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PAGE TWO, THE CAROLINA INDIAN VOICE Letters to the editor . Thursday, Aug„„ , , rt HAT DOES PSU GET OUT OF THE UNC SETTLEMENT WITH THEU.S. GOVERNMENT? What does Pembroke State University get out of the UNC settlement with the U.S. Government? The best I can figure is nothing. I read that nearby Fayette ville State will get a new library-good. They probably need it. But PSU? Nothing. Of the 16 schools that make up the state-wide university system. Pembroke State has the best desegregation fi gures of all. The most recent enrollment figures listed 25 percent Indian, 13 percent Black and 62 percent white students. That’s a good rec ord. Alas, the Office of Civil Rights, the monitoring agency in the U.S. Office of Educa tion. counts the Indians as "whites." Can you believe that? That’s strange, indeed, seeing as how Pembroke State University began as "as Indi an school” because "others” wouldn't let us go to school with them. But PSU’s administration seems to be satisfied with this unfair treatment of a much maligned minority- the Indi ans. 1 suggest the Indians sue the government to straighten out this mess. And 1 suggest that PSU’s administration join hands to right this terrible wrong. But it is difficult, I suppose, for PSU’s admin istration and faculty to get alarmed since most of them live in Lumberton themselves. THE POLICY OF THE CAROLINA INDUN VOICE The Carolina Indian Voice is in competition with the Robesonian and, for that matter, all other newspapers in the area. Our policy is not to re- print letters or any other item that has first appeared in the Robesonian. We want it first. If not. why have a Carolina Indian Voice? You can under stand that? Can’t you? "One kind word can warm three winter months." Japanese Proverb News from Rowland Church of God I Dear Bruce. I’m writing with regards to [ ask you to please print the following announcements in I your next issue of The Caro- ' lina Indian Voice. On Saturday. August 22, 1 1981, at 7:30 p.m.. a religious I film, entitled "A Thief In The ; Night” will be shown at the Rowland Church of God near Rowland, N.C. The church is located approximately 3 miles I west of Rowland. Everyone is 1 cordially invited to attend. ' Also, bring along a friend to ' see: "A Thief In The Night.” On Saturday, August 8, 1981, at 7:30 p.m., a Special Singing will be held at the ' Rowland Church of God. The J featured gospel singing group ^ will be Quinton Mills and the ► Deliverance (Singers) from ^ Hollister, N.C. This is an I outstanding group with great j musical talent. The church is located ap- 1 proximately 3 miles west of ■ Rowland. There will also be other great gospel singers at the church on the same night. Thank you very much! Rev. Marearet Faye Demery (Pastor) Criticism of Human Resources Head Aired Sheriff Promotes Three Lumberton-Sheriff Hubert Stone recently announced three promotions with in his department. Ray Strickland, elevated from sergeant has been named a plainclothes detective and assigned to the Pembroke area. Deputies Stanley Clark and James McLean have been promoted to serge ant. Clark’s area of responsibility will be the Pembroke- Maxton area. Mclean will be assigned to the Ared Springs area. The intra-departmental promotions re ceived accolades from Lumberton Hu man Relations Director Ernest Grimes who said, “I think it is great that minorities are being recognized for their achievement.” MUSINGS... by or Reasonable Locklear Swimming Safety Experts at Speedo Swim wear and at the United States Lifeguard Association suggest these tips before taking to the water; • Never swim atone. • Swim only in life- guarded or supervised areas, • If caught in a “rip” current, don’t panic. Relax and swim into shore at a 45- degree angle across the cur rent. Do not swim against the current. • Don’t swim near piers or pilings. They cause dan gerous currents and have sharp surfaces. • Don’t aive into un known waters; explore the area completely before en tering the surf, • Check the depth of any pool before diving. Nev er dive into the shallow end of any pool.'' Keep these tips in mind and like 75 million other Americans you will enjoy one of the finest fitness sports in the nation. Free in formation about swimming or swimming safety is avail able by writing Speedo, 500 Airport