6ditofial and Opinion (Page
Red Earth, Inc., State Arts Council of
Oklahoma announce call for American
Indian film and video competition ,
Red Earth Inc., State Aits Council
of Oklahoma Announce Call For
Aawrican Indian Film A Video
Comoetitioo
otjahoma City. OK-Eotnes arc
now bona accepted through December
31. l995for the 1996 American Indian
Film A Video Competition noraored
by Red Earth. Inc and the Sute Arts
Council of Oklahoma The
competition is designed to recogiu/c
film and video productions which
preserve and portray the Native
American way of life - past, present
and future
The American Indian Film A
Video Competition attracts entries
from both Indian and non-Indian film
producers." said Christy Alcox. Red
Earth Executive Director, "and has
pined a national reputation for
honoring entries that focus on Native
American issues"
Competition guidelines require
entries to focus on American Indian
history, ana. culture, myths, social
issues or ev olving visions Awards are
presented ui 10 categories including
feature film/drama, documentary - ait/
artist profile: documentary - short,
documentary - ling: experimental/
music video, animation, promotional,
broadcast journalism, student/
amateur, and children (14 and under).
All winners and special merit
recipients will be featured during the
ninth annual Red Earth Winter Expo
scheduled February 2-4. 19% at tne
Red Earth Indian Center. 2100 NE
32nd Street in Oklahoma City. An
awards ceremony and film festival
will be conducted during the 1996
Red Earth Festival scheduled for June
7-9. 19% in downtown Oklahoma
Citv
"Each entry will be viewed and
awarded by judges ot regional and
national reputation." said Patrick
Whclan. competition chairman.
"Winners and top finalists will receive
special awards created with
Oklahoma's official Allan Housei
Medallion *
Awards will be presented for Best
Direction by an American Indian, Beat
Made in Oklahoma Production. Best
Environmental Production, and Best
Chtldrens Program. The Will
Sampson Award is awarded to the
entry deemed "Best Show."
Entries must be submitted on one
half inch VHS tape, and must not have
been previously entered into the
competition. All entries will become
part of the permanent collection in the
Red Earth Indian Center Library.
Entries should be mailed to the
I996 American Indian Film A. Video
Competition. Red Earth. Inc.. 2100
NE 92nd Street. Oklahoma City, OK
73111. Brochures detailing all entry
requirements can be obtained by
calling (405) 427-5228. or (405) 521
2931.
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waakeU October 9-14, 1995.
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camWnae bafermdmi Uudeult im m^n^flrepre^ZmaSwkattodo
tkomU afire occur. Mr. Williamson meted that due* the program
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"APPOINTMENT PLEASE"
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PO 20? S Vjmxc Stmt
lYmhrriki. NC 2W72
(910) 521-3413
Auto AiihkiM Inpimx ? I VxtU ? ( Itild C.mt<*l\ ? Wills ?
Alinxxix ? Civil I itigaimn ? Child Suppiwl * S|?mluig TkkrO
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The Carolina
Indian Voice
Community
Meeting
November 281995
6:30 P.M. Until
Plney Grove School
Come Meet Your
Sheriff
House of Repreeentative
Clerk of Court
County Commissioner
Board of Education Member
T !
0 ? ?
FREE CHICKEN BOG
Carolina Indian Voice
is published every Thursday by
First American Publications
304 Normal St. - College Plata
Post Office Box 1075
Pembroke, North Carolina 28372
Phone (919) 521 -2826
Fax (919) 521-1975
Connee Brayboy. Editor
Helen Lock (ear. Office Manager
Subscription!
One year in NC. $20.00
Out of state. $25.00
Second Class Postage Paid at
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A^long the Robeson Trail I
by Dr. Stan Knick, Director ?>
: PSU Native American Resource Center I
(Author's Note: This comment was
sent to the Wall Street Journal.)
1 expected more. It was not the
first time a reporter from an out-of
town newspaper has discovered
Lumbee Indians, come to town for
twenty-four hours, and gone away to
write a story purporting to summarize
the suue of Lumbee affairs. Inevitably
those other reporters ha ve left Robeson
County with a superficial view of the
subtleties of Lumbee history and
culture. But this was the Wall Street
Journal, arguably one of the best
newspapers in the world.
In Dana Milbank's article on the
front page of the Journal (13
November 1995), I find that I expected
loo much. The article is a shallow and
almost entirely negative treatment of
a complex and beautiful matter.
From the caption to the closing, the
article handles the Lumbee as though
(hey just decided in the past few
months to start being Indian As I
explained to Mr. Milbank during his
short visit, such a notion is remote
from the tnnh. The Lumbee have
always been concerned with their
Native American heritage, for as long
as there has been recorded history in
this part of North Carolina.
Mr. Milbank says the Lumbce
"are having an identity crisis." From
mote than a decade of experience with
the Lumbee it is clear to me that,
Milbank notwithstanding, the
Lumbce seem to ha vc a sound grasp of
who they are. Their present and
temporary debate on bow best to
shape their future is no different than
political debates which occur in all
human communities from time to
time. A debate does not an "identity
crisis" make.
Throughout the article Milbank
rc4o(JC? ibfctkumbcc struggle for
federal acknowledgment to a quest
for money. This misses the point
entirely. The two main concerns of
most modem Lumbccs with respect
to federal recognition relate to:
I) their desire to take their rightful
place at the table of national Indian
affairs; and 2) their willingness to
carry on the struggle begun by their
ancestors and continued by their
parents to keep alive the remaining
elements of their traditional Native
American culture. It is a matter of
cultural survival much more than of
money.
