THE AROUNA INDIAN VOICE
Pubiisnea each Thursday by First American Publications, Pembroke, NC.
VOLUME 22 NUMBER 17 . THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 1996 \ TWENTY-FIVE CENTS
??'
I A Front Page EditorialI
Voters need to vote on the issues, not on what the Lewis boys think the I
issues are, or what someone said they heard Bobby Dean Locklear say I
The political season is upon us. and voters are attempting to sori
through all the campaign rhetoric and smoke for the truth. Someone
recently said that there is the truth, and then there is what someone thinks
is the truth. Sometimes the two are decidedly different. We have seen
some of that in this political season, especially in the District S (Red
Springs) County Commissioner District.
The voters in District 5 are wise, and are going to vote for either the
incumbent. Bobby Dean Locklear. or newcomer. Raymond Cummings
The race is shaping up tc be one of experience againsl promise,
enthusiasm versus maturity , the known versus the unknown. Both are
attractive. Native American candidates; both are well educated, with
masters in their respective, professional field. It has all the trappings of
a classic race The problem is the campaign has been clouded by scads
of mis-information about the tax valuation, and a statement that Bobby
Dean Locklear reportedly made in reference to the lax payers of his
district and the county. People in District S should be allowed to examine
the issues, and vote for whom they wish. It's their call but
There are some innuendoes floating Ground the district, and some
would say even flat out half and whole untruths. Many of the half truths
have been planted by the Lewis boys, and have been perpetrated on the
rest of us The truth is the new. county tax rate has not been set yet. and
won't be until July 1.1996 when the commissioners will determine what
it will be The commissioner&fcave done this every year as long as one
can remember Every county inNSHh Carolina does it the same way
including Robeson County This year^the issue is compounded by the
fact that the county is in the middle of a tax valuation of county properties
that is done every 8 years per state law.
THE PROBLEM IS ...The problem is the tax valuation falls during
the political season this year, and will be played out during the May 7.
primary That fact makes it especially interesting for the uninitiated.
Bill and O H Lewis of the Robesonian have misled all of us about
tax valuations of county properties, and have played on ouremotions like
we are adolescents in the first flushes of puppy love. They deserve our
disdain, not our praise The Lewis Boys should have reported on the
matter responsibly, and not have shrilled and misled us so badly. It was
some of the worst pieces of journalism (sic) we have ever seen in
Robeson County. If you don't believe us. check the Fayetteville Observer-Times
and the Robesonian and compare their treatment of the
same matter Go to the library and check it'out for yourself. One (the
Observer-Times) is constrained, reasoned and factual, the other (the
Robesonian) is shrill, and chock full of half truths and misrepresentations
The Carolina Indian Voice? joined the fray by writing a five part
series of front page editorials about this same matter We feel the
editorials were helpful in sorting out the truth of the matter before us.
Check it out. The Robesonian is a disgrace to the field of journalism,
and have, as we see it. twisted the truth about how new valuations are
arris cd at They have opted to attempt to lead us into a revolution without
the facts, because we don't know yet what our valuations will be when
the process has run its course, and the tax rate has been set. It reminds
us of the "Yellow Journalism" of William Randolph Hearst and his
minions back in the late 1890s when they led the nation into the SpanishAmerican
War for, as we see it, nefarious aims. We suggest restraint and
common sense. Bill and O H. Lewis, in our editorial opinion, are not to
be believed.
The other matter we wish to raise with the voters in general, and the
voters of District 5 in particular is a statement incumbent Commissioner
Bobby Dean Locklear is reported to have made concerning the initial
reaction to the first reports of the valuations. He is reported to have said
that "If the old people can't pay their taxes, they ought to sell out and
move out", or words to that effect. Locklear is a blunt man, no doubt
about that. But he has categorically denied making such a statement and
we believe him. First of all, common sense suggests he wouldn't have
said it early on because the tax rate has not been set because, for one thing,
the valuations of the county tax properties are not complete Too.
Locklear's mother lives in his district too, next door to him to be exact.