Blvd., Burlingame, CA 94010. Indians Like To Wash Their Dirty Laundry in Public Smarfelecky Bruce Barton, the editor of this here paper, was on his high horse, yesterday when I talked to him. Out of sorts, snappy as all git out. He was talking about some criticism he saw in the Robesonian about the fuss raised about the Pembroke Precinct officials named by Milton Hunt, the chairman. Hunt turned in Ed Chavis’s name instead of Mrs. Mabel Oxendine as his choice for registrar', Mrs. Oxendine’s brother, Harry, the vice chairman, had a lot to say aboutit, as well as some other members of the Pembroke Precinct. Cain’t say 1 oppose a fella speaking up in behalf of his sister. But. of the 39 Precincts in the county. Pembroke, was the only one to raise a fuss loud enough to be heard. Still. America’s the land of the free. A man has got to have his say or it ain’t America. And we Indians love to wash our dirty laundry in public, especially in the Robesonian. our daily news paper that seems to speak sometimes as if we were still in the midst of the 1860 Civil War. And the good stuff about Indians usually comes out on Thursday, the day this here paper comes out. Anyway, it’s good to be in America where a fella can have his say where he wants to even if it makes somebody maH To the Editor; The Robeson County De partment of Human Resour ces Director. Mr. Chris Ant- wi. may be driving his staff crazy and driving them away. It's a known fact that there is a lot of stress involved in any job that deals with the Federal Government, but the sffess is further enhanced at DHR by an autocraftic style of management (one man. one rule). There is a considerably high rate of turn over of CETA staff at a time when most workers are trying desperate ly to keep even menial type jobs. A turn over of twenty- six or more employees in a two year period is extreme for a staff of 40-42 at maximum operations. This does not include the 13 staff effected by the lay-offs. The majority of these ex-employees have resigned due to conflicts or pressures imposed on them by their employer. The staff of RCDHR are verbally abused and humiliated at public meetings and personally in sulted for job related errors. Within the past two years, there have been only two employees brave enough to file complaints against Mr. Antwi for his unethical tac tics. The first complaint went as far as the Commissioners, but for some strange reason the individual filing the com plaint wasn’t notified of his hearing until after the hearing was over. Since the individual obviously could not be present at the hearing, the complaint was dismissed. The second complaint is presently before the County Personnel Board. Will this case be inadvertently dis missed by the Personnel Board and the County Com missioners? Between April 30, 1981 and September 30, 1981 there will be a reduction in staff at RCDHR due to Federal cut backs. There are questions in our minds as to how indi viduals were and will be selected for lay-offs. How do employees on probation sta tus (or less employment years) have priority over individuals with as high as 3 years employment services? Even more amazing is how can an individual be notified of a lay-off when they are the only individual performing this particular job, yet another staff person is moved into the same position with no pre vious experience in this po sition. It has been said that positions would be eliminat ed. not people. Positions were to be eliminated on agency need. If there is no need for a position, why is it suddenly filled with another individual? Work performance and ser vice years were to be the determining factor of who went and who stayed. Again we ask how and why? Why weren’t individuals placed on probation notified of lay-offs? These individuals had re ceived warnings of pending termination if their work performance did not improve. The lay-offs will not effect these employees, only those individuals who are on the so called "bad side” of Mr. Antwi. Mr. Chris Antwi seemed to make the situation fit his needs. There is a definite per sonnel problem at RCDHR. This is evident by a statement made by a commissioner: "1 get tired of hearing com plaints from Human Resour ces staff." if the commis sioners are aware of the prob lem. why hasn’t it been corrected? Don’t they realize that each time a new em ployee