This doesn't mean that new
funding for improvements in
education, health and housing wouldn't
be welcome. Tbcy certainly arc
needed. But most Lumbee adults
would not reap the benefits of that new
funding. The real benefits would
accrue to the children and future
generations of the Lumbee
community. This a rather more noble
reality than the avaricious picture
given by Milbank.
Milbank states that Lumbees
"intermarried with Europeans early
and often." There is evidence that
some Lumbee people intermarried with
persons of European or mixed Indian
and-European descent from the time
of early incursions by outsiders into
Native America. Some Lumbee people
marry non-Lumbees in modern times.
Howe ver, the vast majority of Lumbee
people marry other Lumbees, and
have done so historically. Milbank's
reference to the 18th century assertion
that Indians encountered in this area
were a "mixed crew" overlooks die
fact thai Native people, amalgamated
from various tribes in the wake of
epidemic decimation of their former
groups, were the principal
contributors to that appearance of
mixture. These Native people
combined from three separate
linguistic and genetic slocks ? mainly
Siouan, with some Algonkian and
Iroquoian people. Had Milbank looked
only siighdy into the historical record
of the region and its cultures, he would
have realized this.
Although 1 do not say that it was
Mr. Milbank's intention, there are
many other misleading elements in the
article. Almost every paragraph
carries that most dangerous of usages
? the half-tnith. Perhaps the most
egregious of these is his statement
that: "Whatever tbey are, the
Lumbccs. inspired by the national
revival of Indian culture, desperately
want to reclaim their lost Lumbcc
ness." This statement is especially
deserving of examination.
"Whatever they are..."suggests at
least that Milbank couldn't figure it
out in his brief visit, and possibly that
Lumbees themselves might not really
know. While the former is apparently
true, the latter is certainly not.
"Inspired by the national revival
of Indian culture..." implies that
Lumbees recently acquired the idea
from outside their own community.
For a long lime (Here have been
documented, repeated and consistent
efforts to assert and maintain the
Native American heritage of this
community. Elders of advanced age
in (he Lumbee community tell of
"Indian meetings" which happened
when they were little children.
Cultural revivals of one kind or
another occurred during virtually
every decade from the 1860s to the
1950s, before my "national revival
of Indian culture" could reasonably
be considered to have happened. Since
the 1960s, with the sweep of the Civil
Rights and Pan-Indian movements
across America, Lumbees have merely
continued what was for them a
centuries-long struggle.
Use of the word "desperately" in
Milbank's sentence connotes a
hopeless, frantic and extreme desire.
Thic cimnlu ic not ciimnrtpfl hv Ihp
""TV ? ?ri j
reality of everyday life in the Lumbee
community. Lumbee people have been
and continue to be carrying on with
their lives ? raising children and
crops and songs; going to offices and
factories and churches; sharing in
politics and economics and culture.
Yes, most Lumbees think federal
recognition would be a good idea; but
many say frankly that they don't need
the government's stamp of approvaho
know who they are.
There arc other parts of this
excerpt and the entire article which
should he reconsidered in the light of
real life in the land of the Lumbcc To
treat each in turn would require a great
deal more space than most
newspapers are willing to devote to
such a subject, and would elevate some
plainly dumb statements to a level
higher than warranted.
I am left with twoqueslions. First,
what precipitated Mr. Milbank's
sudden discovery of Lumbees agd the
Wall Striei Journal's deslje to
publici/c his discovery? And second,
when will people realize that a short
walk at the edge of a deep wood cannot
yield a useful map of the forest
beyond?
Mr. Milbank presented himself in
Pembroke as an intelligent and
thoughtful man. It is unfortunate that
his article about the Lumbee didn't
turn out that way.
For more information, visit the
Native American Resource (.'enter in
Old Main Building, on the campus of
Pembroke State University.
Year End Sale
Close out sale on all 19V5 homes
New vinyl siding, shingle roof homes
3 bedroom 2 bath only $15995. All
homes in stock reduced Monthly
payments as low as $99 No down
payment to qualfied buyers.
Harry Reed Homes has three
locations to serve you. Hwy 41,
Elizabethlown Rd 910-739-9531.
Hwy 74 Maxton 910-521-0064. Hwv
211 Bladenboro Hwy 910-738-5060
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Harry Reed Homes has three
locations to serve you. Hwy 41
Elizabethtown Rd. 910-738-9531
Hwy 74 Maxton 910-521-0064 Hwv
211 Bladenboror Hwy 910-738-5060
Celebrate Indian Heritage Month
"Give the Gift of Life"
LRDA will sponsor a blood drive on
Monday, November 27,1995
from 1:20p.m. until 6:00p.m.
Burnt Swamp Baptist Building
For appointment, piemae cmU Patriae Brmyboy at 739-5957
* *Free T-shirts to the first 30 donors''
1
Riley Jordan, M.D. and Wilbur "Buck"
Schrum, PA-C are pleased to
announce the association of
general family practitioner
Myra Deese Hall, M.D.
A Pembroke native, she will join the
Family Care Center in Raeford
beginning November 8. To make an
appointment with Dr. Deese Hall, Dr.
Jordan or Buck Schrum call
(910) 875-3606.
MOORE REGIONAL
fawftifare
CENT E R