Poge 2, The Carolina Indian Voice EDITORIAL ,.,rhe voice of rhe drum is on offering ro rhe Spirir of rhe > A k. I n I A11 ^ ^ I '^orld. Ir's sound arouses rhe . iM y p 1I 1^ mind and mokes men feel rhe n * _ mysrery and power of rhings. KAwh -BLACK ELK Appetizer Kabobs You can make a colorful assortment of kabobs for the appetizer tray easily with canned luncheon meat. Sim ply cut the luncheon meat into -^^-inch cubes and thread each cube on a wooden pick with a slice of sweet-sour pickle and a canned pineapple chunk that has been rolled in flaked coconut. Thursdoy, Morch 17, 197J ^ -An Editorial Viewpoint— Treasure Of The Lumber AS I SEE IT Druce Dorron LUMBEE RIVER ELECTRIC COOP MEETS TODAY IN SPECIAL SESSION The Board of Directors of the Lumbee River Electric Membership' Corporation is calling for a special session today. The meeting is being held at the Cumberland Coun ty Memorial Auditorium and the session began at 10 a.m. this morning. anyone else who wants to see, them, if they are consumers.' They deserve the answers to the questions they are asking. I for one believe the coop is being run reasonably well. If it is not, them maybe the committee has a point or two to make. As just about every one knows, 1 am a strong supporter of the present board of direc tors. 1 respect them for being forerunners and developing a real listening post for country folks like myself. I especially honor and respect Rev. Elias Rogers because he brought the lion to bay wiht his law suit and now the board of-directors is truly reflective of the membership at large. Rev. Rogers persevered and made the coop responsive to minori ties too. Too, I believe the coop has justifiable reason for the spi raling electric bills. I too, as the management does, believe most of the fault lies with an unresponsive federal power commission and the haughti ness of generating plants like Carolina Power and Light Company, plus the strong arm tactics of energy producing countries abroad. Too, the times are a little crazy these days. The present administration of Lumbee River Electric Membership Corporatiorv seems honestly to be trying to grapple with the ‘‘times that try men’s souls.” That is why I find it hard to justify this special meeting. Why? Are they over reacting to the celebrated consumer committee that is asking them hard but answerable ques tions? Why not just tell the committee what they want to know and let’s get on with running the coop, AFTER TWO HUNDRED YEARS OF NOTHING.... ARE THE INDIANS MOVING TOO FAST 1 for one cannot attend the special meeting. If the meet ing was held in Cumberland County to discourage atten dance and participation by those who have questions to ask then I too strongly dis agree with the motive seem ingly behind the meeting. I am for democracy period. ! might disagree with 'the questioner but I will defend their right to seek answers. The Robeson County Board of Education’s firing of I. Murchison Biggs has raised an interesting but foolish question; are the Indians moving too fast? Ahem. That’s the question that was asked me by a seemingly responsible Indian, the other day following Biggs’ dismiss al. He, in essence, asked me to go easy and not push for traumatic action, inferring that my aggressiveness might set back certain alliances that are forming in the county. 1 have a newspaper to get out today and I do not have time to .go to Cumberland County to read graphs and hear experts discourse on generating power and the hard winter that we have recently endured. I too want reason returned to my electric bill reading. 1 say answer the consumer committee forthrightly. Let them see the books...and Well, to be perfectly honest, the Indians (and Blacks) are moving too slow. I think they should fire Y. H. Allen as county school superintendent at the very next meeting. Why? Well, 1 believe, despite what all the experts say, that Allen is a poor superintendent and does not reflect the views and needs of his constituency-- the pupil enrollment of which 80 percent is minority—60 percent Indian aftd 20 percent Black., Fire him! To be mae- Pembroke Drug Certler. Odom ond W. 3rd. Pembroke. NC. Diai 321-4805 Safety caps aren’t for every bottle Readers Digest report ed on a man who died a^r trying in vain to open his safety-capped heart medi cine. This tragedy should not have happened because pharmacy regula tions explicitly exempt the two heart medications in question (nitroglycer ine and isosorbide dini trate) from safety cap dis pensing. With mind, it makes sense to select your pharmacist carefully. Know that he’s aware of and understands the most recent safe-dis pensing relations. And trust that he will follow these to the letter — for your sake! We invite you to put yom trust in our hands. Rely on us and we won’t let you down. this incident in pemBCC3liec“NT“.iM nanimous for the wrong reason is worst than being patently cruel for the wrong reason. There are many like me who support the coop whole heart- edly but only if we can justify it. To date. 1 have been able to do so. I think the present' board should stand firm and deal with the questions by answering them. After an swering the questions...well, let’s get on with developing a coop that is reflective and representative of all the con sumers. But the fact of the matter is that I do not have time to travel to Cumberland County to listen to lectures by experts. I too have a job to do; and that is putting out an exciting and interesting news paper. That is what I will be doing today while this ‘special meeting’ is going on. INDIAN UNITY CONFERENCE UNDERWAY And if the committee has enough