is hired and trained, it costs the tax payers more money; indirectly? You may have three people trained for the same position within a year’s time, when if the first individual trained remained employed, there would be very few work hours lost. Commissioners, what is the problem at RCDHR? Why can’t Chris Antwi keep good qualified staff at his agency? Are you ignoring the prob lems? Is it a lack of concern or ignorance of the situation? We would like to give you the credit you deserve and say that the problem has not been brought to your attention, but we can not! We are tax payers and voters of Robeson County and have no other choice but to look to our commissioners for an answer. Sincerely. Mrs. Thomas Lowery Route 3 Pembroke. N.C. 28372 by Lew Barton THE INEVITABLE QUESTION In 1970 when Adolph Dial. Jerry Lowry and official Lumbee delegates to the First Convocatio""' American Indian Scholars at Princeton. New Jerse " f inevitable question was put to us by someone in a tnept '*^ "How do you know you’re Indians?" '"S' Dial gave a discourse on the progress our people had made, especially in the field of education, but failed answer the question directly, or specifically, Whereu someone objected that he was not answering the quesiir 1 tried repeatedly to gain recognition from the ch" person. Jeanette Henry, Having just written a historj'ofT people, the Lmbee Indians two years earlier. 1 wantedac ri at that question, too! The Cherokee Ph.D. who along with her husband edits ay publishes The American Indian Historian, declined to ei me that opportunity. Whereupon 1 stormed angrily outofthe meeting with the remark. "I did not come here all thew- from North Carolina to hear my people insulted without opportunity to reply.” Before we left Princeton, Jeanette who along with her husband had obtained a grant from the Ford Foundation!« the purpose of sponsoring the Convocation, promised Dial that they would seek a grant on Dial’s behalf from the Ford Foundation so that he could write a history of the Lunbee people. I still remember his broad grin as we drove home "Mack.” he told me. "I’m gonna write me an Indian book!" Well, he did, along with a White professor of Pembroke State University's history department. David Eliades. A Ford Foundation grant of $19,000 was obtained for the purpose and the title of the book turned out to be, The Only Umjj Know. The American Indian Historian organization pub. lished the book several years ago, I did not tell you all this just to explain the very unusual way a certain book came to be written and published. 1 relate it only in order to high-light the importance of that inevitable question: How do You Know You’re An Indian? Inasmuch as 1 was not allowed to answer it in Princeton' 1970, I shall do so in this very first chapter. I know I’m an Indian because my parents told me so, just as their parents told them. I know I’m an Indian because that is what is written onm birth certificate. I know Tm an Indian because the General Assembly^ North Carolina and even the Congress of the United States says so in the laws of this land. I know I’m an Indian because 1 didn’t even know there any other race in the world until 1 was nine. That should give you an idea as to just how large the Lumbee Indian community is in southeastern North Carolina. I know I’m an Indian because the newspapers of our call me that. One of them, the Robesonian. has been publishing news about us for the past 100 years and longer 1 know I’m an Indian because every Lumbee or Robesoo Tuscarora I ever knew cor]sidered himself to be one, and! am one of them. 1 know I’m an Indian because I have studied our own history during the major portion of my life. I know I’m an Indian because I have been treated and mistreated as one during the larger part of my life. I know I’m an Indian because of the very way Heel, I know I’m an Indian because I don’t even speak the samt way either Whites or Blacks of my area do, nor are my values the same as theirs. And if these are not reasons enough for my belief that I'r an Indian, there are many more where these came from, most of which I shall include in this book. Slav with us! DtSpi even brighter 6 Month M.M.C. 115.821%! Rot« effective through Aug. 10th. M 0,000 Minimum Deposit r/o. 1 Year • IVi Year MONEY MARKET CERTIFICATE 115.800% Rate effective thru Aug. 