r EDITORIAL AND t
OPINION PAGE...
We Cannot Know Where We Are nolrp
If We Don't Know Where We've Peen ..
/ - i 1
So fittingly we honor our Fioneer tethers
WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW*
I As I See It
I-'" I
*
?
.> t by Bruce Barton
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EDITOR'S NOTE
Evefyoae ?Umi I* ba raceg
nlied far what tbey are, aat
what aaocoaa alac thtaks thai
are or waato then* la ha.
Wherever oae ?eea the acad J
to be, la beiang, la ha treated
decently, remain* lachad with
la tha hreaat, aaatlad op
again*! the heart.
And *o h la hi Michigan red
In other plnct* where Indian*
front Rob* ana Cannty have
gone looking far a hatter Rfa.
And lhaaa who wonld label
take away anei birthright
' await* that arrival.
la Michigan ladhna front
Rabaaan Cannty and alee
where are hnlag M I tnil ilil
against hy the state, and
bnakady, tha hflchlgnn Cant*
In Michigan than* Indian*
ewkTMlSigMi*acharia! AJaa,
the plight al nan- hdawdy
* racogalxad Lttnthaa Indians
has fadawad tham la Michi
gan. Tha Mchtean C till
Paapla naad Is rady arennd
la r"*agi"^Mlchfrre'**a!S "
ntlailan at Indian Adah*, aat
pracdca* rariaro at a vary hnna
H.w'? m ?M article by
David ZimUm, ? farnar
writer ?tt iM tafa%b (ton
far Km Damn Ftae Plan. The
artlcfa to mM q.
TWa artlcfa npldai Ik*
atoartbMfalHy. W.I fain fa
|l Una fa pat together
*tocto with yea.
DatraM Fiaa Plan, af
nana, thto arttoto appeared fa
Friday, Pacinkir 21, M79
toaaa. Wa ara raprtetfag M far
?fap
Mara fa waaha la faBaw.
WANTED!
Contestant* for the 1990
p "LITTLE HISS LUMBEE
PAGEANT." sponsored by
Lumber Regional Develop
ment Association, Anyone
interested in entering their
daughter in the pageant can
obtain applications from Mon
'? foe Chavis at LRDA Annex or
Patricia Jacobs at levels
Motel Complex Right to lead
Office #14.
I ChlM musl be between 4Mb
ye*'* age sad must be
ladles (at least eae parent
OMWt be tadteal.
TMs year * performance effl ?
b? he?t at Pembrebe State
(ESS??85
Michigan9s l
Lumbee Indians:
On the outside
looking in
By OAVX) ZUCCHMO
frm Prtrn
Flora Mooaoy, Mr to ? Hoc of Lumbee Indion blood as
rich as the rod coil of that tribe'* homeland on the North
CaroHaa coaattl plain, la a woman in aearch of aa education.
She tret entered college In MM.She Is today, at 28, still an
hour Mort of an aooodote degree in psychology
A lack of money hod broken the Intervening years into
?porta of study nod long periods of working to help sup
port her three children In Clinton Township. In the summer
of 1S77, Me was buoyed by a
mv tattoo waiver offered to
lodiaa* by the Suu of Mkhl
im SIm isolied to
lay ? fl?adal baae to qtii
The Mlrhtpan CommU
rioa oa latfaa Affairs turned
fear down flatly. Sba wu
toM, At recall* now, that
f hmImm mmm ItioMglMa tnr
Lumoves were incii|ioic ror
TM* wu new* to Mr*.
Moo?y. Har parents, their
^ j?nits a? their parests be
? llwnn>ii
rtOfl WHWnty
aaa. She had la tar possession ? letter from a Lumber associ
ation saying she is "of 100 parent Indian blood" and due the
"privileges of dMt proud net."
But what truly surprised Mn. Moooey wu the race of the
commMon members. They wore til Indians.
The eommissk>n<s denial of Mrs Mooody tad ? handful of
other Lnmbees bring It Michigan has spawned u undercur
rit of Wttaraaaa among the approximately 2,000 Lumbees
the Detroit aim A faw Lumoees aay On cMttmissioa, aad
some Michigan tribes, art prejudiced /|iinst Lumbees be
cause of their mixed Mood ? Indian, black and white. OU>
andahaoppodag tribes Jealously guard their own benefits
by daoyta? Lambeee their Ht* ancestry.
