Page 6, The Carolina Indian Voice-Hiursday, Deceml^r 11, ;
Lumbees On The Move In
Reno At NIEA Gonfemce
EDJTOR'SNOTE: This article
uxis vmtten by Sandy Lucas
Tevis of Tucson, Arizona as a
tribute to tvjo of her good
Lumbee friends-Rosa Win-
free anrf Ur. Dean Ckavers.
I recently had the pleasure
of attending the National
Indian Education Conference
in Reno, Nevada. This confe
rence was sponsored by NIEA
the National Indian Education
Association.
Yes, this was definitely a
Thanksgiving to remember,
for I spent part of my holidays
with Lumbees on the move in
Reno. Two of those special
Lumbees are Mrs. Rosa Win-
free and Dr. Dean Chavers.
It was a great feeling being
at a conference with some
2000 participants and so many
Lumbees present. It almost
felt like Robeson instead of
Reno. The only thing missing
was the collards.
This workshop was vei^ well
presented, well- attended and
the handout materials were
most impressive. One of
the participants fo this work
shop was Rosa's husband
Frank, who understands
Rosa’s work and supports her
efforts.
Rosa and Dean are not a
shamed to speak up for their
people. At the Reno confe
rence, the Lumbees weren’t
able to acquire a meeting
room for their caucus, so they
held their meeting in the
MGM Grand Hotel lobby with
Rosa conducting. (You could
hear slot machines left and
right in the background, but
when Rosa took the floor, the
machines faded out.)
The thing that I am especi
ally proud of regarding this
event is that two of the fifteen
NIEA Board members for
1986 are Lumbees. Because
Rosa Winfree and Dr. Dean
Chavers have done such a
terrific job in giving of their
time and talents to the Indian
people at a national level,
during the past few years, I
would like to submit this
article in honor of them. They
have served out their elected
terms for NIEA with much
earned respect from Indians
all over the United States and
Canada.
Winfree and Chavers made
a great team on the NIEA
board. Personally, I think
such an opportunity is a
valuable experience. Betty
Mangum and I served on the
board in 1980. Unfortunately,
there aren’t any Lumbees on
the board for 1987. But with
another conference and
election coming up in a year,
•hopefully that status will
change. This conference took
place a couple of days before
Thanksgiving. I thought of the
Pilgrims and Indians stories
that go along with this
•holiday. I also thought of how
thankful I am for so many
things that I have been
blessed with. One of the many
things that I am thankful for is
to be Lumbee from Robeson
and feel it an honor to be
associated wtih a tribe of
people who have made tre
mendous progress since the
Pilgrim days. Such progress
has taken place among our
people because there are
individuals who have given
generously of their time and
hearts with commitment and
dedication, not only at the
local level, but nationally as
well. Two such people are
Rosa Winfree and Dr. Dean
Chavers.
ROSA REVELS WINFREE
I remember meeting
Rosa about 1978 in Albuquer
que at NIEA. I recalled that
she was this beautiful Lumbee
from Pembroke who had a
sense of pride and was proud
of who she was and loved
working with Indian educa
tion. She was intently taking
notes at the workshops. She
introduced herself to me and
she was so friendly, caring
and genuine. 1 was excited to
see someone from back home
for I was far away from
Pembroke. I was at that
conference representing
Brigham Young University,
we displayed a booth.
lobby of the MGM Grand
Hotel and before I even
registered, I saw familiar
faces and friends. Dr. Cha
vers, with his welcoming hug
and smile was first. Seconds
later Rosa and her husband
and Dr. James Chavis greeted
me with arms opened, then
after that, the LRDA folks
appeared. It was like Lumbee
Heaven. I loved it, we all felt
at home. There were Indians
from Cumberland County In
dian Education, Hoke County
Indian Education, LRDA Ro
beson County Indian Educa
tion and teachers and parents
from the three counties. I
mean southeastern North
Carolina was well represent-
That Rosa sure is a strong
willed lady and very deter
mined. Although she has
encountered some health
problems, she has bounced
back and is doing beautifully
and is batting and swinging
for Indian education. You
can’t keep a good Lum
down.”
