VOL^2tNUM?rf - g
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Edmisten, Etheridge, Payne
Elected Officials to Address
Annual Indian Unity conference
United Ittbes of North Carolina
has announced that iCouncilofState
Panel will be presented to attendees
of the 18th Annual Unity Confer
ence March ltth - 20th, at (be Holi
day Inn in Fayetteville, North Caro
lina. Heads of State who have com
mitted to address the conference are
Secretary ofState, Rufus Edminstein,
Superintendent ofPublic Instruction,
Bob Ethendge and Harry Payne, Sec
retary of Labor.
The Council of State panel will be
presented to Unity Conference at
tendees Saturday morning beginning
at 9:00 am Also during this morn
ing session the annual United Tribes
Scholarship winners will be an
nounced and door prize drawings
win be held at the end of the pro
gram.
Council of State heads are expected
to address the Conference about the
administration of their agencies and
how their policies and state laws will
affect North Carolina Native Ameri
cans under Governor James Hunfs
administration.
The Conference is open to the pub
lic and registration is $75.00 which
i^h^w tickets to the Friday night
banquet sad the Saturday morning
breakfast and seminar attendance
privileges.
Senior Chinees and youth registra
tion is $45.00. Banquet and Break
fast ticket sales will end Thursday at
5:00 pjn. For those who only want to
attend these events. Tickets for these
events can be reserved at your local
tribal office or mtan Indian Center
organization. An adult and youth
dance will follow the Friday night
banquet, and. admission will be
charged at the door.
Federal Acknowledgement:
What It Really Means
The umr to the first true or false questioa offered last week for
coasMerattoa Is respoaded to this week by Dr. Rath Dial Woods of the
Crhanla mM rauatu
Laaibee as real Aawrkaa ladlaas? Her aaswer, of coarse, is false. We
difiereatly by the Ualted States Govenuaeat. Bat Dr. Woods expiates ia
- - -s-*-ia
more oecoii.
The very first lemon that one learns
about American Indiana is a beautiful
picture of Columbus amving on the
shores of America being welcomed
by a tall Indian chief stoic with fea
tures. kxncloth,rnoccaatMandablan
ket around his shoulders. Thesecood
lesson pictures the European immi
grants of Plymouth colony with
American Indians celebrating a
Thanksgiving feast with the "friendly"
Indians. These two lessons comprise
American Indian history until the
period of western expansion at which
time the textbooks, photographs and
"talking pictures" portray American
Indians as angry warriors rushing
around the wagontrains ofthe Euro
pean immigrants (thse who had left
other countries) with war cries, toma
hawks for scalping and grabbing
women, all of whom had already dis
rupted American Indian societies and
still sought to exploit the land and
disregard the social order of the
American history books and the me
dia-tfae Lone Ranger and Tonto, an
American Indian Tonto could barely
speak English, spoke in Indian sign
language and usually answered in
one-word sentences During this same
periodoftime, American Indians were
portrayed ss illiterate in the European
immigrant ways-unable to read and
to write. Remember the story about
the purchase of Mantbattan Island
from iw<i?M in exchange for shiny
beads, bangles and S24. To add insult
to injury, American Indians were char
acterized as all wearing feathers,
headbands, beads, moccasins, flow
ing long Mack hair, "high cheek
bones," brown-skinned, fierce and fi
ery eyed.
In the mid-1930s American Indians
were no longer friendly and did in
feet present a barrier in the goals of
the nation "founded" by the Euro
pean immigrants. The lands had
beeatafein, societis had been
disrupted, and American Indians re
moved to reservations withthe prom
ise of government services for health,
education and welfare Realizing the
cost to the government to meet the
conditioosoftheirueaties with Ameri
can Indian Nations, the Indian Reor
gMiarina Act was enacted to con
duct a roll of American INdians for
whom the government had treaty re
sponsibilities. Uns same Act set the
requirements for Mood quantum as an
effort to limit the government's
respoosibiities and to determien gov
ernment issue of supplies, food and
other benefits American Indians prior
to this time had not heard of tribal
rolls because the Indian way is that
we identify our ownand know those
who are our people.
Unfortunately for the American ln
diansofRobeson County, these primi
tive and racist opinions and percep
tions were captured, formed a deep
rooted psychological sense of inferi
ority, and denied American citizen
ship through a disenfranchisement in
the llth century. Our story is one of a
cot winning uck or rcoem recogni
don of our American Indian birth
right and our descent from the origi
nal landholder! of this country. There
has never been any doubt in our
minds that we are American Indian
and throughout our history, "quali
fied experts." anthropologists and
genealogists have never foiled to ac
knowledge our American lndianness
and our American Indian
descends ncy The attack and insult
to our identity has historically been
by the southern institution of rac
ism against all people people not
white, and even today, our govern
ment and social institutions still find
it difficult to appropriately recog
nize that American society institu
tions still find it difficult to appro
priately recognize that American
society is more than white and Black.