The Iomm arleee at a darn whoa IimUmm are claiming their
apodal icouoadc shea of America. "Indians are very wtvri
tfve right aow that paopie claiming tp be Indiaaa really a/-'
jMdaaa. The ladaa pie la oaly *d Big," pointed out James
(|tel|fled the flrat ? aad laat ? Luna bee for the waiver.
POK THOa LUinnt oa the oatdde looking In. their
dealailMMaMaatdalayaiaedticatloBafld.lnebinecaeea.BO
far Vergie Loddaar, a Lumbee from Warren. the com
ariadoa'a latraadgean lad m eoh, Janes, ttf give op hit
hopes of attaadiag a Christian college. Divorced and the
aMthor of foar children, Mrs. Locklear saved precious Httle
ia the way of eoOags aMaay froai her tire-factory Job. When
she learned the commissi na refused Lea beet, she aad James
gave up oa college. He is laid off from a milk-company Job
The rommtadna's 1P7S dealt! of Lorl Peters. IP, the
daaahtar of iMtaheth Locklear Peters, did not preclude
LofPa sareWamat la college. But Mrs. Peters, who has two
other daughters yet to be educated, finds the commission's
stance unfair
"1 have a letter verifying my birth aad ortgla (m a uw
bee). but they dMal m* ceaeider It" At aaye
And ftr Flora Mooney. who behaves At would have (to
Iak^il --***?- |m n/k>u |%tka ?wAlM
iMlvQ Cuii"|" "j now nag mv uw watci, n*r uiiufi
Imi left her hart sad angry. Td At to know where At to
ttloo Booty It going if oot to Lfbtt Indimnt," At ttyt
now
Adelaide Lockittr. mother of Flora Maooty. myf At
koowt to Indian when At teet oot. She ttyt At cot tAcn
ttvta generations oo her ftAtr't Mt tod niot oo her moth
er'?, tli of Atm at portly Indian m aayooe oo At maA
?j airlHonfoH Wot kw <(oiioli(of't hlm/?lr ooot and kJak
lion, u cviflfocwi uy ner uaugnicr s diick tyn ioq ni|n
"It lafariatee mt that there an Lam baa feadbes A Do
troit whoat cMldreo dMal at oo to college ftoeaoaa Aay
couldn't afford It." At my*. Itere's Alt waiver >dt Jnt that
purpoe* ? aad oAtr ladlaaa have At atm to tall at wfn
aot ladlaaa Just bacaaat wt'rt aot raasrvatiaa ladlaaa."
TO UNDOSTAND tht perplexing aaaaett of At tribe's
denial, oot moat flrtt oadtrataad At stagalar history of At
Lumbee, a tribe of prottaa idaalfty. Aa tarty at the 17A no
tary, ScottlA itttltra encountered Indians la what It aow
Robtaoo Coaaty, N.C., who spoke English aad embraced Ee
roptan customs. Some had mixed with eacapod Mack slaves,
others with earlier white settlers.
A few historians theorize that the tribe Intermarried wlA
white settlers of England's famous "Loot Colony" of coastal
Carolina, which vanished without a trace la IM7. Whatever
the truths of history, the Lam bees were never forced Ike
most other trlbee onto white-dictated reservations. Now, at
perhaps the moat assimilated of American Indians Into mala
stream American aociety, they comprise tht largest Indian
tribe east of the Mississippi
After World War 11, some Lumbees joined tht migrations
of southerners northward to Detroit and Jobs la the ante
plants. It is their children and grandchildren who now dm
mend the tuition waiver available, in theory, to A ladlaaa
MICHIGAN'S PUBLIC ACT Md, the ndtioe waiver act,
seems a law open to interpretation. Passed In 1V76, Itoffers
free tuition to ea American Indian who is (1) admitted to an
accredited state school, (2) has been a legal reateaat of-MlcW
gan for 12 months and (3) is not iaas then oaa quarter qnaa
tum blood Indian as certified by As person's tribal amort
?tion and verified by the Indian com mission.
In tba case of Lumbees, As commission doannot accept as
certification blood proof off trad by the Lorn bee Regional
Development Association (LRDA) of Pembroke, N.C Yet
that non-profit agency la considered by Iambus ? aad
eome federal agencies ? as the Lumbee tribal a?odetton. It
was the LRDA which provided blood proof certification tar
Mrs. Moooey and other Michigan Lumbees.
