X Ti CAROLINA INDIAN VOICE
shed each Thursday by First American Publications, Pembroke, NC
^ t)l. UME 24 A i THURSDAY, JA\l'AR) 16, / 99 7 TWENTY-FIVE CENTS %
Lumbee EMC Announces Rate
Reduction oj up to 8 Percent on Electric Bills
neaspnngs-H waswcicomc news,
indeed! as Lumbcc River Electric
Membership Corporation's General
Manager, Ronnie E Hunt, anf
nounced that the co-op's board of
directors is cutting electric bills of
; member-consumers, in some eases
by as much as 8% Hunt released the
i good news at a press conference held
at the corporate headquarters here on
!; January 13.. 1997. Hunt issued the
following statement "
j'. "Due to a number of factors, the
board of directors of Lumbcc River
- 1 EMC have been able to cut the elcc|
trie bills of its member-consumersby
J as much as 8% in some eases. The
t; rate reduction will be reflected on
i* ! electric bills sent out in February
?! ' The lower rate came about, in part.
- because the North Carolina Electric
* ^ Membership Corporation, which
$ > purchases power on behalf of 21 of
?j the electric co-ops in the stale, has
negotiated several new power con;
tracts recently which, will result in
* lowerwholesalepowercostsoverthe
' next several years. Lumbcc River
EMC will pass some of those savings
? , jon the our membership.
i 1 a'so wanl 10our employ*
' <
?;;! > ..
ccs lorUicir cilicient delivery of services
lo our member-consumers
Lumbcc River EMC's w orkforce continues
to provide reliable, safe and
affordable electric service to our
membership with a lean but productive
team of approximately 100 employees.
Our member-consumers
have also payed a pivotal role by
being very conscious of their energy
usage; they have participated in several
of our marketing programs such
as load management which have substanlially
reduced our peak load
Lumbcc River EMC has also experienced
a tremendous bust of economic
growth, adding thousands of members
to our serv ice area in the last few
years. The rate reduction is due to all
these factors, and is the good and
positive side of deregulation which is
now sweeping through the industry
The-rale reductions also reflects the
sound, financial condition of our
cooperative and the wise leadership
of our board of directors and staff
"The 8% reduction follows a
wholesale power cost adjustment'
which resulted in savings of $20 per1
1000 KWH usage in the form of
credits on December 19% electric
A -m~ -rn -rn -m mm m
bills, and a 4.5 percent reduction in
June of 1996 In the last few months,
the co-op's member-consumers have
received as much as 12.5 percent in
savings, as well as the credit of $20
per 10000 K WH usage in December.
The future docs, indeed, look bright
for Luntbec River EMC."
Mr. Hunt expressed excitement
about the recent savings to the members.
but added, "Change is coming
to the electric industry Electric utilities
arc moving into a competitive
marketplace, driven by consumer
demands for services at lower prices
Luntbec River EMC's number one
priority is service, and our future in a
competitive environment will have
to center around our ability to meet
the changing needs of our memberowners
Bcinga local non-profit electric
cooperative gives us a definite
advantage, because we live. work,
worship, and play in the communities
we serve, and understand their
needs. After all, here at LREMC our
bosses drop in every day. The cooperative
is proud to be a good neighbor.
and continues to return wages,
taxes, local purchases and system
improvements to the communities it
serves."
-m -m
Union Chapel School Princess ^
The 1996-97 Union Chapel Elementary School Princess is Adrianna
Lock/ear. She Ls the daughter of William K. Lockelar and the late
Gertrude Oxendine Locklear who taught at Piney Grove School.
Aderianna is a kindergarten student of Mrs. Penny Blaine's class.
She is the.granddaughter of the late Larce Oxendine and Trudy Lee
Oxendine, Billy Ray Locklear and Lucy Dial Locklear. She is also the
great granddaughter of the late Mr. and Mrs Daniel Dockery Oxendine.
She is appreciative of the support shown to her and extends a special
^tanl^to^IrsBerneatha Lockelar. y
Quarterly Singing of
Baptist Association
to be held Sunday
The Burnt Swamp Baptist
Association's Quarterly Singing w ill
be held Sunday. January 19. at 3:00
p.m. atRccdy Branch Baptist Church
All church groups, quartets and other
singers are encouraged io attend and
participate in the singing. The publicis
cordially invited to attend
Dial Family
Reunion to be Held
The Dcsecendants of Wcldon and
Jennie Dial will gather on March 29,
1997 (Easter weekend) from 12-5 at
the North Carolina Indian Cultural
Center. Pembroke
Everyone is encouraged to bring a
covered dish, family photographs,
family Bibles, etc. For more information
contact Nora Dial-Stanley at
910-924-2867 or Kathan Locklcar at
910-521-2048.
* *
All changes, even the nnra
most longed for, have their
iieliuieholy, for what we leave
heliind us is a pari of ourselves;
we must die to one life before
we ean enter into another.