Those of us bora and reared in Robe
son County can readily identify with
that "we are not like other Indians "
I would hope that we would never
accept the mind-set of those who
believe that American Indians were
required to give up their individu
ally and freedom afforded to other
non-Indian groupsby responding to
the ignorance of those who think we
are not "real" Indians because we do
not fit the American Indian history
molds described by noa-Indian lus
torians and by inter-tnbai jealousy
nrl 11?pmiiii iwm
!SS?SS
ready American Indian* and "real"
Indiana, and WB KNOW WHO
AND WHAT WE ARE! We will
continue to own our fend.
Public and private schools, psy taxes,
build communities and churches,
offer ourselves for elected office,
?wve as teachers, ministers, com
munity leaders, farmers, homemak
?*? and productive and hard-work
ing people. We will recognize and
know our people, both those who
are enrolled on the tribal rolls (re
quired by the government) as well
as those who are not enrolled. We
will continue to leave for ow chil
dren and the children of our chikhen
a legacy of a proud people with a
history of survival from the earliest
ofEuropean immigrant contact, both
in the present day and in the future.
It is most important for all Ameri
can Indians of Robeson County to
recognize that neither all whites nor
?U blacks are alike and the same
?nd the feet that American Indians
ate represented throughout this na
tion does not require that all
American Indians be ii** and the
same. The challenge before the
American IndiansofRobesoaCounty
is to oontmue the search for justice
from a nation and a government or
8*m?d by European immigrants,
most of whom were exiled from their
own country and in search of free
dom at the expense of American In
dian. We have always been and will
*1 ways be "tea!" Indians with or with
out federal government recognition
Our responsibility handed down to
us from our elders of centuries ago
and to persist, hold together, and de
mand that we will not now. or ever,
be forced to lose our identity as
American Indians. We must con
tinue to call upon the "govetmnent of
and by the people" to act in good
lakh and in accordance with its re
sponsibility to all of its citizens, in
cluding American Indiam in Robe
son County. *"
Say You Read It In
The Carolina Indian
Voice-Call 521-2826
i
Confernce for
Native American
High School
Students Set
|' A Conference for Native American
High School Student* from grades 9
12 will be sponsored at Pembroke
State University Saturday, March 6.
by the PUS Chapter of the American
Indian Science and Engineering So
ciety (AISES).
until noon in the Clevis Univenity
Center. Lunch will be served from
noon until 1 p.m. From 1-6 pm a
powwow will be held in the Jones
Health and Physical Education cen
ter The Fow-Wow is open to the
public. Cost for those taking pert in
the conference is S3 per person.
Co-sponsoring the event is PSLTs
Native American Student Organiza
tion. Fee mora information about the
event, telephone Dr. Freda Porter
Locklear at (919) 521-6412 or Doria
Brooks at 521-2061.
Local Student
Attends Internship
Program at Johnson
& Wales University
Charleston, SC February 19. 1993
Thirty Johnson and Wales Univer
sity at Charleston students are cur
rently attending Johnson and Wales
Hotel Internship program at the
University's main campus in Provi
dence. Rhode island.
For one trimester of the sophomore
year, students enrolled in the Hotel
exposed to many departments of a
busy hotel restaurant facility Stu
dents perform many of the tasks re
quired in the industry.
Founded in 1914 in Providence.
Rhode Island. Johnson and Wales
University is a private, nonprofit
coeducational institution. Now the
world's largest and leading food-ser
vice and hospitality educator, the
University opened its Charleston
campus in September 1984. Known
as "The Hospitality College ot tfv*
South," the Charleston campus of
fers bachelor's and associate degree
programs in culinary arts, baking and
pastry arts and hospitality manage
ment and in September 1993 travel
Johnson and Wales University also
maintains c?fnpuses in Norfoft. Vir
a joint-venture with the University
of St. Martin on the island of St.
Maarten in the Caribbean
Andrea Sanderson torn Pembroke.
NC if one Of our many honored stu
dents.
Former Odum home Rtridat s?a?
InfpmraHon on N?t..r?i MffthTrr
abeve with her laNbaad aad twe
chttdrea. Leeha was raiaed ia the
(Mm HeeM la Feaabreke, arar*
Heme," fraa a very aaaah child.
SIM dm sal raaaaaifter bar
tart *f her. She weeM very aiech
like te Me a pbetafrapb ef her
?ether aad Mcevage aayeae
whe has nc te give bar a cad at
M3-4743 ere all Sarah BeUiaPcai
brake at S21-4*22.