The federal government has bestowed 40 college scholar
ships end 20 graduate ecboiarships oo Lumbee etudents. Be
ing the LRDA as the certifying agency. The government also
sends 13 mlllioa i year in CXTA employment, apedaJ edace
tloe. adult education end local aid mooey to the LRDA?A
destined specifically for Aatortcaa Indiaas.
'TheLRDA is Indeed the tribal association gt far as CETA
Is concerned. They're Indiana aad they're non-profit," aays
Raymond Bobb, a U.S. Department of Labor official who
handle* Indian granU.
WHY THEN DOES the Michigan commission refuaa to
recognize the LRDA, and thus the Lumbee*?
In eaaence.becauae the federal govenunanthai not offi
cially recognized the Lnmbeee. According to Mm "Bud"
Shapard of the U.S. Borean of Indian Affairs (BIAX the Lam
baac were never pot on a reeervatioa and thoa never had a
treaty ? i.e., recognition ? with the U.S. Yet the Michigan
tuition waiver Jaw does not require that an applicant'* tribe
be federally recognized.
Annie Green, acting director of the Michigan roomie
don. aaya the laeue goe* deeper than mare recognition. Be
came the Lnmbeee were not reeervatlon Indiana, the an,
their MoodBnes were never documented by &e white Indian
agent* aent out by the U.S. government ta the lata 1800* and
early 1900* to create a "roll" of reeecvadomfifts*. v
Such a notion amuaee and lnfniata* Leagues. "We've ,
got white men in Washington deciding what aa Indian Is."
?ay* Dexter Brook*, Lumbee attorney in North Carolina.
(Shapard, of the B1A, aaya there are "59 definition* of
?Indian' floating around Washington^
Bat more infuriating to Lumbee* here la what they call
"10 little Indians" (the Indian commission) decreeing that
Lumbee* are not Indian* Some, like Frederick Boyd, a De
troit Cree Indian and a gadfly of sorts In local Indiaa affaira,
charge racism.
Kenneth Maynor, head of the LRDA, said the rrmmi*
?ion's actions reflect "a blatantly racist attitude " Maynor, a
Lumbee, added: "They're scared to death we're going to cut
them out of benefit* due all Indian*."
Hillman, the ex-director of the commission and now band
of the Detroit Indian Center, believes the racism Is more sub
tle. "A lot of Indians in Michigan go out of their way to fight
against recognition for Lumbee*. They don't consider Lum
bee* Indians because of their mixed blood."
But Hillman, who calls the Lumbee a "tribe la Bmbo,"
sympathizes with the commission's position. Because the
Lumbee* have no tribal rolls, he ays, anyone can daim to be
a Lumbee.
"Anybody blond and blue-eyed can claim he's one-fourth
Norwegian," Hillman said. "Same thing with IndiasM. 1
mean, there's no one way a Lumbee looks.'"
CURIOUSLY, other states do recognize the Lambees as
Indians. North Carolina, of course, Is one. And Louisiana has
an Indian tuition waiver MU almost identical to MkMgaa's.
Lu m bees have been granted the waiver there, beasd on quar
ter-blood certification by the LRDA.
Pete Morrow, a Tunica-Biloxi Indian who heads the Lou
isiana Bureau of Indian Affaire, said SO percent of that State's
tribes are not recognized by the U.S. government "If we
made federal recognition or a tribal roll the criteria, we
wouldn't certify many Indians," ha said.
In Michigan, according to commission flgti rrs. about S00
of the 2,000 applicants for the waiver have been rejected, al
most all for a lack of verification. About a half dozen were
turned down, Lumbers potst mi that bo other tribe has bssa
systematically taM.
ANNS CIEtN, the commiutoo director. admitted dM
coomiMtoa win oat accept Lumbers unlet* they are recog
eixed by the federal government TM* policy was adopted in
lot* 1976 after Hlllmaa. the former director, approved the
waiver for a Lambee etudeot named Grady Locklear Jr. Hill
man eaya he approved Lecklear without consulting the com
mledoe becausethat body would aot meet oatll two months
alter Locklear appged.
recognftloo woold be required for Lambee appHcaota bw
caoae the tribe bad ao rail* bp which to verify the Mood
' pbll Alexia, chairman of the eoudadoa, pointed out
Luabeee are a Worth CaroHaa tribe, addlag the waiver wee
Intended for Mkttgsn tribe*. "We doaf eey Lumbee* areot
eligible, we Just aay they have no way to prove the Mood
quantum," be said.