It is hard to believe that one would speak so harshly about a matter that
could adversely effect his mother. Locklear denies making the statement
and voters need to know that as they prepare to go to the polls and
decide which one will represent them on the county commission-Bobby
Dean Locklear or Ravmond Cummings Truth is important.
The real issue is which candidatc-Locklear or Cummings-can best
represent the aspirations of the voters of District 5, and the county as a
whole That is for the voters of District 5 to decide And we defer to their
wisdom in the matter, having, hopefully, cleared away some of the
political smoke and rhetoric clouding the campaign.
I First Thoughts on NAACP School Report I
I The NAACP has finally released its long anticipated report 011 the
Public Schools of Robeson Count) We find the 47 page report to be
simplistic and not very helpful. We will be analyzing the report for you
in the next few weeks It ought to be fun because it is chock full of figures
and graphs signifying not as much as you might think at first look The
report is titled "Racial Disparaties in the Public Schools of Robeson
County" and was done by a one man crew out ofl.uinbcrton Monte Hill,
a former political science teacher at Pembroke State University, actually
did the research and wrote the report! It is full of bar and pic graphs and
statistics galore.
The NAACP is the flatform for a fella named Rev Franklin D
Bowdcn. president of the Unified Robeson County chapter of the
NAACP. First of all. the chapter is not "unified" by "any stretch of the
imagination. Rgy Bowdcn lives, in Cumberlan^Coitnty. so we have
heard, and used to work in education in Robeson County. We'd find out
moreabout Rev. Bowdcn in the next few weeks. Wehopehedocsn'l have
an ax to grind, or an ox to gore.
The other problem with the report is it doesn't take into account the
unique status of a county that is truly tri-racial. The county is about 25%
Black. 40% Indian, and 35% White That has to be taken into account
when one considers the status of the schools, and the makeup of the
student and faculty bodies. Bussing as a solution to our ills in Robeson
County borders on insanity. Also. Bowdcn and his research man. Monte
Hill, a while guy from Lumberton. doesn't tell us how we are going to
set a reasonable criteria. Using the figure of 45% or more as racially
segregated at each school is not reasonable We suspect, also, that Rev.
Bowden and Monte Hill seem to have a problem with counting Indians
as minorities as defined by the Office of Civil Rights. Indians are not
chopped liver, they too are minorities in the civil rights equation.
Honest1
The one proWem the report has unearthed is the fact that the school
. System has not hired many Blacks since 1989. a mere 5 9%. That is a
serious problem, and needs to be put into perspective or explained by
school officials On first flush, it looks to us that the pool for qualified
blacks is small, and not evidence of any evil intent by the school system.
The area of personnel has always been the province of a Black, at least
for the last 20 years or so. The present associate superintendent in charge . I
of personnel is Dr. George Wylie. The school system has also been quite
aggressive in looking for Black candidates for employment, and probably
will survive scrutiny by the NAACP, the Office of Civil Rights, or I
any other reasonable body for this reason. What is needed is qualified
candidates for employment in Robeson County education, no matter
what their race Teachers are hard to find period; no matter what their
color. The NAACP might have some possible solutions in this area We
hope so! I
!So. what we have so far is quite interesting! The Unified (sic)
NAACP Branch in Robeson County has sponsored a report damming the
public schools of Robeson County The president, Rev. Frank Bowden.
lives in Cumberland County and the report was written by a White fella. B
Monte Hill, out of Lumbcrton And the import uses a simple Black-White
"rationale to attempt to explains situation much more volatile than that
That equation, not truly factored in by Hill, is the Indian factor. How are .
you going to explain away the Indians? More next week.Right now. we
say. as the plot thickens, only in Robeson!
Lumbee Tribe's Spring Cultural
Festival to be held this weekend
- Lumbee Tribe's Annual Spring
Cultural Festival and Pow Wow will
be held at the Robeson County Fair*
grounds on HWY 41 April 26-28 th.
Thousands of visitors are expected
at the event to witness traditional eastern
and western Indian dances, crafts,
music and foods. The event is open to
the public.
Sponsored by Lumbee Regional
Development Association, the Spring
Festival is the Lumbee Tribe's way of
promoting Indian cultural and maintaining
its heritage, and share it with
the general public.
