Lumbee recognition: Senate panel sets hearing date

[Okwes]

Lumbee recognition: Senate panel sets hearing date

By Mark Locklear - Staff writer
PEMBROKE - A U.S. Senate committee will hear testimony on the Lumbee federal recognition bill on July 12.

Sen. John McCain, chairman of the Indian Affairs Committee, informed tribal leaders of the hearing date on Tuesday. Hours later, Tribal Administrator Leon Jacobs delivered the news during a called Tribal Council meeting.

“We are excited,” he said. “We have never been this close and I started working on this in the 70s. I think we have a chance this year.”

Most of 21-member council plan to attend the hearing on Capitol Hill. U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole and U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre introduced legislation in January 2005 supporting federal recognition. McIntyre's bill is in the House Resources Committee.

Congress passed the Lumbee Act in 1956, but the legislation denied the tribe benefits and privileges given to other federally recognized tribes. Repeated attempts to get benefits have failed.

After the July 12 hearing, the committee will vote on whether to send the bill to the full Senate floor.

A long list of tribal leaders and historians will attempt to convince Congress that Lumbees are an Indian tribe and qualify for money for health care, education, housing and economic development.

Dole and McIntyre, a Lumberton resident, and council Chairman Jimmy Goins are among those scheduled to testify. Others mentioned as good candidates to testify include Johnny Hunt, the incoming schools superintendent, and county Commissioner Noah Woods.

In a related issue, the council voted 10-5 to establish a line of credit to pay an outstanding debt to a lobbyist working to gain federal recognition. The tribe owes Paul Kavinoky $16,000. The tribe has been paying Kavinoky $5,000 a month since May 2004.

The tribe plans to mortgage the 660-acre Hayes Pond property in Maxton to establish a $100,000 line of credit. The land has been appraised at $668,000.

The owners donated the land to the tribe in 2004. It is the site of the 1958 clash between a group of Lumbee Indians and the Ku Klux Klan.

The council members who voted against the motion argued that the administration doesn't have a plan to pay the money back.

“They didn't make a suggestion of where the money would come from,” Danita Locklear said after the meeting. “How do you continue to borrow from Peter to pay Paul?”

Also voting against were Lawrence Locklear, Wendy Moore-Graham, Jerl Locklear and Linda Hammonds. They said this is the second time the tribe has fallen behind in paying Kavinoky. The council voted in December 2005 to establish a line of credit to pay a $25,000 debt to Kavinoky.

“I am highly against it,” Moore-Graham said. “It is just a quick fix ... a Band-Aid on a big wound.”

Some council members questioned the need for a lobbyist, saying the bill is too high. Jacobs said the tribe's recognition attorney, Arlinda Locklear, needs help.

“She has great skills but there are things that lobbyists can do that an attorney or you or I cannot accomplish,” Jacobs said. “I don't think it is the right time to terminate a lobbyist.”

Councilman Gerald Goolsby sided with Jacobs.

“We're too close,” Goolsby said. “We don't need to drop the ball now. “

Jacobs said a recent bike run raised $2,100 for the effort and that the trive is continuing to schedule fund-raising events and solicit donations.

In other action, the council voted unanimously to approve the 2006-2007 Indian Housing Plan. The plan must be sent to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in Chicago by Saturday. The tribe is set to receive $14 million from the Native American Housing Assistance and Self Determination Act, the tribe's main source of funding.

The plan calls for opening two additional Boys and Girls Clubs in the tribal territory. There are now clubs in Pembroke and Raeford. Two additional community buildings are proposed in the plan.

Hunt to leave board on Friday

LUMBERTON - Johnny Hunt will leave his seat as chairman of the county Board of Commissioners on Friday to become superintendent of the Public Schools of Robeson County.
Lumbee recognition: Senate panel sets hearing date

PEMBROKE - A U.S. Senate committee will hear testimony on the Lumbee federal recognition bill on July 12.
Fairmont adopts budget with no major changes

FAIRMONT - The Board of Commissioners approved the 2006-2007 fiscal year budget Tuesday, keeping the tax rate and user fees the same. The budget takes effect Saturday.
Fantastic Shakers set to perform

LUMBERTON - The skies look as though they will clear for the summer's second Lumberton Alive After Five event, which is scheduled for Thursday.
Thanks to those who helped students, community

This is the last article I will write as the superintendent of the Public Schools of Robeson County.
Education Briefs

TIP program recognizes Brown

[blackcrowheart]

Lumbees take recognition fight to Washington amid opposition

By Barbara Barrett
McClatchy News Service

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Washington | Opposition from fellow American Indian tribes continues to
thwart a North Carolina tribe's quest for federal recognition and all
the benefits that come with it.

The Lumbees, based in Robeson County along the state's southern border,
have been trying for a century to get the federal government to
officially recognize them. Such approval would bring millions of federal
dollars in education, housing and health benefits. It also could open
the door to tribal casinos and gambling in the tribe's communities near
well-traveled Interstate 95.

Now, again, the Lumbees are in Washington seeking help.

Sen. Elizabeth Dole reintroduced a bill on their behalf, and Rep. Mike
McIntyre, who represents Robeson County, has 211 co-sponsors to his
bill.

Sen. Richard Burr sits on the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, and some
tribal members hope they're as close as ever to recognition.

