New Lumbee Fairness Act Introduced in Congress
Rep. David Rouzer (R-NC-07) (left) and Lumbee Tribal Chairman John Lowery (right). Source for photo: Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina
On February 17, 2023, Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Ted Budd (R-NC) and Representative David Rouzer (R-NC-07) introduced legislation in their respective chambers to federally recognize the Lumbee Tribe and acknowledge the rights that are inherent to all indigenous peoples. Legislators have made similar attempts in the past to federally recognize the Lumbee people, though these attempts have been unsuccessful due to longstanding historical, political, and social factors. Some Lumbee individuals are hopeful that the bill will pass but remain cognizant of such factors that have previously contributed to less desirable outcomes.
The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina has endured a nuanced and difficult relationship with both the federal and North Carolina governments. Part of this nuance comes from the origins of the Lumbee people since Lumbees are descended from various Eastern Siouan-, Algonquian-, and Iroquoian-language speaking peoples who had been displaced from their ancestral homelands during the early period of contact with Europeans. Over time, they coalesced and formed a unique identity as the Lumbee. Unlike the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, the only federally-recognized tribe in North Carolina, the Lumbee did not enter into formal political relations with the United States government. According to UNC’s Dr. Daniel Cobb, these contrasts have meant that the Lumbee have struggled against not only non-Native misperceptions regarding what constitutes an “authentic” Indigenous identity, but also the federal government’s narrow conception of how a sovereign people can gain formal recognition. These two factors, among others, led non-Indigenous lawmakers to deny recognition to the Lumbee in 1888 and 1911.
Map of Lumbee migration. Source for photo: Lumbee Indians in the Jim Crow South: Race, Identity, and the Making of a Nation by Malinda Maynor Lowery (2010)
When the Lumbee Tribe secured recognition in 1956, members of Congress situated it within the context of contemporary terminationist policies which sought to diminish the federal government’s trust relationship with Native tribes regarding the protection of reservation land and the distribution of federal funds. The Lumbee were recognized as an Indigenous people in the 1956 legislation. However, in keeping with the termination movement’s efforts to sever the federal government’s trust relationship with tribal nations, the bill refused to acknowledge that the United States had a formal political relationship with – and therefore obligations to – the Lumbee. Dr. Danielle Hiraldo, Lumbee citizen and Director of the American Indian Center at UNC, stated that there was a movement within US politics at the time to force assimilation by reducing the federal trust relationship. Given this attitude, it is not surprising that the Lumbee Tribe was recognized in name only and was denied a legal or political relationship with the federal government. According to Dr. Hiraldo, the 1956 Lumbee Act itself signaled termination language and effectively barred the Lumbee from seeking political recognition and receiving the benefits associated with such a relationship through the current federal acknowledgment regulations. Though barriers to federal recognition had been overcome by this time, the contemporary American political scene allowed for little in the way of government benefits for the Lumbee people.
More recent attempts to grant full recognition to the Lumbee people have also not passed, though for different reasons as the termination period has since ended. In 2007, former Senators Richard Burr (R-NC) and Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) introduced the Lumbee Recognition Act which did not pass through the Senate. Former Senator Burr attempted once more to reintroduce the Act in 2021 with Senator Tillis and was also unsuccessful despite “broad bipartisan support.” The presence of such support and the absence of progress indicate factors at play beyond the Senate chambers. Such factors, said Drs. Cobb and Hiraldo, include broad challenges to recognition from other tribes with regards to potential changes in the distribution of federal funds. According to Dr. Hiraldo, the funds set aside by the federal government for recognized Native tribes are already insufficient. Now, other nations in North Carolina are concerned that the federal government will not increase the funds allocated to North Carolina tribes but simply divide the existing funds between the Lumbee Tribe and other nations. Dr. Cobb also said that federal recognition would legally allow the Lumbee to participate in gaming. Some people fear that this could potentially reduce the Eastern Band’s market share of the industry and negatively impact revenue derived from gaming operations. These largely economic factors have led some citizens of the Eastern Band to oppose Lumbee recognition and make such opposition known to lawmakers.
Social factors like racial biases also play a role in the delay of recognition for the Lumbee people. According to Malinda Maynor Lowery’s book, Lumbee Indians in the Jim Crow South, the Lumbee people were subjected to segregation during the Jim Crow era because many Lumbee citizens presented as nonwhite and were considered ‘colored.’ The legacy of Jim Crow laws persists today through implicit biases in lawmaking, which contribute to systemic challenges for both Black Americans and Lumbee citizens within the context of homeownership and voting rights. The disenfranchisement of those who were affected by segregation has likely contributed to continued efforts to deny Lumbee people the federal benefits to which they are entitled.
Given past failures and legacies of social injustice and discrimination, it is uncertain whether the Lumbee Fairness Act will pass. Despite these uncertainties, there are factors which may point to a positive outcome for Lumbee recognition as, according to Dr. Cobb, every US president including and after Obama has pledged to support the bill. Lumbee Tribal Chairman John Lowery has also expressed support and optimism toward the bill. Some Lumbee individuals, like Carolina student Tia Hunt, look positively upon recognition as a method of gaining resources while also recognizing that the context behind the process limits its chances of success. Conversely, other Lumbee people oppose recognition; Ms. Hunt spoke of a desire among some Lumbee citizens to focus on internal efforts toward tribal improvement without having to involve or depend on the “colonial state.” Overall, the Lumbee Fairness Act and its proponents face social and historical anti-Indigenous legacies as well as opposition on racial and economic grounds which may prevent its passage despite bipartisan support from past and present political leaders.