical Indian tribe” or a combination of historical tribes that function as one political entity.
The “historical tribe” requirement has proven to be an obstacle for the Lumbee since the U.S. government confirmed their eligibility to apply for federal acknowledgement in 2016.
Still, Lowery said his tribe’s indeterminate origins shouldn’t be disqualifying. They’ve long inhabited the sandhills and enjoyed a good relationship with the state. “The time has come” for the Lumbee to be recognized by a government that has consistently overlooked them.
“The fact that we are still here centuries after colonial expansion, centuries after war and disease,” he said, “should be celebrated.”
Membership has its privileges
Hicks said he supports the Lumbee’s right to go through the federal acknowledgement process, but opposes any congressional action that would allow them to circumvent that procedure. It’s a matter of protecting their own cultural identity, Hicks explained, pointing to “hundreds of groups” claiming to be Cherokee tribes.
“There is this merits-based process that was established because of the need to really dive into the claims of any group,” he said.
Some proponents of Lumbee recognition dismiss that argument. They say that the Cherokee simply want to protect their stake in the gaming industry, which legally can only take place on native lands.
A few years ago the tribe fought and lost a legal battle with the Catawba Indian Nation — a federally-recognized tribe in South Carolina — who planned to build a competing casino outside of Charlotte.
If the Lumbee were to become federally recognized, they might be another competitor in the high-stakes casino business.
However, both Lowery and Hicks downplayed the potential of a Lumbee-run casino as a reason for their political feud.
“The Lumbee opening a casino in a different region is unlikely to impact (our) gaming operations and is not the basis of our opposition,” Hicks said in a statement. “However, the fact that the Lumbee could establish an Indian gaming facility without even being able to specify which tribe they descend from illustrates the broader stakes for communities across America. If federal recognition is granted without requiring verifiable historical evidence, any group claiming to be a tribe could gain recognition — and with it, the ability to open a casino in any town in America.”
Meanwhile, Lumbee leaders in state government have lambasted Hicks and the Eastern Band for their “superiority complex” since discussion about recognition once again started to heat up.
A December letter penned by N.C. Commission of Indian Affairs chairman Ricky Burnett, a member of the Lumbee Tribe, censured Hicks for “statements made by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians that question the legitimacy of other tribal nations.”
“These actions reflect a troubling pattern of behavior in which the (Eastern Band) has positioned itself as an oppressor toward fellow tribes in North Carolina and neighboring states,” according to the letter.
In February, Lumbee Chairman John Lowery spent a week in Washington, D.C. as work began to finally grant the tribe full federal recognition. Lowery said he left feeling “cautiously optimistic. At the end of the day, whether Democrat or Republican, individuals understand that this is an issue of fairness.” Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina / Provided
Hicks said he was “offended” by the accusations.
“I don’t think it’s the position of any commission to basically take a political stance against the only federally-recognized tribe and the largest tribe east of the Mississippi,” he said.
Soon after, state Rep. Jarrod Lowery, the brother of the Lumbee chairman and the only Native American legislator in the General Assembly, criticized Gov. Josh Stein for appointing Hicks to his administration’s transition team.
The Republican legislator from Robeson County also introduced a bill last month that would redistribute money from an education fund composed primarily from the Eastern Band’s gaming revenues to the seven other state-recognized tribes.
SUMMARY: Former Mayor Charles Meeker and Wake County Housing Authority Chair Yolanda Taylor discussed Raleigh’s rapid growth and housing affordability at a Livable Raleigh event. Meeker emphasized the need for reasonable growth, more density, and increased housing of all types to address shortages. Taylor highlighted how Raleigh’s development, including luxury housing near NC State, reflects rapid change. Attendees stressed balanced development and adherence to Raleigh’s comprehensive plan to manage growth responsibly. They also committed to advocating for state laws supporting affordable housing and pushing for new housing projects along key corridors. The ongoing debate over growth and affordability clearly remains urgent and complex.
www.thecentersquare.com – By David Beasley | The Center Square contributor – (The Center Square – ) 2025-09-07 07:36:00
The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), established in 1987, significantly aids affordable housing development in North Carolina. Administered by the NC Housing Finance Agency, it supports $1.47 billion in apartment construction, creates nearly 22,000 jobs, and generates $95.3 million in tax revenue annually. The program allocates federal tax credits based on state population, with North Carolina receiving about $34 million yearly. Developers sell these credits to large corporations, reducing borrowing costs and keeping rents affordable. Despite rising construction costs and demand, the program enjoys bipartisan support, recently receiving a 12% funding increase, though demand still exceeds available resources.
(The Center Square) – A little known federal tax credit that existed since Ronald Reagan was president has a long way toward creating more affordable housing in North Carolina, the state director told The Center Square.
The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit will help developers build $1.47 billion in affordable apartments in North Carolina this year and 21,960 jobs and produce $95.3 million in state and local tax revenue, said Scott Farmer, executive director of the NC Housing Finance Agency, which administers the program launched in 1987.
“What it effectively did was create a state-by-state allocation of federal tax credits to create, effectively, equity, for a public private partnership to develop apartments and also rehabilitate existing apartments,” Farmer said.
Once approved for the tax credits, the developers can then sell them on the private market, at a reduced price, such as 80 cents on the dollar.
“They are generally purchased by large corporate entities that have large tax obligations,” Farmer said.
The money from the sale of the tax credits lowers the amount the developer has to borrow for apartment construction.
“That’s how you keep the rents down,” Farmer said. “Your bank debt is much smaller so that you keep your rents affordable. It’s the truest form of a public-private partnership because you have the state agency, the federal government and these private investors that are all participating as well as the developers.”
Allocations of the tax credit is based on a state’s population. North Carolina’s allocation is around $34 million a year.
“There is a long waiting list,” for the tax credits, Farmer said. “The problem with this program is that we don’t have enough resources to go around.”
While other federal programs have been on the chopping block this year, Congress approved a 12% increase in the Low-Incoming Housing Tax Credit program, Farmer said.
“It was one of the few things that was increased and shows the bipartisan support for this program,” the director said.
Construction costs, labor and rents have all been going up over the last five years, Farmer noted.
“Without these types of programs, it would be difficult if not impossible to make these kinds of properties available for families and seniors,” he said.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Centrist
The article primarily reports on the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program and its impact on affordable housing in North Carolina without promoting a particular ideological viewpoint. It presents factual information, quotes from an official involved in the program, and mentions bipartisan support, indicating a neutral tone. The language is straightforward and descriptive, focusing on the mechanics and benefits of the program rather than advocating for or against any political ideology. Thus, it adheres to neutral, factual reporting by describing the ideological positions and actions of policymakers without contributing a discernible bias itself.
SUMMARY: The Powerball jackpot surged to an estimated $1.8 billion for Saturday’s drawing, marking the second largest lottery jackpot in history. Winning numbers were 6, 12, 23, 62, 44, with a Powerball of 17. Many hopeful players, including reporter Kirsten Clark, purchased tickets, eager to try their luck. At Andy Hugo’s in Raleigh, a stream of customers bought tickets, drawn by the chance to win big for just $2. The lump sum cash option is estimated at $826.4 million. Experts remind winners to consult financial planners due to the jackpot’s 1 in 292 million odds.
The numbers were drawn, and many were hoping to win the life-changing jackpot.