While Leehe waa U viae ka the
Chlldrea'e Hew ahe atteeded
k, ~ ? ^ Bell
iMMBCVisanui ?na DiHiy dcbi.
She Mived te Greeeehere alter
ahe gradaated Area high acheei
aad werked aatU bar auurtage.
Uifca'ii aMtfttr WM KIM Jmki
27, 1915 ami 4MMaTII, IMS at
age 33.
KM wm ton Ib MtaMppi t*
JMIIIIMI tt???hnr ?#?>>?<
by Mary Jf Juti
wha IM la MM Saddlatrw cm
KIM ?arrM Wltay Osaatfat af
tW FsinaMt M*MU Wktey wm tte
MatfGayaarOua*Maa4Wtt
Ha Fraacb Oiaadlaa. Wllay baa a
bratbar, Paal OiiaHai PmTi
?? mapakam la
ioit ivuriBiii rww? ?
tfce Prospect community.
photi^i
Real Indians
REAL INDIANS
A? a young Indian boy growing up in
Pwiibfokc I remember making refer
encer about what we catted "Real
Indiana* Becauae of the influence of
the television oo our young impres
sionable mind*, we wete tricked into
referring to Real Indiana aa thoae that
live oo Federal Reservations and act
like tfaoee portrayed ia the cowboy
and indian moviea.
Aa with moat of the Native Ameri
can population growing up ia Robe
trft H^ininf | nr? *?<
I waa a Native American and I waa
proud of it; however. I felt that I waa
different than thoae growing up on
Federal Reservations It waa only
after attending college that I began to
appreciate the teal differences and
similarities between myself and those
Native Americana growing up on
Reeervations.
it was oady after attending college
that I began to appreciate the real ,
differences and similarities and what
they really mean.
While a student in college. I began (
to realize that both Indians from the
reservations and those from our ,
part of North Carolina believe very
strongly ina "Creator (GOD)". who
created this earth for us to live oo
and prosper We both believe that
we should live ia harmony with
Mother Eanh. the animals, and other
human beings We also believe that
you measure a persons importance
not by their material wealth but by
their contribution to other human
betngs.
We worshiped the Creator!God)
daily and not just once week and
our lives were built around this re
lationship with this power beyond
man. As you Robeaoo County Na
tive Americans will appreciate, our
spirituality wasa life style aota one
day a week religious experience.
Additionally, both the reeervation
and our Native Americans had and
still have aciose tie to Mother Earth
We have been tillers of the soil for
a very long time and continue to be.
We have always crested clothing
and other utilitarian products from
the animals and plants that wete to
be found in our region of North
Carolina. We are both a proud
people and will defend our civil
rights to the end. The reservation
Natives have their own impup
that they have retained over the
.^7 '
years which wa do not. however,
wa do have a different dialect of the
eaglish language than i$ experi
enced any where in the United
States.
1 feel that whan you go down any
list of what daterminaa tha cnhaial
heritage ofagroupofNative Ameri
cana. wefltthebill. Diving soma of
M?i MAM1J Saiaka luMaa ( a m ? ? ?
my many trips oown noma, I some
times feel that than art Native
Americans that still wonder whether
they an "Real Indians". Well be
lieve me you are as real as say other
group of Native Americana in tha
United States. Real Indians go to
their job daily to earn a living to
support their fenhhaa. fern dm land
to produce food, participate in their
spiritual experiences, go to tow
Wows todance and sing, make crafts
that are raally in many instances
pieces of art share hfc experiences
with the young people, ritow respect
o the Elders ofthe tribe and wort for
preservation ofNmlve Aatsriraa cul
ture at all levels. Remember that
being a Native American ia a state of
mad as well as any physical or cul
tural heritage. We have the cultural
snd physical attributes, let mpiaam
work on tha smte of mind.
Please support your fellow Native
American in tha expression of their
uniqueness as Native Americana,
whether that would be your expan
sion or not Let ua not fight among
ourselves but units to estaMMk a
united front. 1 respect the efforts of
the Tuscaroras, Luntbeaa. Haiiwa
Saporna. Waccamaw Siouan. Coharie
goals and so should you. I will wort
to help them succeed. Will you?
LOCA* E ESSUCTKV
(PAINTED TURTLE)
Republican
Convention
Planned
The Robaaon CoMty Republican
Convention w in be bald in tha Robe
son County Courthouse at 7:30 Phi.
Tuesday. March 9. 1993. AO pre
cinct Iwlsgatns and alternates will
elect county officers, executive com
ahenuies to foe seven* ?d eighth
d*wrift i nuemiin mil tM nan ron
vention ThemwOlbeaSS OOtegis
tratKm fee chargad for the conven
tion.
? ?