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fifjj "Building communicative bridges a trt-mdal setting"
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Questioi President
Brings National Attention
____________
Clinton's not being able to answer a
14 year-old gjrl'squestioo about Lm
bee tribal recognition Saturday on
ABC-TVs live interview program
with young people, ABC aeet a tele
vision crew from Atlanta to Pem
broke State University Monday to do
a follow-up on the subject.
ABC correspondent AL Dak ques
tioned Dr. Adotph Dial, former state
legislator ?d professor emeritus of
PSlTs American Indian Studies De
paitment, in from of PSCs historic
Old Main Building, about thMopic.
view was Gertrude Lowry of Pem
broke, grandmother of Adrian
Andrede of Fatrflu, V A , the girl wbo
?feed the question of the president on
national TV Saturday His reply was
that he was not knowledgeable about
the subject, but would have his staff
check into the matter.
The interview at PSU was oo ABCs
ntfinnal evening news anchored by
Peter Jennings Monday evening ABC
.Jr^t and received permission from
WFSU-TV, Pembroke State
Uni*r?ty>pubUsJ^^y.tose?
JSttingthetoaerviewtoNew York for
use oo the national network Dr.
I Oecm Patterson. PSU director of tele
communications. said he received a
call Sunday night about
ABCs coming to PSU on Monday
and requesting the use of WPSU
TVs studio.
Adrian Andrede is the daughter of the
former Ellen Lowry, s native of Pem
broke. and Ronald Andrade. Adrian
had been a volunteer for the National
Congressof American Indiana during
the summer in Washington. D C..
Mid her grandmother, and her name
had been given to ABC as a possible
for the interview program.
Gertrude Lowry knew her grand
daughter was going to be on and was
watching intently on Saturday.
"ABC had contacted Adrian's par
ents and interviewed Adrianscouple
of times by telephone prior to her
homg on the program," said Mrs.
Lowry. Asked bow she felt when
she saw her granddaughter oo the
Mtinnal program. Mis. Lowry re
Isponded "I screamed. It was great
However. 1 was afraid she was no*
going to have an opportunity to ask
Gvmrft Lewry
a question because it was getting
late on the propam."
The grandmother was very happy
when Adrian did have the opportu
nity to pose her question about why
the Lumbee Indians have not been
given federal recognition. "I was
thrilled that she was that much con
cerned about her people." said Mrs.
Lowry "We hope it will help our
cause."
Mrs. Lowry said Adrian's home
received telephone calls from all
over the country Saturday afternoon
and Saturdayjaidbt. - "Adrian
oajuedcaflaliaa BMnji njanpspats
and one TV channel. She also re
ceived calls fropi as frr as Seattle.
California and Missouri. She was
really excited over it ail," said Mrs.
Lowry. who lives only about two
minutes from PSU. is a good friend
ofPSU Chancellor Joseph Oaendme
and has two sons. Dwyane and
Herbert who are in theur junior yean
as religion majors at PSU. Mrs.
Lowry is married to Herbert (Jimbo)
Lowry who is in the hospital at Duke.
in ABC-TVs interview of Dial he
traced how Indians have been dis
criminated against through the
years. "I returned from the way in
1945. had six battle stars, but was
denied admission to UNC-Chnpel
Hill because 1 was Indian." Dial said.
"We have been denied so many
things because were Indian and have
Asked why federal recognition is
important Dial replied: "Because it
is something we deserve, something
we are . We are Lumbee Indians. We
feel we deserve recognition the same
ss any other Native American group
They are giving recognition toother
tribes, and this is something we also
deserve."
Dial pointed <Mt that this request is
aot a Johaey-coane-lately reque*
"Indians occapied this territory
12,000 years ago . I can take yoeiaso
Old Mala (a hisaric PSU building
wt&icii liousss the Native Americao
Resource Center) and prove it with
archaeology We have baas have oa
the Lambee (now called Lumber
River) meny centuries ago," he said
Dial said op the interview hi be
Uevaa Frisideat Clin toe will do
a ?tsthiai about this hena "I expect
!lL?fcrtheLaabMO^aakL^i
think he'i a great humanitarian, and I
think hell do it."
