What is "rah?" Webster Idisu
wi* fact or reality; an established or
verified fact." and goes on 10 say thai
regarded by the speaker as the tree
one." TMs leaves a lot of toon (or
interpretation. since we know
different speakers regard different
beliefs to be "true." An old friend of
mine who was a Special Forces
Information Officer in Vietnam
always mid truth is "whatever you caa
convince somebody of."
I got to thinking about (be "rah"
when I tead a letter from another friend
in the last Carolina Indian Voice (13
January 1994). This brother was
writing about a conversation be had
with some Native Americans from out
west about Lumber Indians and the
word 1 umber " In his letter he said
that the name Lumbee "came from a
white man," and dau he told these
folks "the history of the name
Lumbee. which only came into being
less than forty years ago."
Now this is not just some
uninformed guy from out in left field
? this is a good man who knows a lot
about Native American tiadiiioos, who
wafts the Good Road himself, and for
whom I have a great deal of respect.
And although I've beard this
statement made by others before, 1
figure if Ac thinks this is the truth about
the word Lumbee, then a lot of other
people probably think it, too.
Opponents of Lumbee
recognition have used the statement
that the Indians of Robeson County
were only recently given the name
"Lumbee" as one of their main
arguments. They seem to use this to
mean tfiat the word "Lumbee" didn't
really exist before the mid-Fifties, and
thus that (he Lumbee people didn't
either. So what is the "truth" about the
word "LumbeeT Was it invented by
a white man in the Fifties?
The earliest written reference I
can find to the word "Lumbee" is in
the 1888 work of Hamilton McMillan.
Yes, McMillan was a white man, but
it wasn't the 1930's. So did he invent
the word? What he saidwM tbMiwa
(IhCUMKWl of llM f0O^lflbiCSi
at ladtaM * North Carolina in the
\7XTiY. These Indians bait pem
road* connecting the distant
on the Lumbee, a* the I irober River
was then called."
Why would McMillan say this?
Was he hying to convince the world
that (be Indians of Robeson County
QngtUlnhfr-tUrfl If that had
that he would lean heavily on the word
river, in order to strengthen Ins case
that the people should be called
Lumbee. But that's not what
McMillan was uying to do.
He wmted to convince the world
that ihe Indians at Robeson County
ought to be called Croaum! All he wax
doing with the statement about the
ancient name of the Lumbee River
was repeating what he was told by
elders of the day. These elders in the
1880's were taught when they were
young that the original word was
Lumbee ? this bit of information
means that the word was in use earlier
than anybody in the 1880's could
remember! This makes "Lumbee" a
very old word.
Other writers around the turn of
the century reflect this same oral
history. Angus McLean wrote: <
"When, while settlers first arrived they
found located on the waters of the
Lumbee. as Lumber River was then
called, a tribe of Indians speaking
broken English..." Like McMillan,
McLean had nothing to gain from the
use of the word "Lumbee."
O. M. McPherson, an Indian
Agent for the U.S. government, wrote
in 1914 that "...the Lumber River was
anciently called the Lumbee... The
Lumbee River is a branch of the Pedee
and the similarity of the names would c
suggest the same origin. All these t
small Siouan tribes were originally r
parts of, or confederated with, the
Cheraws." ii
McPherson's conclusion about the U
Indians of Robeson County being of p
predominantly Siouan origin ii
probably comes closer to the truth than /
McLean's (who thought they were h
really Cherokee). But neither writer t
truth at tbeybeUeved k^aa'ih* the
wonl 1, umber was recently derived
from lie word Lumber as some people
want uaiobebeve, but tbat the fldxioal
mmc of the river was???iw
Before the federal government
recognized the name Lumbee in 1956,
there was the "Lumbee Tattler," a
yearbook at Pembroke Stale College
(now Pembroke State University).
Were the local Native American
students who wrote the "Lumbee
Tattler" in 1941 trying in some way to
force the name Lumbee on their own
people? Could it be true that
"Lumbee" was a word that came from
within the Indian community not one
planted on it from the outside?
If it is the "truth" that Lumbee is
the original name of the river along
which the people lived, then it is
reasonable to conclude that Lumbee
was also the original name of the people
as well This is especially true in
light of the fact that several other
Eastern Siouan tribes who lived nearby
(but are now extinct) also shared their
names with the rivers along which
they lived (i.e., Santee, Wateree,
Congaree, Sugaree, etc.).