petitioners for another special meeting...well, let’s hold it. Democracy is an impartial lady. She just exists and does not necessarily satis fy everyone. As long as no one is denied a right to vote I am in favor of democracy in any form, including a special mee ting by consumers. I believe in democracy and, the threat of Cecil Dunn not with standing, 1 am prepared to stand by the wishes of all the people, as long' as no one is denied the right to express himself via dialogue or the all powerful vote. Creative Casseroles Cubes of julienne strips of ham plus a cooked vegetable, plus a can of con densed soup plus a dash of seasoning add up to an ap petizing casserole. Create your own combinations and bake until bubbly and heated through- Ham and Egg Ham and eggs are a time- tested team. Pan-fry slices of leftover ham and serve with fried eggs; stir bits of cooked ham in scrambled eggs or fold into omeiets. For a deluxe brunch, count on Eggs Benedict — toasted English muffins topped with hot slices of ham, poached eggs and hollandaise sauce. Agricultural Pests Starlings, sparrows, Japa nese beetles and roughly half of the United States’ major agricultural pests have come from foreign lands. On the other hand, the North American musk rat overran Europe and the European rabbit nearly ruined Australia. Big Harvest More than 53 million acres of soybeans were harvested in 1975. Government Employs Government is this na tion’s biggest single em ployer. About one out of every six persons is now em ployed by government com pared to one in tO in 1950. 1 for one do not believe that Indians are moving too fast. How can we move too fast after 200 years of denial by suddenly asking for our right- ful share? LEnER5 TO THE EDITOR We have Indians who are qualified to be county school superintendent. Why not re place Allen with one of our Own. I cannot deny my honest Opinion even for political con siderations. Where were those “don’t do unto them as they have done unto us” when they were doing it unto us? I see nothing wrong with demand ing quality education for my children. They deserve the best we can give them and Y. H. Allen, as I see it, is not the best. Cry for Justice He’s (Allen) a personable man and 1 might even enjoy •going on a fishing trip with him but ! do not think he should be superintendent of an 80 percent minority school system when we have immi nently qualified Indians and Blacks standing in the wings. Tne things in the past, the things that happened in the predawn of my life; these things my hand was not ufion. Though many things have happened that were inevit able, this does not take away the suffering and resentment from the hearts of my people. people. In the many years since the first white people came to the America that my people of so long ago knew, it has been bent to serve and honor them as they saw fit. Yet there are those who cannot understand the Woun ded Knee occupation of 1973, the BIA Building takeover, the occupation of the Alexian Brothers Monastery on land that was supposed to be Indian land according to writings and so-called “promises” of these very same men! It’s a happening and a good one at that. It is the second annual Indian Unity Conference sponsored by the N. C. Commission on Indian Affairs and the Lumbee Re gional Development Associa tion, Inc. The three day conference which began yesterday is being held in Greensboro. 1 think the theme is a good one- Unity. God knows Indians need more of that. And it is a good forum for an exchange of ideas and dialogue. It is always good for people to talk to each other. An Indian Unity Conference, as is a letter to the editor, is better than the negative feed back of a shot gun blast, If Indians ever learn the art of being agreeably dis agreeable...well, the sky’s the- limit. We can do what ever we want to do. Over this span of time many of my people have harbored in their hearts feelings that are not because of things and happenings in their lives, but because of the suffering and misery that their ancestors knew and lived in for so long. Discarded and rejected becau se of the ignorance and prejudice of a few that became the ignorance and prejudice of so many, they sought to make a world aside from that of the “great white civilization” from which they had been rejected, All the treaties and prom ises that were broken; are these agreements the whites never meant , to, keep? If so, God have mercy on their souls! Reprinted from The Fayetteville Times Moore County’s elaborate countywide water-sewer sytem ought to be carefully assessed for environmental impact on the Lumber River. That assessment can take place after the results are in on March 29 when county voters are to decide whether to approve a $12 million bond issue to launch the system. Moore County authorities have promised such a study (to be undertaken by the engineer for the system), if the voters approve the bond on March 29. That study should involve more people than just the engineers who made the plans. It should involve experts in growth planning as well as in water resources. The environmental impact of the project, which would create one of the most elaborate such public works systems in a rural area anywhere in the country, ought really to have been considered earlier. But it is the nature of engineers to largely ignore such considerations when the opportunity is presented. The Moore County project was put into planning before environmental impact requirements were written into law. The system would undoubtedly serve its main purpose, which is to promote industrial and population growth in the county. Moore County does indeed need industrial growth. Despite being home to famous golf resorts, the county has one of the lowest family income levels in the state. SOU!