Aaked if the ana (40,000 Lumbeea)
ia a detriment because of the fadaial
court that would be involved in their
getting recognition. Dial responded.
"We can't help chat there's40.000of I
ua. That should have aothiat to do
with the tecogakica We arenot seek
ing money. We ate Making pride,
and we newslrmg identity and proof
to the couatrj who we ate."
#*
Other Ltuabee Indian leaden
pmagw while the Dial interview waa
'ChtanbtNfSiuNCfcari
of Governors; Ruth Locklear, direc
tor of I tad 111 Tribal Emotlment.
James Hardin. executive director of
Luaabea Regional Devalopmeai Aa
sociatioa; Cynthia L. Hunt Locklear.
Lumbee River Legal Services, Inc..
who rapraaants the Lambee tribe in
its bid for recognition. Chancellor
Joseph Oxendine. and Dobbs
Oxendine. Jr., Chainnan of the Fed
eral Recognition Committee
la itt commentary. ABC news said,
"Many say the reason the tribe has
not been given ftill recognition hy
the government is money." Ruth
Locklear. in her statement on the
program, agreed, "The government
hasreftteedto formally acknowledge
the refauioaship with the tribe for
fear ofcoet," rim mid.
ABC news also said, "Full recogeR I]
tioa would give the Lwnbees access
to government fladed scholarships
and other programs."
Others were interviewed by ABC
news in its follow-up to a 14-year
old girl's questioning the president
Federal Recognition:
What It Really Means
la conjunction with the previous ar
ticles on federal recognition, listed
below are several questions that are
frequently asked by individuals.
Take a few minutes and test your
knowledge on federal recognition.
Beginning next week a detailed re
sponse will be printed for the first
question and further responses until
each question is addressed. If you
have any questions or comments.
please telephone Cynthia L Hunt of
the Indian Law Unit at Lumbee River
Legal Services, Inc. The telephone
number is (919) 521-2831 or 10800
554-7852.
True or False.
1. Federal Recognition means that
U.S. recognizes the Lumbee as real
2. Federal Recognition means free
health care, free education, supple
mentary income from the Federal
Government because you are an
American Indian.
3. If recognized, the Lumbee will
loee title to their land and be forced
to live on a reservation.
4. Federal Recognition meat* the
U.S. acknowledges the tribal exist
ence of the Lumber and its inhsrwe
right to govern itself and its mem
bers.
5. The Lumbee is already recog
nized by the Federal Government as
an Indian tribe, but is denied the
customary federal Indian benefits
6. Tribes can be recognized by treaty,
or by decision of the interior or Presi
dent, or by Congressional Law
7. The Federal Government requires
one to the 1/2 or more Indian Mood,
apeak native language, practice tra
ditional customs in order to be recog
nized as an American Indian
t. American Indian tribes are do
9. Members of recognized tribe hold
dualcitizenahipiights. first, asa citi
zen of the U.S. and. secondly, as a
citizen of their tribe.
10. States have no jurisdiction over
recognized tribes unless tribes have
agreed to state jurisdiction.
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cancer Kesearch rrogram
Underway in Native
American Community
Cancer researchers at tbe Bowman
Gray School of Medicine of Wake
Forest University in Winston-Salem
any the incidence of cervical cancer
in Lumbee women could be reduced
by increaaed effort to eliminate sev
eral risk factors that their research
baa identified Dr. Mark Dignan. a
co-director of the Native American
Cervical Cancer Prevention Project
and an Aseociate Professor of Fam
ily and Community Medicine at Bow
man Gray, says his project's feder
ally-funded household survey of
nearly 1.000 Lumbee women, age 18
and older, revealed the following
barriers to preventing tbe disease:
-Only 62 percent of the women sur
veyed stated that they go for annual
medical examinations, and only 63.1
percent reported having a medical
examination within tbe past 12
-A little more than 3 percent of the
women reported not having a regular
source of health care.
-A high prevalence of smoking 60.6
percent (compared to the U.S. aver
age smoking rate of 23 percent)
Medical research. Dr. Dignan said,
showsapossible link between smok
ing and death from cervical cancer
Commenting on his project's re
search findings. Dr. Dignan said these
barriers to preventing cervical can
cer among Lumbee women can be
addressed by implementing " a care
fully developed. personalized health
education program" on the risk of
cervical cancer and the value of ob
taining regular Pap smears to detect
it.