17th. Effective Annuol Yield 17.113%. $1,000 Minimum Deposit I 12-18-24-30 Month Term 30 Days to G Mo. MONEY CERTIFICATE 14% Rate effective through Aug. 10th. *1,000 Minimum Deposit 30 Days to 6 Mo. Maturity DEPOSITS INSURED UP TO ‘100,000 BY NCSGC. PENALTY FOR EARLY WITHDRAWAL, PIEO^ilESSOVE SAVINGS&LOAN. LTO. 111 N,Court Sq. Lumberton, N.C. MEMBER NCSGC Phone 738*1415 Lela Anne’s Learning Center Planned Nursery School Located next lo Pembroke Elementary School Ellubeth B. Brooks Director •Certified K-3 Teacher _ "(Early Childhood Education) •10 Years Teaching Experience in Public Schools in Robeson County. •Mother of 4 Children • Planned Educational Programs for all ages • N.C. Slate Licensed •Monday thru' Friday, 6:30 am to 6:00 pm •Ages: Infants to 6 Years • Meals and Snacks • Central Heal and Air Conditioning • Fenced Playing Area • Fire Detection System • After School Care • We Invite your Inspection of our facilities. For 186 days a year the sun is not seen at the North Pole. Lumbees Part Of Drama at ‘Strike at the Wind!’ ...0- •' A n Now Accepting Application: tor Enrollmenl. Please Call 521-4064 or 521-8711 Pharmacist Pembroke Drug Center Eliminate “fear of frying” Nothing (damages the skin like the sun. It’s like a cu mulative toxin that works over the years. Sunburns sub side. and tans fade away after the season, but sun- idamaged skin remains. I The skin eventually loses elasticity, (develops brown spots and rough marks, sometimes including perma nent discolorations. Extreme cases often lead to skin- cancer. However, today's PABA-containing sunscreen pro ducts can block 98-99 percent of the sun’s harmful ul traviolet rays. Trust our pharmacy to help you se lect the sunscreen best suited for your skin-tone. I Eliminate the “fear of frying!” I Their names are Chavis, Dare, Lowry, Locklear and I Oxendine. Their speech pat- ’ terns recall Elizabethan Eng- I land and their eyes range Y from jet black to light blue in ( color. Many historians have called them the "Lost Colo- I ny” found. They are the Lumbee Indians. i There are some 40,000 Lum bees in Robeson County and I surrounding southeastern North Carolina. Like most i tribes in America, they take pains to preserve their cultur- al heritage. This heritage. I however, is clouded with controversy, for it is the story I of an English-speaking people with European customs. According to Adolph Dial, co- author of The Only Land I Know, white explorers met with some surprises when they began their journey into the North Carolina interior. Dial continues to say that when settlers began exploring the swamplands of Robeson in the early 18th century they found a group of Indian’s living around what is now called the Lumber River. ' Their natives were in some cases fair-skinned and blond- haired. They were tilling the soil, raising domestic animals and practicing the Baptist and Methodist religions. Most startling was their native longue-English with a decid edly Shakespearean flair. Of the several theories offer ed for this phenomenon, the most widely accepted and the theory acknowledged by niosi Lumbccs themselves, invol ves Governor While’s W Colony. For centuries liit story has been told of it'' Colony which included lli' first English child bom « American soil. Virginia Dait. and their disappearance fiw* Roanoke Island in the iSSOs. Evidence seems to point « the Hattaras Indians soulN Roanoke who presumably took the colonists in as equa partners. The Lumbees tract their roots back to these i"* groups, claiming that ibef offspring migrated west aid settled around the Lom River. They brought tfiiii them a conglomeration o Indians and European cus toms. . Come experience the m exciting outdoor America about Henry Bej Lowrie and the Lumbee InJ ansof Robeson County. Th to the sounds of the c a through the swamps; « • the dancing and sing'"? family gathenng; shed over the injustices and rejoice in the ov man for a woman^ Strike at the Wind P everv Thursday. Saturday night 29th. Showtime is Follow the s'gds ' |,„e Lakeside Amphitheair ^ Riverside Country miles west of Pem ^ mile north of $3.50. „innconind For more informat ,he office of St-lle •' Wind. I
The Carolina Indian Voice (Pembroke, N.C.)
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Aug. 6, 1981, edition 1
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