As the effects of European
conquest swept across the Carolinas
during the 16th and 17th centuries,
almost everything in Robeson County
changed. The population was
quickly and drastically reduced by
epidemics. Whole languages
disappeared as Indian tribes merged
uul/or vanished. The day-to-day
;ulture of the Indian people changed
n the face of overwhelming contact
vith the outside world. But some
hings did not change ? one was the
infailing will of the people to hold
into their Indian identity; another was
he word, sometimes unspoken but
ever completely forgotten, Lumbee.
So what is the "truth?" One thing
s certain?we seldom if ever arrive at
he whole truth by looking at only a
lart of the story. -?For more
nformation, visit the Native
American Resource Center in Old
(Iain Building, jm the campus of
*4?ricofcfc, .State University. ( (
Lumbee people are different and
sometimes separate, but also connected
Tothe Readers Fo*um ofour Native
American community. Like the
symbol shown Ike native community
of the Lnmbee-Chemw region are
different and sometimes separate from
one another but we all are
interconnected The cornerstones and
the middle (tones are needed to hold
up the main stone. The main stone
being the Lumbee-Cheraw people as
a whole, the other nones being
community groups like our church
committees, LRDA board, Lumbee
River Legal Services committee.
Township committees to name a few
All the people of the community need
a voice in the tribal government. People
need to get Evolved, men and women
both should educate themselves about
the issues at hand and let the thoughts
of the people be carried to these
committees and then those
representatives go together for the
greater good of the whole tribe No
not all of these people will agree on all
of the issues, but that is all right The
gathering of these committees can
work towards the drafting of the
constitution and the!education of the
people on the issues. I agree with Mr
R.A. Hunt's assessment, that LRDA
should act as the administration branch
of the tribe and a committee made of
people from the above groups act as
tribal government. Most of the people
at LRDA have a wealth of know ledge
on government policies The
government already is knowledgeable
on the existence of LRDA and has
worked with the LRDA organization
Years of work would be lost if LRDA
was disbanded. There just needs to be
more community involvement.
Community awareness and
in vol vement would help control what
some of the people think is out of
control It is hard to listen to people
complain and then you ask them when
is the last time they went to a
community and or LROA board
meeting and their response is oh I
don't mess with those people down
there Well 1 have been mvolved with
the Native American issues since I
could be involved. I started going to
tribal meetings when I was in high
school not just yesterday I attended
meetings in Cumberland and Robeson
County throughout my life; therefore
I feel somewhat knowledgeable yet I
could not begin to know it all. I'm 38
years young and have attended POW
WOW's all across NC and now the
USA. I have seen and treated people
as patients in my medical practice
from many different tribes and the
difference of opinions intertribal are
not unique to Lumbee-Cheraw
country. We must learn from the
troubles of other tribes and try to not
make the same mistakes A lot of
tribes across the U.S. have had trouble
with some of the same issues that face
the Lumbee-Cheraw LRDA has
monitored these items and can provide
valuable insight into these pitfalls. I
also feel that we need people to educate
the community as Ms. Hunt and Ms
Locklear are doing. I just feel that the
parts of the whole need to work
together for the betterment of the
Native Americans of the communities
involved. Mr Hunt is right we all
need to write the senators. I have and
will continue. So there is one thing
you can do instead of complaining
about this and that. FEDERAL
RECOGNITION IS STILL THE
MAIN GOAL and the constitution
can be finished a little later .I'm proud
to say that 1 get the word out as Mr.
Hurt would say I'm always educating
the different tribes I meet about the
Lumbees and our Native N.C. To my
surprise moat are willing to listen and
learn and I have made a lot of friends
working as a medical provider for the
different tribesofthe western regions
The three arguments that Mr. Hunt
listed are some of the ones 1 have
heardalso, I. Lumbees will take money
away from other tribes due to size. 2.
Gaming. 3. Lumbees ate not really '
Indian, due to we have no language
and a lot ofthe old culture was lost etc. *
Well I'm here totell you that it isonly '
circumstance that the European
problem took hold earlier in the east.
Unfortunately I see it happening out
west as well. But my heart is uplifted
when 1 see the rebirth that is taking
place back home in N.C. and out west
The rebirth that people ate not ashamed
to be Native American and are not
ashamed to practice their culture,
language or even name their children
in some of the old names.
Yeigo iit'jj dooleel/ (let's all try
harder) to work towards the good of
the whole tribe. Thank you for your
time and 1 appreciate the opportunity
to speak from the heart, some of my
opinions.
Respect for the elders Robert
(Bobby) Michael Chavis, Phoenix
Arizona.