?Anatole France
1 ribal Council to hold tederal
; Recognition Summit in Pembroke
by Ruth B. Lock!ear
Pembroke-On January 25th,
Tribal Chairman Dalton P Brooks,
will be hosting a tribal summit on
, federal recognition in the 105thCongress.
The Summit is open to the
public and all Lumbcc people arc
encouraged to attend.
The summit will be held at Moore
Hall, UNC-P, beginning at 9 a.m.
Lunch will be available for those
attending at the University cafeteria
and local restaurants.
Lumbee people will have an opportunity
to hear Congressman Mike
Mclntyrc and Mr. Michael Anderson,
Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington,
D C. speak on tribal recognition
concerns. Also speaking: Arlinda
Locklear, attorney for the tribal council.
Leon Jacobs, tribal administrator
for the Maskentuckt Pcquot and
Cynthia Hunt, Director of the Indian
Law Unit of Lumbec River Legal
Services.
The Conference will begin with a
review of the lumbec struggle for
tribal recogntiion. During that lime,
Locktcar will be giving a detailed
review of tch Lumbec Bill previously
passed intheTJ.s. Houscof Representatives.
...
Next on the agenda Will be a review
of remedies available to the
Lumbec all options, including special
legislation through the Congress,
petitioning the Bureau of Indian Affairs,
and relief through the courts
will be carefully examined. This will
include a discussion on the possibility
of tribal recognition through Executive
Order of the President.
aiso on tne agenda is a discussion
of supporters and opponents of trbal
recognition. IN tihs segment of htc
program the summit will be examining
arguments advanced on Capitol
Hill and in Indian country for and
against the tribal recognition of the
Lumbce.
THroughout the event, there will
be opportunity for questions and comments
"1 believe," said Chairman
Brooks,"our people need to hear this
discussion and they need to be involved
in shaping the direction our
tribal governmcntwillpursucin tribal
recognition.
"The Lumbce community needs
to work together on tribal recognition
and this is a step in the right
direction," said Dr. Brooks.-"Wecan
an.d should work together in tribal
recognition for it concerns all Lumbcc
people.
Tribute to Chief Tom Carter
by John "Tall Bird" Marshall
Thc'LivingLcgcnd" is no longer
living among us. However, his presence
will still be fell in the daily
spiritual realm of many for years to
come Chief Tom N. "Standing
Deer" Carter departed this Earth,
joining our Creator, on Tuesday.
January 7, 1997.
My heartfelt prayers go out to the
Carter and LocklcarFamilicsasthcy
Ica rn t o cope wi t h t he ahscnee of lhci r
beloved Chief Tom.
The day of his funeral was extremely
windy. The chill factor must
have been in the twenties. Yet. the
sun had been shining brilliantly all
day. as it seemed to dodge occasional
white, puffy clouds in the blue sky
above.
The day w as coming to a close as
1 left the cemetery on my return trip
home to Rocky Mount As I was
diving down Highway 421 1 felt the
warmth of the sun on my face. As I
turned my head in that direction, my
eyes bchcldjhc most beautiful sunset
It was a brilliant, yellowish-orange
silhouetting the rolling hills,
leafless trees, and occasional pines
The beauty and peace 1 felt at that
moment is beyond words. I raised my
right hand, palm open, towards the
sun. i could feel the sun reaching out
- touching my hand. I began to pray
and then reminiscence of the day's
activities and conversations It was
difficult to lake my eycsolTlhc sunset
as I drove down the highway
I then noticed a hawk flving above
A
the tree tops in the direction of the
sunset. I thought about the hawk as it
flew towards the sun. It was probably
closing out the day as it was returning
to the roost . The haw k was a good
sign 1, immediately, put together the
spiritual-felt moment, the meaning
of the sunset, and the hawk. The
thought came to me-what a beautiful
closingforabeautifuldayf And then...
what a beautiful closing of the life of
a real warrior, ChiefTom! As the day
closed, so did the life of a Brother. It
all seemed so proper and fitting.
Instead of sadness. I felt warmth in
nty heart
As my Native American traditional
values merged with my Christian
values, I began to think of what
death really means As a Christian. I
believe that death is not the end of
life, but the beginning. ChiefTom
also believed this. Yet. as Native
American Brothers and Sisters, we
will continue to feel his presence in - *
the dance and sacred Tire circles for
many years to come As we enter the
circle, we step and dance in Chief
Tom's footprints forever more
Chief Tom. we will all miss you
greatly. You meant so much to so
many that words could never express
our gratitude for being the person
that vou were Go in peace rnv friend.
AHO!
The funeral service was truly beautiful
and was planned by ChiefTom
himself. Funeral Serv ices were conducted
on Friday. January 10. 1997
at 3:00 P.M. at the "New Bethel
Baptist Church" in the small country
community ofKitty Fork, North Carolina.
The order of the service included
Tony Clark - Flute Processional.
D rum. and Song. Ray "Little Turtlc"
- Remarks. Gaye Cuslung - Poem.