Jaoet Howard, an aid* to Stat* Sea. Jackie Vaughn, who
drafted the waiver MO, aaid the commlaakm la responsible
for vtrlfying Mood quantum through tribal Modation*. The
major tribe* among the estimated 17,000 Indian* In McM
gen (Chippewa, PoUwitoml and Ottawa) an federally
recognized
"We wen thinking of tribe* native to MfcMgaa (when
writing the MUX bot It can apply toother tribe* that en vert
fled. And the tribal aeeodatiooaeem* the logical way to ver
ify that," Ma. Howard aaid.
To Lamboaa, and to other sympathetic Indian*, thia
smacks of discrimination. Nancy WBsoa. a Putawaloml* In
dlan in St Clair Shore* who la active la Ave ana Indian
group*, detect* a definite Ma* toward* Lowboaa and other
noo-reaarvatioo tribe*.
"W* on nil Iodlooa, regnrdkaa of oor pott btotepr," *o
?aid. "Somo people doot approve of Lumbeea, bot I don't ap
prove of everybody on the tommlsdna, either.
Federal recognition, of war**, would eoiu* the problem.
The BIA in Washington hu before It two petttVme front
LumbM groupseeeklng recognition. Bot Shopard, who la in
charge ofmca petitions for BIA, any* be is awaiting farther
docamenf tion from the group*. And be adde that recogni
tion la a lengthy process beanee of the 60 tribe* now
*Piln%tebrokn, the LSD A Is now eoUoctiag data to create
Its own rod from birth, marriage, death end other recocde.
Bot Maynor, the LROA heed, eoocedte that be facte at leeeta
10-year proo? bieeow of the 404)00 Lembeee In Robeaon
County alone. And then la no guarantee the Michigan com
mlaalon would accept each a rod.
Meanwhile, Michigan's Lambee* seethe at the commis
sion. They are members of a tribe that in 1956 drew Interna
tional acclaim for smashing a KuKhuKlan rally, a tribe that
was among the aatioo's first to own and farm land, to pro
dace doctors and lawyers and to build its own university. It
la n tribe prand of anch Httle tilings m a book of Lmnbae poet
ry ,iul art pot together by im"i? high ttirftnlt
Harriett Lockleor la the mother of Gratfy Loddear Jr., the
Lambee who aMppedpaet the rom mi mlon la 1976 and gift the
tuttioo waiver at Eaatera MkMgan University. Mrs. Lock
leer now has another aoa who la considering college and the
"Ifsour right, "MwaMd of the waiver. "If my eon wants
It, HI fight the commission an the way. Td take It to court
rm a fighter."
wnnarjc
?v
ll.
ft*-? JmU* H. Whmw, a Lwmbaa Indian h?jh achool hudfwt In FembreM,
? ? 4
4ft.
DEEP BRANCH QUEENS
w" -? win?? ? * -
T#mm Carter, Jaater Mlaa Drtf
Caretta Cktvli, Llttl* MIm Deap
SEE RELATED STORY
ON PAGE 1
Left to right arai Sbedy Yrtiaa, Bnt
nan ap to the iarier Mlaa* Mary
Fwmm rwmttm ^
Ciiix? ^Lowry, wiwd ranaer apt
Sabriaa Bams, entering Jaator Miaa
Deep Branch, Teteaa Maria Carter,
Jaator Miaa Deep Breacht Caato
Chavla, Uttle Mlaa Deep Breach* Karea
Scott, eatgelag Little Mlaa Deep
Branch; Rebecca HaUea, little Mtoa
Deep Branch, Brat faaaar apt art
Lac tody LacUear, Little Mlaa Deep
|WANTED!?
Old Gold and Silver... Nj
10K, 14K, 18K, Dental, Coins, Sterling.
No quantity too larae or too small.
Immediate cash for all your old /f*
Gold, Sterling and Coins.
H/e are jewelers
and manufacturers.
\. ?' We recycle your old gold
and silver back into AMERICA -
NOT TO FOREIGN INVESTORS!
(We pay top price, too.)
jgaa I
a&ftFSi
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? Member of Better Business Bureau.
Member of the Lumberton Chamber of Commerce.
I tOve Gofcf XSusftc a I
MM Md TMM41
Vim Mm)* chum ? |?f CfdH !???*??
^ C>?m< tmwtoy i MuMiy Tyx^y ?Mry ? tt-ftflO J
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