- in the same form taken from a except for phosphates. The real worry of environmentalists ., people who live along the Lumber is i; the longrange impact of such an eiaboJ public works system would be to pro^ -ndustrial and urban sprawl on ^ headwaters of the river and evenlu* damage the ecology of the river dl! stream. They have noted that statistics us to justify the water-sewer systt estimated a population of over 135,odj the area in two decades, compared to k than one-third of that now. Even \ proponents of the system concede figures may be nothing more than engineer’s pipe dream. Before any such system is carried to final form, the impact of such growlii the lower Lumber should be assessed tr scientifically and in a policy sense. { Lumber is one of the state’s finest naiu: watercourses. In its lower reaches, it is immensely rich swamp-and-river resouit That area is too valuable in its natural st to be offered up on any altar of induslr. growth upstream. There are alternafc which could allow Moore to grow witti damaging the Lumber. I plead to my people that they will not allow the preju dice that condemned them to come into their hearts and guide them on the path that was the one chosen by those who had condemned them. But such projects can also promote building sprawl and unwise location of industrial and commercial facilities, and invite developers to develop terrain which would best be left in its natural state. Again and again my people were deceived, cheated, accu sed of doings from which lies were told, from which evil images of Native Americans were conjured up. Injustice after injustice followed for my Indifference to the problems of Native Americans on the parts of all of our people will only aggravate the problem that has ruined so many. Indifference will only bring more problems and will de stroy what progress has been achieved. The proposed system has many safe guards in it, especially in its sewage treatment provisions. The treatment plant would be of the so-called “tertiary" type. Such units return waste water essentially A thorough-going environmental sic could well provide recommendations' cooperative use of the river and headwaters, use which could serve - needs of people all along the river. I- Lumber is, after all, not merely potential water-sewer resource -oA people of Moore County. It is a nalt treasure for people all along its eoiirs Indeed, it is a natural treasure of all I people of North Carolina (and Sot; Carolina, too, which knows it as the Lit Pee Dee). It can serve all of then properly used as a total resource ani such projects as the Moore water-s(r system are held strictly accountable in j overall use plan. Oh God be with i L. D. Malcolm Pembroke, NC Nudist Party The person to loatch in future Presidential elections might be the Nudist Party candidate. Their slogan is: We never keep anything covered up. Probably the high light of the meeting will be the banquet tonight when the special speaker will be Mr. Howard Lee, Sein’etary of the N. C. Department of Natural and Economic Resources. Pembroke Girl Scouts Observe Girl Scout Week On March 6 the Pembroke Girl Scouts observed Girl Scout Week by attending their sponsor church. First United Methodist Church in Pem broke. But the three day series of workshops, presentations, i banquet, etc. is just an old fashioned pow wow where Indians throughout North Car olina come together and talk and reason together and learn ' about one another. That’s a good reason to have a meeting any time. Leaders: Mary Lene Ozendtne Pat Maxwell, Maureen Regan, Karen Revels, Sherry Revels, Jones. Belva Locklear and Doreen Letters to Editor Poli Front row, left to right: Dixie Oxendine, Tina Marie Jones, Karen Kay Deese, Karen Stickney, Amanda Hunt, BUIIe Jo Hunt; back row, Angela Sawyer, Lisa Scboffler, and Sherita Hunt. {Elmer Hunt Photos] BIG BELL...Small vis itors are dwarfed by for mation in Missouri Caverns, Leasburg, Mo., called the nation’s largest Liberty Bell replica. Broiled Potato Cut one medium peeled crosswise in one-eighth inch thick slices. Place slices on rack with beef patty; brush with one teaspoon butter; sprinkle with dill- Broil until tender and lightly browned —about six minutes. Makes one serving. THE CAROLINA INDIAN VOICE 521-2826 LETTER TO THE EDITOR ter. If no telephoufi then reader should;^ Letters to the editor are deliver letter to tbed welcome. We encourage our The Carolina Indii! readers to express themselves located on Highwaj': subjectto the following condi- Pembroke, for verito tions; The editors resenic Letters should include the to reject letters of r signed name, address and nature or those telephone number the wri- bad taste. t THE CAROLINA INDIAN VOlf Y Published Eoch Week By e> THE LUMBEE PUBLISHINS CO., INC. - P.O. Box 1075, Pembroke, N.C. 28BTT A Telephone No. (919) 521-2824,^ T ^ Y Subscription Rates | t INSTATE % 1 Year . ! Jl (Includes N.C. Sales Tax) X 2 Years 5? \ (Includes N.C. Sales Tax) ,(j t OUT OF STATE | X 1 Year ?i ^e 2Yeors ^ God grant me the serenity to accept the Y chonge, courage to change the things I con, . to knovi/ the difference. A Managing Editor Bru«*" 4 Associate Editor ConneeB^ Y Associate Editor Garry L-*; Circulation Manager . . . .Donnisi^g THE CAROLINA INDIAN VOICE desires to be of a change of address. Send your address cha"^ >| X CAROLINA INDIAN VOICE, P.O. Box 1075. - Class Posuigc Paid at Pembroke. N.C- •

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