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ROBESON COUNTY, N.C.
PUBLISHED each THURSDAY
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THE CAROLINA INDIAN VOICE
Dedicated to the best in all of us
|VOLUME4 NUMDER50 PEMBROKE, N. C. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1976 I5e PER COPY $
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ROBESON COUNTY BOARD
OF EDUCATION MEETS IN FIRST
LEGAL SESSION
by Connee Brayboy
For the first time in its history, the
Robeson County Board of Education
met as a legal body on Tuesday
evening, December 14, at the Board of
Education Building in Lumberton.
RALPH HUNT NAMED CHAIRMAN
The first action taken by the “new”
board was that of organization. Laym'on
P. Locklear, board member from the
Union Chapel area, nominated Ralph
Hunt, from Fairmont. In his nomination
speech, Locklear expressed his desire
for the children always to be “the
number one priority of the Robeson
County Board of Education.” The
nomination was seconded by David
Green, board member from Parkton.
• After the second, Harbert Moore,
member from the Prospect area, moved
that all nominations come to a close. As
there were no further nominations,
Moore moved that Hunt become
chairman by acclamation.
”1 want to work as long as 1 can to
help all people find equality. To stand
and be counted while others flee. To
accept responsibility and perform my
duty free.
“1 want to live and work and love so
'the world will one day be one people,
united, free to be what they want to
be.”
For those of us who knew and loved
retain him as their attorney, he would
have no hard feelings. He stressed that
he had charged the board a lower price
than another attorney might have. He
offered to do whatever he could for the
new board whether he remained as their
attorney or not.
In other matters. Albert Hunt gave a
report on the Indian Education meet
ings. He reported that the certificates
from the student survey were coming in
Mother of 19 soys
she would do it again
people
and places |
and things]
the late Peter Brooks, it wasn’t necessary steadily. There was some discussion of
for Moore to reveal the name of the
author. So on a note of nostalgia, the
board meeting began in earnest.
HIRING OF NEW ATTORNEY
ADDED TO AGENDA
THE WAY IT USED TO BE
After the choosing of a chairman,
Moore requested to say a “few words.”
He recalled briefly how things were
before the breaking of double- voting.
He expressed his appreciation to God
for being allowed to be a part of the
move to break double-voting. And he
read from a Methodist magazine;
‘ ‘There will be no peace with justice
unless liberation is gained by those who''
been manipulated and victimized by
interests that have been willing to profit
from the continued deprivation of the
weak and powerless. But, the oppressor
needs to be liberated as truly as the
oppressed. Liberation affects the whole
person. It is salvation; it is humaniza
tion. It is social, economic, political and
spiritual. It calls for the structural
implementation of those values an
nounced by our Lord when he shid he
had come that the ‘broken victims’ of
life might ‘go free.’”
Moore read also from the notes of a
“friendof mine.” Never disclosing who
the friend was, Moore read:
“1 want to be a builder of men so the
world will one day be a place where
social justice prevades and God’s
righteousness is instilled.
‘ ‘ I want to be a friend to all men of all
race and creed. To show them a better
way by example and deed. To tell them
of history (ours) so that they will one
day be builders of character and
personality.
Added to the agenda was an item that
came as no surprise to anyone in
attendance. Moore asked that the
employpient of the board attorney be
added to the agenda. The motion was
seconded by Robert Mangum, board
member from Pembroke. This was
added as the last item on the agenda.
ANNUAL AUDIT
The board heard the annual audit
report from Joe Lineberry of S. Preston .
Douglas and Associates of Lumberton
who serve as auditors for the board.
OCCUPATIONAL EDUCATION
CENTER REVIEWED
Bob Mangum gave a report on the
occupational education center that is
being planned. The board authorized
Mangum, Shirley Britt, member from
the Orrum area, and Sim Oxendine,
member from Pembroke, to continue as
a committee appointed to study the
feasibility of an occupational education
center. David Green was appointed to
replace Aileen Holmes on the commit-
ETC, ETC, ETC
Sim Oxendine, Tommy D. Swett, and
Lillian Faye Locklear, all of the
Pembroke area, were appointed as a
committee to accept a bid on the rental
of the site for the new Pembroke
Elementary School. Until time for the
construction of a new elementary
school, the board decided to rent the
site for agricultural purposes and place
the money in a fund to be used for
shrubbery, etc.
The attorney for the board, 1.
Murchison Biggs, reported to the board
on the matters under litigation. During
his report he told the board that he had
served as attorney for twenty years. He
stated that if the board did not wish to
The Carolina Indian Voice will publish in its
Dec. 23 edition letters to Santa Claus from area
children.
To have a letter with their children’s requests to
St. Nick printed in The Carolina Indian Voice,
parents should address the letters to: Santa, c/o
The Carolina Indian Voice, P.O. Box 1075,
Pembroke. Pictures of the children which
accompany the letters, will be printed.
Pictures may be picked up after they have been
printed. We will not be responsible for pictures
after Jan. 1, 1977.
Letters must be in our office not later than Dec.
