WHAT NEXT???
Last week we aluded to hew tough the upcoming
election was going to gdt\ We predict that we have not
seen anythin* yet.We quoted from a t-shirt last week: If
you can't wAysth the big dog?, stay on^the porch. We
thought thAaying was cuXe.^^are beginning to wonder
now if we knowto^#lfDie big does are" and more
importantly, do wrapt)t to knqg^j ^PRto^e all recognize
some of the masWrstratexwtt b\5g^P5?d color, we are
not sure any of usJ*u>w ois in charge and
where each indhflffiapfttj info the overall scheme of
One thing we all know for sure. There is a terrific battle
going on for pc litical and economic control of this county.
We have addressed the issue of how some people, we call
them master strategists, sit and plan strategic moves
to ensure the rise of their own political empire. We
predict again that we have not seen anything yet...If we
see any one group of individuals, whatever color, end up
in a position to influence and in effect control, the next
governor of the state, the member of the N.C. Senate,
the members of the N.C. House, the members of the
board of education and the county commissioners we will
witness a continuation of a process designed to control,
dictate, and hold the voting public in bondage to the
whims of this group...We could easily call the names of
most of the local players, Indians, Blacks and
whites....Indian people for many years have struggled to
stop non-Indians from controlling us. Anytime that people
are heldin economic bondage, they're slave..This is not
right...We have struggled long and hard to overcome
this bondage and what we see now is a group of Indian
people who are apparently trying to do the same
thing...We do not condone changing players and
continuing to play the same ball game....We urge all
builders and aspiring builders of political empires to do
the right thing....It is not right to threaten people's
jobs...It is not right to intimidate those who are
uninformed...It is not right to move on people
economically.... We have been threatened here at this
business so many times that we find that it is
inspirational....Recently we addressed the LRDA board of
directors and expounded dn our theory of their plans to
control things when federal recognition comes....Recently
we were embarrassed to read in the daily newspaper that
this same board, apparently was involved in, the use of
commodities to influence votes. Intimidation and vote
buying in any form is wrong...It is wrong no matter who is
doing it?There is no justification for this reprehensible
and unprofesshftial behavior...If commodities are avail
able, give them to persons who are in need. Without
restrictions. The writer stated that |>eople were being
approcahed for their votes as ice cream was being
distributed...This is almost unbelievable in this day and
time. It is a terrible reflection on LRDA and the entire
Indian community...And, yes, we have heard who the
politicoe were We were encouraged that the writer was
independent enough in her thinking to tell what happened
publicly....She unde^Mpod what was happening....She
understood implied "vote buying"...She understood that
she was being tabes advantage of....She understood she
was dehumanized....We believe there are thousands of
people in this county who can and do reason things
out..We believe this is one of the factors that the political
strategists can't control....People are not ignorant..
People are not robots, or pawns....People are human
beings with the capabilities to think and decide for
themselves....This is encouraging to us and reaffirms our
commitment to continue to publish and continue to
question those things that don't appear proper and in
some instances, they don't appear legal....We under
stand more each day why some of our own people wish to
see us close up this office and cease to write For these
reasons we are more determined because we believe the
upcoming election will demonstrate that our faith in
people has not been misplaced...We beleive the
upcoming election will make a strong statement to the
power brokers that people are not easily fooled, misled or
intimidated....Hie LRDA/ ice cream incident reminds me
Cong *UCll ^tain
Isj 2>?. Sum J(*Ut, 2Ww?*ot <PS<U JiMtUt cAmtxUMM *R fMHIM CimUxJ
It is now 120 years ago. The date is 21 March 1872. The
story in the Lumberton Robesonian says that Henry
Berry Lowrie is dead. The newspaper states that Henry
was killed by his own brother, Tom. Among many white
families there is a sigh of relief, perhaps even a glimmer
of joy, but tempered with a nagging doubt..
There had, after all, been reports of Henry's death
before. Even the prestigious New York Herald had
carried the story two weeks before that Henry Berry had
drowned while fishing in his beloved Lumbee River. And
rumors had been spreading through the Conservative
community since February that Henry Berry had been the
victim of a fatal accident, in which he shot himself in the
heart while cleaning his rifle (or was it his shotgun?).
Those who had hated and hunted him, and those who had
merely resisted and resented him, were eager to believe
that their collective troubles were over.
But during the same period, late winter and early spring
of 1872, the stories circulating in the Indian community
were quite different. Henry's brother Steve was quoted in
the New York Herald (also on 21 March!) as denying the
death of Henry, saying that Henry was only hiding out in
the swamps "to look after Boss Strong" who was "hurt
powerful bad." Also on 21 March, the Wilmington Re
view published the story that Henry Berry had escaped
from Robeson County "in disguise."
Stories told later by members of the Lowrie family, but
which seem to originate in this same late winter and early
spring of 1872, give more details. Reverend D. F. Lowry,
a nephew of Henry Berry, told the story in 1970 (at the age
of 89) that Henry had been helped to escape by General
Gorman Reverend Lowry's account has it that Henry
Berry was dressed in a militia uniform to blend in with
General Gorman's men, and that Henry's head was par
tially bandaged to cover his real identity.
Another relative, Pr. Earl C. Lowry, reported in the 9
May 1937 Raleigh News and Observer that an elaborate
trick had been played by the Lowries to conceal Henry's
escape. Dr. Lowry's account has it that a dummy made of
straw, smeared with rabbit brains, was shown at a dis
tance to several people who then spread the story that
Henry was dead. Meanwhile, according to Dr. Lowry
Henry was making his getaway dressed in a Federal
uniform, boarding the train at Pates.
So where is the truth among all these stories of what
happened 120 years ago? MclCee Evans, in his book To
Die Gome, makes the point that both the Conservatives
and the Indian community showed the same vigor in
expounding their respective sides of the story. Evans
says: "The friends of Henry Berry have shown quite as
much redundance in composing ingenious new versions
of his escape as his foes have in superfluously re-killing
him (p. 247)." But why should this be so?
Perhaps it is simple. James Luna, the modern Diegueno
Indian artist/poet, said in a recent lecture in Charlotte
"You see what you want to anyway." Maybe this is a part
of our basic human nature- to read into events whqtever
interpretation best suits our own pre-existing philosophy
But perhaps these stories also demonstrate that you can't
believe everything you read in the newspaper.
For more information, visit the Native American Re
source Center in Old Main Building, on the campus of
Pembroke State University. |
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Continued on Page 4
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March 22 -29
6:30 p.m. Sunday
7:30 p.m. 'Week 'Mights
^Revival M
DundarracK Daptist Church
Located 4 1/2 miles NE of Shannon
Speaker: Worth Ellis
"Two Roads - "Two Destinies"
Everyone Is Welcome
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