DR DEAN CHAVERS
My first acquaintance with
Dean was also at an NIEA
conference. At that time, he
was the president of Bacone
College in Oklahoma. I
thought, ‘‘Wha...a Lumbee
president, our people are
going places.” Dr. Chavers is
the 2nd Indian to get a Ph.D.
from Stanford.
Since that time Rosa and I
have bumped into each other
at various NIEA conferences.
She works with the Mecklen
burg County schools in the
Charlotte area with Indian
students. She is always inte
rested in how she can help
provide opportunities to In
dian students. For example,
she assited Candy Loddear
with getting accepted into a
minority summer program at
the University of Arizona a
couple of years ago. (LEAD,
leadership, education and de
velopment program). This one
month program is offered at
16 universities nationally. At
the time, I was on the board
for this program and told Rosa
I would like to see Indians
participate in the program.
She acted. Candy was
the first Lumbee to
participate in LEAD. This
year, Rosa and her boss
presented a workshop at the
NIEA conference entitled
“Education, a family affair.’
ed. 'Tliere were Lumbees from
Michigan and Janice Jones
Schroeder (sister of Bruce
Jones) was visiting from
Oklahoma. There must have
been about 40 in attendance.
It is obvious Lumbees take
their education seriously.
There were principals, teach
ers, parents, university and
educational administrators
represented. Hats off to all
those from ” back home” who
took time to attend this
four-day national conference.
It wouldn’t have been the
same without you. Yep, those
Lumbees were on the move in
Reno, at NIEA...for a good
cause...with good people...
like Rosa Winfree and Dr.
Dean Chavers.
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It was great, some 35
Lumbees gathered discussing
educational issues and before
I knew it the group was
getting larger and larger, for
people passing by would stop
and listen in... A ‘' passer- by’ ’
commented, “ThoseLumbees
sure have their stuff toget
her.” A Tlingit Indian from
Alaska said she had never
.seen such a thing. A tribe that
had our unbelievable amount
of unity. She said, ”1 have
never seen such a happy
people. Yall are always .
smiling and are of good cheer,
yall don’t look distressed like
other groups I know. Yall are
my kind of people, intelligent
and witty. This looks like the
National Lumbee Convention
instead of NIEA."
Dr. Dean Chavers currently
resides in Albuquerque, N.M.
He is president of his own
consulting firm, MANAGE,
Inc. (Management Assistance
for Native American Govern
ments & Enterprises Inc.) He
provided a workshop at the
NIEA conference, entitled.
“50 ways to raise money.”
This is only one of the many
areas which he is an expert in.
He is well-known, success
ful and competent. I have had
friends go out of town for a
meeting or conference and
they would come back and
say, “hey, do you know Dr.
Chavers?” Of course, being
proud. 1 would say, “I sure
do.” He gets around, from
Oklahoma to D.C. to N.M.
and everywhere there are
Indians. If you don’t know
Dean, he is a three-piece suit
short fellow, who is as tall as
any business person I know.
He has the credentials and
professionalism that makes
anyone look up to him.
When I worked with the
BIA in DC, summer of 1980,1
discovered a lot of people
back there respected Dean,
especially our own people who
were woiking there ie, Helen
Sherbeck, Tom Oxendine,
J.W. Strickland, Jo Jo Hunt
and the honorable Brantley
Blue, Arlinda Locklear; just to
name a few who I have had
the pleasure of getting to
know.
In October, I bumped into
Dean in Phoenix at NCAI
(National Congress of Ameri
can Indian) conference. Al
though he was in the middle
of a hearing, he made time to
chat over lunch. His time is
valuable at such conferences,
for he is constantly being
sought for advice and counsel,
but he takes time to visit with
the Lums. Wherever I see
Dean, he always has that
warm Lumbee smile that
gives you that ‘down-home’
feeling.
Arriving At The Conference
I recall arriving at the
conference in Reno. It was
about 6 p.m., after a long day
at the office. I was in the