22.
the need for a policy relative to the
police questioning students. This will be
dealt with further at a later meeting.
EXECUTIVE SESSION ON INDIAN
ATTORNEY IN CONCLUSION
That brought the board to the last
item on their agenda. Harbert Moore
began by returning the board to the
days when there were no Indian
attorneys in the county. He stated that
he felt that since we had Indian
attorneys presently, he would like to see
an Indian act as attorney for the board.
Said he, “ nothing we have against
Mr. Biggs....through the years I’ve
learned to admire him.” And Moore
continued by saying, “I think I’d like to
put that in the form of a motion...” At
which time Bob Mangum said that since
it was a personnel matter he thought
they should go into executive session.
After some discussion the “new” board
decided to go into executive session.
And go into executive session they did.
After more than an hour in executive
session, they opened the meeting once
again to the.public. As soon as they
came outof executive session, someone
moved that the meeting be adjourned.
And they. adjourned with no one
reque.sting that the matter of the
attorney be placed on the agenda for the
January meeting. They adjourned..with
no comment, no nothing concerning the
matter of possibly hiring a minority-
attorney for the now Indian- dominated
Robeson County Board of Education.
by Gene Warren
Pembrobe-“And God blessed them and
said unto them, ‘Be fruitful and
multiply...”’—Genesis 1:28.
Mrs. Lora Mae Hunt, 59, a Lumbee
Indian mother of 19 children- 15 girls
and four boys--has obeyed these
instructions to the letter, A widow (her
husband was the victim of a hit-and-run
accident in 1968), Mrs. Hunt not only
had 19 children, ranging in ages from 14
to 41, but 36 grandchildren.
Most of her children are grown and
gone-but she still has four daughters
and a son living at their home located
approximately 2 'h miles from Rowland.
Her four-bedroom home is located next
to Ashpole School.
“I married my husband to be a
wife--and I just had them,” she
remarked in answering questions about
why she had so many children. “1 didn’t
try to stop. The Lord let me have them
and kept me in good health. If I were
young, I would go through the same
thing again.”
Of her 19 children, 12 were born at
home, six at the hospital and one in a
doctor’s office. Mrs. Hunt said she
delivered her own children many times
when the doctor “couldn’t get here in
time,” addiitg, “1 learned how from my
mother.”
Then she said with pride in her voice:
"And .three days^ater 1 was working on
our tenant farm ajl day long and grading
tobacco ail night.” As tenant farmers,
her family farmed 20 acres of tobacco
and 40 acres of cotton.
The most children she had living at
home at one time were 18. To feed them
breakfast, Mrs. Hunt said, “I fixed 2Vi
dozen or three dozen of eggs. We raised
hogs (12 head) and always had meat.
When I fixed chicken, 1 fried four
chickens at a time. As for fish, I bought
10 pounds of fish at a time.”
How about helping in the kitchen? “1
always- did my own cooking. I didn’t
want anyone else in my own kitchen and
still don’t. Even now, I can cook enough
in two days to feed everyone at our
church (Ashpole Methodist Church),”
she'claimed. ‘ ‘I also like to do all of my
housework.”
At Christmas time, she says the man
for whom they farmed at the time
“would give us $200 and a box of fruit.
We always had gifts for the children,
like a baby doll, etc. And people in our
community and church were good to
Mrs. Hunt, who has worked in a
plant, says she now receives food
stamps and medical stamps, but it was
not always the case when her husband
was living and working on the farm.
“I’ve seen the time when I had only one
dime to my name,” she says.
Dental bills? “The school had the
children’s teeth fixed when they started
to school.” Doctor bills? “We didn’t
have much sickness. If we did, we paid
the doctor in the fall of the year. Many
were tne times our children had to pick
cotton on Saturdays to get medicine.”
Mrs. Hunt is a robust person. She
says, uicepl for the few times sh-e was
in the hospital having children, she has
been to the hospital only once in her
CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
lEA AUDIT CONFIRM^^D
HEW is indeed conducting an audit
of the Indian Education Act program in.
the Robeson County Administrative
School Unit, according to Joseph Safadi,
who-is in charge of the audit. Safadi is
an auditor from HEW (Health,
Education and Welfare). Region 4 in
Atlanta. Georgia. Safadi said that the
audit should be considered “normal”
and that no report was available at this
time.
It is truethatsome parents from the
Magnolia School area requested the
audit but they are not, as some inferred
from last week’s article, the majority of
the parents in the Magnolia School
area.
We did not intentionally infer that a
majority of parents requested the audit.
Our only intention was to say that some
parents (certainly not all of them or
even necessarily a majority) requested
the audit.
The audit is not confined to any
particular school and is an audit of the
whole 25 school Robeson County
Administrative School Unit.
No reflection was inferred or intended
toward parents of the Magnolia School
area. We apologize for any misrepre
sentations cast- none were intended.
FAMILY PORTRAITS: Mrs. Lora Mae I lii'ii has a gallery of them at her home near Rowland.
Attention!