On Wednesday, nearly 100 tribal members - many of them elders - traveled
to Washington to attend a congressional hearing. They met with lawmakers
and staffs and planned to tour the Smithsonian's new Museum of the
American Indian.

But the Lumbees face opposition both at home and within the Indian
community. The Eastern Band of the Cherokees, based in western North
Carolina, opposes Lumbee recognition. So does the rest of the Cherokee
nation, along with some other tribes.

Some say the Lumbees don't have the historical documentation to prove
their heritage. Some say the tribe, with more than 50,000 members, would
cost too much money in federal benefits when Indian funding already is
scarce.

The political prospects for the bill are difficult.

McIntyre, a Lumberton Democrat, said the Lumbees face a race against the
clock. The Senate has a host of bills to get through this year, and if
the bill doesn't make it before the end of this term it must start over
again next year, with the beginning of a new congressional session.

"You have such a constellation of time constraints of what bills the
Republican leadership will allow to move forward in both the Senate and
House," he said.

Dole introduced the bill last session, too, but it was held up by
opposition.

But, Dole said Wednesday, the hearing before Senate Indian Affairs
Committee Chairman John McCain of Arizona is a significant step.

McCain said he doesn't usually like congressional approvals, but he
acknowledged that the Lumbees' quest has been one of frustration.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs, within the U.S. Interior Department,
argued Wednesday that the Lumbees should go through the bureaucratic
process for recognition rather than rely on Congress.

And Chief Michell Hicks of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee said the
Lumbees have unfairly tried to claim themselves as Cherokee in the past.

He said it is unfair for the Lumbees to get Congress' approval without
having to go through the Bureau of Indian Affairs bureaucracy.

"We urge you to protect the integrity of all Indian tribes," Hicks said.

Even within Robeson County, a group of Tuscarora Indians, who also want
federal recognition, say the Lumbees are unfairly claiming part of their
membership in the Lumbees' quest for approval.

But Lumbees chairman Jimmy Goins, testifying in gray suit and gray
ponytail, took umbrage at accusations about the Lumbee heritage.

"The most insulting basis for some to oppose this bill is to say we're
not even Indian," Goins told senators.

"We will match our strength and the community of our tribe against any
other Indian tribe."

Dole, Burr and McIntyre argued that the Lumbees are an unusual case.

Thought by many to be descended from the Cheraw, members thought they
had earned federal recognition in 1956 through a law passed by Congress.

But the same bill also said the Lumbees could never earn federal
benefits or apply for official approval through the federal process.

It isn't unusual for tribes to go through Congress; more have
congressional recognition than from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Burr
said Wednesday at the hearing.

The long period of inaction, Burr said, "is totally, utterly unfair."

He and others believe part of the BIA's opposition comes from the amount
of funding the Lumbees could get.

Hicks, of the Cherokee, estimated the Lumbees could get hundreds of
millions of dollars.

But McIntyre said Wednesday it would be closer to $77 million annually
for health and education benefits.

"It's unfortunate that any tribe would hold back another tribe from
recognition," McIntyre said in an interview.

"It's all because of this infighting between tribes. Other tribes don't
want it because they don't want the pie to be split."

Should the Lumbees win federal recognition, the door opens for them to
move toward casinos as well.

That would be potential competition to the Cherokees' gaming operation,
tucked into the mountains and difficult to get to. Robeson County falls
along Interstate 95.

But Dole said no one in the tribe has discussed gaming with her.

And Goins said that the Lumbee, with its strong religious heritage and
pattern of church leaders becoming tribal leaders, probably wouldn't
push for gaming anyhow.

[Okwes]

Lumbee Indian Tribe Closer To Federal Recognition


From Staff & Wire Reports
Thursday, August 3, 2006


WASHINGTON DC -- According to Senator Elizabeth Dole's (R-NC) office, the Lumbee Indian tribe is one step closer to achieving federal recognition status as a bona fide Indian nation.


Senator Elizabeth Dole said yesterday in a released statement that she "applauded the decision" of the US Senate Committee on Indian Affairs to approve the Lumbee Recognition Act,


However, the tribe still has to get through several more steps before gaining full recognition from the federal government, which would allow the tribe to receive certain benefits from the federal government and give it a unique legal status. The bill would have to pass a vote in the full Senate before being voted on again by the House of Representatives.


Senator Dole introduced the Lumbee Recognition Act in this session in an effort to provide full federal recognition and benefits for the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina.


"Today we have cleared another major hurdle in achieving long-deserved federal recognition for the Lumbee Tribe," commented Senator Dole in a released statement.


"The Lumbees have patiently waited for more than a century for full federal recognition and the benefits that accompany that recognition," Dole added. "I commend the Indian Affairs Committee for understanding that this is an issue of fairness and approving this legislation."


According to Senator Dole's office, the Lumbee Tribune consists of around 50,000 members, most of whom live in and around Robeson County, North Carolina.


According to her office, the tribe is the largest American Indian tribe east of the Mississippi River and the largest non-federally recognized tribe in the United States.


However, the tribe still faces an uphill battle for recognition. Senator Dole says that she also introduced similar legislation in the last session and it also made it past the Senate Indian Affairs Committee but was not passed by Congress.


Dole's office said that the State of North Carolina recognized the Lumbee Tribe as a legitimate Native American tribe in 1885.


In 1956 the Lumbee Tribe was recognized by the federal government, but was not extended the full rights and benefits that it has granted other tribes, says Senator Dole's office and other sources.