"We at Bowman Gray think knowl
edge is important, and that women
have to know about cervical cancer
and how it's prevented." said Dr.
Dignan. "We know that if women
have Pap smears so cervical cancer
can be detected early, it can be cured
in nearly aK cases. By putting off
having Pap smears, women actually
are putting themselves at more risk "
Dr. Dignan and his staffhave a five
year grant from the National Cancer
Institute to study the problem of an
excess number of deaths from cervi
cal cancer in Native American
women in North Carolina (More
Native Americans die of cervical
cancer than does the rest of the U.S.
Population.)
The protect began in July. 1990.
approximately one year after it waa
endorsed by the Lumbee Regional
Development Aaaociation. Urn re
searchers plan to accomplish their
goal of reducing the number of Lum
bee deaths from cervical cancer by.
-increasing the proportion of Lum
bee women who obtain Pap smears
(at intervals determined by their
health-care provider), and
-increase the proportion who go for
follow-up treatment when needed,
(if they have been told their Pap
smear result showed any abnormal
cells in the cervix, the entrance to the
womb).
Preparatory wotfc for the project
involved interviewing about 125
adult Lumbee women who live in
Robeson County and are officially
enrolled members of the tribe. Col
lecting this information helped the
project team to develop procedures
for its more recent household inter
views.
"We asked women s whole series of
questions on health care and cancer,"
saidDr. Dignan "Werecruited Lum
bee women to collect data for the
project by scheduling face-to-face
interviews ui women's homes The
interviews took about 20 minutes to
complete."
Dr. Dignan alao offered the follow
ing other statistics about the women
the project team surveyed
-Their average age was 43.1 years
-More than 70 percent of them were
high school graduates
-About half reported incomes of
SI4.000 or more per year ,
Nearly 70 percent that
they were in "good" or "aiiaflear
health
-About 85percent were able to idan
tify the Pap ameer ae a teat for cervi
cal cancer, and almost 90 parr?I
reported that they thought they had a
Pap ?ear during their last pelvic
ream.
-Access to ""t of health
care by Lumbee worn?iaMgh. A
little mora than Ave percent sought
medical help front traditional heal
ere. and those persons mainly uaed
ere (conventional) medicine.
Now that the results of the Lmnbaa
surveys have ban analyzed. Or.
Dignan said the second phase of the
project will focus on educating Lum
Pee women more on the importance
screening for cervical cancer. In
home visits, trained project staff will
use educational videotapes and
printed materials to teach won?
ibut preventing cervical cancer.
"Project staff will contact won?
to set up a convenient time and piece
to meet to teach them about serosa
ing." said Dr. Dignan "They will
visit women in their homes, or some
times where they work."
After the phase is com
pleted. women will be interviewed
rgain to measure the succeaa of *e
Questional program. The re-inser
riews will be carried oat over (he
text two-and-a-half-years. Dr.
Dignan said.
"At the end. we will And out what
?ts of the program worked beat,"
* said. " and we will a?a thent
variable to the community."
Spiritual Leadership
The Kooeaon county enuren com
munity will unite for a 3 night revival
aimed at inaptring local church lend
er! toward greater commitment to
r>yhing iKftr community frr ^Vt*
Christian event Rev. Johnny Chavis
of the Scyamore Hill church in
Max ton aervesae honorary chairman
for the revival.
Ma Janice Bryant of the Lumber
River Hoiiaeaa Methodiat Confer
ence has organized a Maea Choir
from ares churches. Special gospal
ttfiging groups invttsd du
"Bereane" from Pembroke, (he
"Tylero* from Maxtoaaed the "Lead
B Sincere" from Pembroke. The Rev
Robert Ma^rnn. wheaow raeMeero
for each night. Rev Willie Scott ie
peaior at New Proepect Chmch, lo
cated oe Hwy 710. and will be far
year'thoei for fre revival. The cone
nwmiry temped to participate htfrie
? ? ?
ISVIVAJ.