Hunt to ReceiveAfrican
American Ministers at
Executive Mansion
Gov. Jim Hunt will meet with
African American Ministers at the
Governor's Mansion in Raleigh on
Friday. January 21 at 2 p.m. to hear
their views on the crime plan Hunt
outlined last week on a statewide
television. *
Responding to an sharp increase s
in crime. Hunt has called a special tl
session of the General Assembly to v
begin February 8 to deal specifically t
with crime. In a press conference ?<
Thursday, January 13, Hunt unveiled k
a 36 point crime-fighting plan he will tl
urge the Legislature to enact p
The plan includes a first ever ii
statewide middle school program, n
called Save Our Students, or SOS. to >
give children in grade 6 to 8 f
challenging, enriching activities b
between the hours of 3 and 6 p.m The g
plan also.mcludes provisions to keep
dangerous criminals behind bars c
longer, and to make the criminal justice v
system work better Hunt will present v
the plan to several hundred ministers, e
and invite questions and comments. I
r ^QU 1
k *
In many cultures we have seen the
ifca of some kind of substitution or
acrifice to please the Gods and insure
heir favor. Whether it is throwing
irginsoveracliffor placing innocent
tables on the red hot hands of a huge
dol. mankind seems to feel that some
.ind of sacrifice isrequired. Generally
he emphasis is always based on the
?resumed purity of the sacrifice Never
$ the sacrifice made of crotchety old
nen or sour old women. Always the
oung, the beautiful, the innocent
ivery culture wants to give of their
test to their God or Gods, hoping to
:ain their favor or appease their anger
What a difference we find in the
me tnft. Iitfflfg Ood: No angry God
vho waits to see if we can somehow
vin favor. Not this God! He loves
ven those who turn their back on
iim. He waits not for the perfect
acrifice be found than the spotless
Lamb of God?
We were unable to bridge the gap
between ourselves and God. We, sons
of Adam, were under the same laws as
the rest of creation (Genesis 1:11-12,
1:24). Evil could only bring forth evil.
It is as impossible to bring good out of
evil as it is to find a woman giving
birth to a piglet. Like things produce
like things - an unchangeable law of
nature.
No wonder God became the Lamb
to be sacrificed. He knew it was of no
use to expect sinful man to come up
with some worthy sacrifice. He knew
that only He had the ability to make
the first step. In that first step Ihe
.knttsiMual % an ?h*uand it's life
blood flowed out for you and I.
What kind of response should you
and I have? What kind of response
will you give in the face of such a
demonstration of love?
f Having ^xProspect ]
fcobkmwiiii Satellites
? Sound on Your Prcscn^^T^"*? -
? Satellite System?
I CaU Us!!
\% Top of the Line Satellite Road
X^Recetvers starting at $1,595 >\
\% (Installed). Payments as low\\
as $39 month. Sale & ^
Repairs We service ^
any oranu. WE CARRY \\
^ BRANDS SUCH Aft \\|
HOUSTON TRACKER \
R-^^^Cable Not Avtfltble?\
We Bring Cable \
Service To I
Mellvn
M0it:?aa-M17^O
I Oerald Strickland
LMfht:521-238S
Farmland For Sale
Rebesoa County-Smith's Township (SR 1338) 170+ acres
$135,000. 2000+ ft. rd. frontage. 135 acres cleared.
Bowie Rd (SR 1318) Phi ladelpnus To wnship. 95 acres ceared
plus 5 acre pond. $90,000.
Hoke County ^SR 1107 A 1105). 196+ acres. 42 acres
cleared. $68,775.00.
Call Helen LockJear CCIM
(919)738-1461
f' BCHWOPRAcffic
.1 | . CENTER
HnllEi^if i Aooiplid O
'AWOPflMBNTFLBAW
rSmi S
[ATTENTION
Ah error in the 1993 Robeson County Yellow Page Directory
listed Dr. Mary B. Cummings, as a Prosthodontist. Dr. Mary B.
Cummings would like to inform the general public that she is a
General Dentist - Dr. MuryB. Cummings, DDS, 521-0991,102 S.
Main St, Pembroke, NC.
> 4
Lumberton House of Plaques
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Engravable items, and Plastic signs.
Open: Tues. - Fri. 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Sat.( 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.) Located at
112 W. Fourth St Lumberton. NC 28358 Phone: 739-1207
PEMBROKE MATTRESS OUTLET^
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If The defence Does Pel below >100.00. A $4.00 Monthly Cherje
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Attorneys & Counselors At Law
-Auto Accidents -Personal Injury -Divorces
2Child_Custodj^ft>Su??ort ^DWI_^^raffic_Offenses
-Criminal Trials -Real Estate -Wills ^Estates
521-3413
ARNOLD LOCKLEAR
ARLIE JACOBS
RONNIE SUTTON
GRADY HUNT
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203 S. Vance St.
Pombroko
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