The event is also the tribe's contribution
to the promotion of the culture
and art forms of Robeson County,
which assists in attracting tourists and
industry to the region.
The festival also allows hundreds
of Indian artists to market and sell
authentic handmade crafts which include
fine basketry crafts, silver and
turquoise jewelry, stone cravings,
paintings and leather goods, just to
name a few.
Thepubliccan purchase these foods
and help expand and maintain a vital
economic element of tribal communities.
Spectators and visitors to the Spring
Festival will also observe traditional
Native American dances that predate
the arnval of Columbus.
Male dancers in elaborate dress of
eagle or hawk feathers will compete
for cash prizes in the traditional dance
divisions.
Women will compete for cash prizes
in leather, buckskin or cloth fringed
regalia. Children will also compete in
various dance categories
Over 25 tribes will be represented
at the event from across the cast coast
and several western states
The festival will run Friday night.
April 26-28th In the event of rain,
either day, will be moved indoors in
the fairground's exhibit hall on site.
James Hardin, Executive Director
of LRDA stated that "this is quickly
becoming one of the largest Native
American cultural festivals on the cast
coast and is an educational and fun
event that the whole family can enjoy."
The aftcrchurch festivities on Sunday
will also feature food vendors for
those who might want to have lunch
on the grounds and enjoy the afternoon
final rounds of the Indian dance
competitions.
For more information call 910521-8602
for trader and event schedule
information
Volunteer and become
part of a 50 year tradition
Fifty years ago when Lumbcc River
Electric Membership Corporation began
running power linea to its first
1.000 members, it wasn't unusual to
sec local farmers with their horses or
mules working sidc-hy-side with coop
employees. Often fatmers would
stop in the middle of their chores and
. volunteer their time and equipment to
help set poles and pull lines. It was this
i spirit of member involvement that provided
LREMC with the grass-root support
it needed to bring electric service
to rural North Carolinians.
Today. LREMC provides service
to more than 38,000 homes and busint
>cs along nearly 3,900 miles of
line. While members arc no longer
involved in erecting poles and lines,
their support is still vital to the success
of member and public awareness ac
tivities. You can support your co-op by
joining fellow members in the newly
formed Volunteer Committee.
Any man or woman interested in
volunteering time and talents to help
withLREMC activities is invited to an
Open House on May 2, at 10.00 a.m. at
the Red springs office on highway
211. Refreshments will be served and
volunteer opportunities explained.
If you need directions or would
like more information, please call
Volunteer Coordinator, Linda
Locklear, at 843-4131.
Lumbee River is a member owned,
not-for-profit, electric cooperative,
overseen by a board of directors elected
by the membership, serving 38,000
families and businesses in tnc Robeson,
Cumberland. Hoke and Scotland
counties.
North Carolina Consortium on Indian Education plans
Spring meeting
' 6 PLACE: PEMBROKE INDIAN
North Carolina Consortium on In- RESOURCE CENTER
dian Education WHEN: SATURDAY. MAY II
SPRING MEETING 1996
TIME: 9:30A M. til 12 (H) noon
Tuscarora
Nation to host
Pow Wow
The Tuscarora Nation of Maxton.
is will hold their annual pow wow on
May 17-19 at the pow wow grounds.
The gates will open on Friday. May 17
at 5 p.m. The Grand Entry will be at 7
p m.
On Saturday morning there will be
a parade in Maxton beginning at Jones
at 10:30a.m. Grand Entry on Saturday
will be at 12 p.m. There will be drumming.
singing, dancing and ticket
rafllcs. A gun will be raffled off on
Sunday evening
On Saturday evening there will be
entertainment by a blue grass group
beginning at 8 p.m.