In order to meet our printing
schedule, it is necessary for The
Carolina Indian Voice to adhere to a
deadline of Wednesday noon for
advertising and Wednesday 10 a.m. for
most news items.(Weddings should be
in hand not later than Tuesday -5 p.m. -
and preferably earlier - for publication
the same week.
There will be some exceptions to our
general news deadlines, such as deaths
and other late-happening events of
major importance, which we will
continue to accept on Wednesdays.
We welcome all kinds of news items,
but urge contributors to get their news
to us as early as possible, as we
sometimes run out of time and space
when a lot of news reaches us at the last
minute. In such cases, items submitted
earliest and which require only minor
editing will receive preference; and late
arrivals as well as hard-to-decipher copy
will be held over until the following
week.
Thank you. again, fur faring your
news and ideas with us.
BICENTENNIAL COIN AS A
CHRISTMAS GIFT
As a bicentennial project, Pem
broke's Bicentennial Committee had
minted a Bicentennial coin commemo
rating the history of Pembroke and the
Lumbee Indians.
The limited edition of coins has been
minted in both a silver and bronze
edition .-The silver coin (almost sold out)
is $20; the bronze coin sells for $2. They
may be purchased-from Lumbee Bank,
First Union National Bank (both in
Pembroke):or from Southern National
Bank in Lumberton.
Only 200 silver coins and 2500 bronze
coins were minted. The edition is
limited and no more coins will be
minted after these are sold.
One side of the coin features Henry
Berry Lowry, the hero of the Lumbee
Indian people and the other side is a
reproduction of Old Main, the first brick
building on the now Pembroke State
University campus and the cradle of
learning for the Indians of Robeson
County. Both Lowry and Old Main are
revered by the Indians of Robeson
County.
A nice Christmas gift? You bet. And
only a few are left. Mayor Reggie
Strickland encourages all those interes
ted in the history of the Lumbee Indians
to purchase one today for a keep sake
and something to pass from father to
PEMBROKE JR. HIGH ATTENDS
CONVENTION
On Saturday, Dec. 4, 1976, the
Pembroke Junior High Beta Club
traveled to Harrells, NC to attend the
Southeastern District Beta Club Con
vention held at Harrells Christian
Academy. The morning session consist
ed of old and new business, campaign
rally and election of new officers for the
Southeastern District. New officers for
the incoming year are as follows:
President. Denise McLemore, Lake-
wood High School; Vice-president, Tim
Lewis, Orrum High School; Secretary,
Janet Powell, Harrells Christian Acad
emy; Treasurer, Michael Wayne-
Strickland, Cape Fear High School.
The guest speaker in the afternoon
was Dr. Roland Morgan, NC State
Directorof the Beta Club, who stressed
the importance of being a Beta member.-
Mrs. Roland Heath was elected state
sponsor elect. Cindy Locklear, daughter
nf Mr. and Mrs. Jydor Locklear of
Pembroke, and Kelly Oxendine, daugh
ter of Mr. and- Mrs. Grover Oxendine
represented the Pembroke Junior High
Club in the talent contest. Cindy
Locklear won honorable mention int he
talent division, Cindy’s talent was a toe
dance ballet and Kelly rendered a vocal
solo of the popular song “If.”
Lynette Jacobs
Beta Club Advisor
KIWANIANS VIEW CHRISTMAS
SCENES OF THE HOLY LAND
PTOgratn ChavrTnan TYxeoAore
nor introduced the Rev. WeJton Lowry,
guest speaker at the Tuesday evening
meeting of Pembroke Kiwanis.
Rev. Lowry recently returned from a
visit to the Holy Land. His trip took him
from Charlotte, NC to Tel Aviv and
Jerusalem where he spent 8 days,
returning home via Greece to New York
and then to Charlotte.
His talk was illustrated with slides he
had taken of the places he visited- the
Mount of Olives. Gesthsemane, the
tomb of King David, the Wailing Wall,
King Solomon’s Temple, Saint Ste
phen’s gate, and many other interesting
sites and buildings of Biblical interest.
Following the meeting, Theodore
Maynor described the work of the
citizens of Pembroke in restoring the
Boy Scout cabin. Funds are still needed
to purchase a gas heater, to pay the
electric bill and other expenses in
connection with the maintenance of the
building. Pembroke Kiwanis donated
$95 to assist with this project.
President-elect James Sampson pre
sided at the meeting.
MAGNOLIA WHIPS PROSPECT
With Tonya Kerns leading the way
in both games, the Magnolia Trojans
whipped the Prospect Cats Friday night
in a conference tiff then edged
Pembroke 46-41 Tuesday night.
In the game' Friday night, Kerns
scored 28 points then came back
Tuesday night and added another, 20
points as the Trojans edged Pembroke.
Thomas Canady added 12 points to
the Trojans totals Tuesday night against
the Pembroke Warriors to help his team
to a b-l mark in season play.
Kelvin Sampson-A special Young Mon
See feature story on page 8
The side* of (ne Pembroke Bicentennial Coin: silver coin on left and bronze c
the right.