On Sunday morning there wili be a
church service The Oxcndinc boys
will be singing grand entry will be at
12 p.m. There will be home cooked
barbecue, chicken, fry bread and many
other goodies
Everyone is welcome to attend The
price per person will be $2. Children
six and under arc free Senior citizens
will also be admitted free Day money
will be given to the dancers
Left to right: Melanie Locklear, president-elect; Rebecca Freeman, outgoing
president; TOm Squier, new president of Chi Sigma Iota and Dr. Sam
Gladding. (Photo by Frances D. Squier)
Tom Squier Installed as
Chi Sigma Iota President
The Phi Sigma Chapter Iota held
their spring banquet and induction
ceremony April 14th in the
Chancellor's Dining Room at Pembroke
State University. Chi Sigma lota
is the National Honor Society in Counseling
and Phi Sigma is the local chapter
at Pembroke State.
Chi Sigma lota is an international
academic and professional honor society
that was established in order to
promote scholarship, research, professionalism
and excellence in counseling.
and to recognize high attainment
in the pursuit of academic and
clinical excellence in counseling
Membership in Chi Sigma lota is open
to graduate students in counseling who
have a 3.5 grade point average or
higher with 9 hours completed in their
degree seeking program Pembroke
State University offers Masters in
Counseling degrees in School Counseling
and in Service Agency Counseling.
New members inducted included:
Pamela Bradley. Melanie Locklcar.
Leah McCallum. Wendy Paroli. Karla
Shinncrs. Mary Helen Walker, Miriam
Williams. Tina Wolford. Lisa Godwin.
Judith Ivory, Sherry Reaves and Caryl
Waits Hoke County Veterans Service
Officer Tom Squicr was installed as
President for the 1996-97 academic
year and Melanie Locklcar as President-elect
by Professor Deb Preston of
%
Pembroke State's Psychology Department
and faculty advisor to Chi Sigma
Iota's Phi Sigma chapter. Locklear is
the former director of the Palmer Drug
Abuse Program centers in Pembroke
and Lumberton.
Speaker for the banquet was Dr.,
Sam Gladding, himself a past president
of Chi Sigma Iota and a professor
at Wake Forest University. Dr.
Gladding is the author of several books
on counseling including a textbook
called Counseling: A Comprehensive
Profession. He spoke on "Creativity in
Counseling." comparing counseling
to the arts
"Creativity is the essence of counseling
and at the heart of counseling."
he remarked "What is neede is the
novel, not bookish response to the
client and the problem, something new
and something different." Each client
is different and must be dealt with as
an individual according to his views
"Creativity lets us see that the whole
thing may be serious, but it.s not hopeless!
We have to affirm people's
uniqueness as individuals, yet confirm
their connectedness to the universe
and other human beings around them "
Local counselors and other individuals
interested in Chi Sigma Iota
can obtain more information from Dr.
Preston, Psychology Department.
Pcmbroks State University. Pembroke.
N C. 28372 OR BY CALLING
(910)521-6240
Benefit gospel
sing planned
A benefit singing for Bro. Jerry
Bcthea will be held Saturday,
April 27, at 7 p.m. at Prospect
School in the gym. The sing will
feather the Pierce Family, the
Tylers, and the Blood Bought
Quartet. Refreshments will be
sold. The sing is being sponsored
by Friendship Missionary Baptist
Church
Gov. Hunt appoints
two to Rural
Electrification
Authority
RALEIGH-Gov Jim Hunt appointed
Alice E Wilson of Tarboro
and Harrelton Woodell of Pembroke
af Pembroke to the N.C.Rural Electrification
Authority. Each will serve a
four-year term
The authority is responsible for securing
electrical and telephone service
for rural areas of the state The
governor appoints all five members of
the board
Wilson is the president and bookkeeper
for A E. Wilson.Inc., and Samco
Gas.Inc. She has served as the chairman
of Edgecombe County Farm City
Week Chairman and the president of
Edgecombe County Democratic
Women
Woodell is the president and chief
executive officer of L A W Line
Company.lnc.. a minority cooperation
owned and managed by Lumbcc Indians
He graduated from Robeson Technical
College
Correction
In iasl week's edition of the
Carolina Indian Voice, the ad for
Rep Ronnie Sutton incorrectly
identified .< him as the
Representative for District 87. In
fact. Rep Sutton represents
District 85 and has never
rcprcscntatcd District 87. That
District is represented by Rep.
Frances M Cummings. Our
apologies to Rep. Sutton.