Coharic River Boys Quartet - Singing
"Going Home" and "It Is Well";
Rev. Hubbard Lowcry - Scripture;
Rev. Mike Cummings with a Message;
and special comments by VFW
Post Chaplin. Archie Oxendinc
Graveside committal included gun
salute, blowing of the eagle whistle
by Ray "Little Turtle", comments
and prayer by Rev. Hubbard Lowcry.
presentation of American Flag to the
Carter Family, and the blessing of
the grounds and casket by numerous
friends using the sacred tobacco
Pall Bearers were; Floyd Carter.
Percy A. Carter. Kent N. Jacobs, Rex
Bell. Glenn Carter. Donald Carter.
Darrcll Carter, and Travis Bryant
Honorary Pall Bearers were; Mark
"Gray Eagle" Lysin. John "Tall
Bird" Marshall. Lonnic Ret els. Jr.
Chief Joel Bass. Brian Post. Bruce
Jones. Dr Sampson Buie. and Buck
McCullcn.
Chief Tom's personal motto w as:
"Worship The Creator And Serve
His People"
Until wc meet you on the other
side. AHO to you Chief Tom. 1. for
one. will continue to worship our
Creator, and serve our People the
best 1 know how. Thank you Chief
Tom Thank you so very much!!
f Reflections 1
i |i L . , by Alta Nye Oxendine
' -4 Happy New Year!
I still attend "First Methodist"
when I'm not at Branch Street UMC
with Byron and his parents. On the
Sunday after New Year's Pastor Ray
Brooks gave a good sermon on reso'
! lutions. As he pointed out, we can
; I simplify the process of making New
; Year's resolutions by limiting them
; to one: Resolve to worship God (as
i the wise men worshipped the baby
, ;! Jesus) each day during the coming
. I year.
> If you and 1 were to do this EVI
; ERY DAY during 1997,. God could
! 1 ! gladly give us the guidance we need.
; 1 ONE DAY AT A TIME!
Gordon's Birthday
;! : t During an enjoyable telephone
i conversation with my brother Stan
(who is beginning to accept the death
of his wife last year), he asked: "Did
| you realize you just called Byron
! } 'Gordon'?" This keeps happening. In
j fact, even though he looks like the
i{ Hunt family, he seems to remind his
| mother and mc more of Gordon as
; time goes by. Once lately I also found
myself referring to Gordon as
! ; ."Byron." Reminds mc of the way 1
! used to go through the entire family
(including Leon) before I got to the
J name of the child whose attention I
j' was trying to get Now I'm able to
t! laugh at myself when my mind plays
; ' such tricks!
1;! Over the holidays most of our
,, immediate family was under the
| weather with coughs, etc (I was fij
nally diagnosed with bronchitis )
_ * 1
Wanda Kay had a series of tests
showing a nuriibcr of allergies, like
her Grandma Oxendinc and older
brother, Donny
Gordon's birthday (like Donny's
in June) passed by without much
time for me to think about my third
child. It's almost IMPOSSIBLE to
believe my "baby" would have turned
32 on December 28. Or that this
coming June Donny (my first) would
have celebrated his 37th! That's almost
as old as I was (39) when 1
decided I could start over on my next
birthday. "Life begins at 40" was a
common saying when I was growing
up
Wurniriff
After describing "papers" as some
of Byron's favorite playthings in a
recent column, perhaps I need to give
a warning. Besides the temptation to
"eat" pieces of pa per and the possibility
of such paper products gathering
germs (as well as dust) over time, it
seems that sonic paper products (like
newspapcrs can cause allergic reactions
for people who arc allergyprone
Along with boxes, we have been
giving Byron plastic containers we
already had on hand to play with He
especially likes little plastic baskets
to put other toys in. Plastic has the
advantage of being washable.
Byron'sbig box (shown ina recent
column) has nowbwin replaced with
his own little bright-colored plastic
writing table Oneof my next projects
will be to help him learn to "draw"
and "write" on clean, blank sheets of
paper (hopefully in place of walls,
etc. ). Of course he was interested in
the box that his table came in
1 plan to continue cutting pictures
out of magazines and putting them
uparound the living roomand kitchen
for him to enjoy. But to CHANGE
them ore often. Displaying pictures
where he could see them is sonicthing
I've been doing ever since I
started baby-sitting with him. Byron
really gets excited about the pretty
baby and animal pictures I find in
newspapers and magazines. Over the
holidays I put up Christmas scenes
for him to look at
As I sad before, such " "playthings'
cost us absolutely NOTHING!
\
Carnell
Wins Again
Cornell l.ocklcar, local entertainer,
recently participated
in theElvix Preseiy impersonations
contest held at Higg Park
Mall.
l.ocklcar won the "host
moves" under age IH. He performed
Elvis' "That'sMi Right,
Mama." and was awarded a
Iliac Suede Shoes Clock and a
limited edition Elivs Presley
alhum of Elivs' hest songs.
l.ocklcar said it was an exciting
contest and he enjoyed every
moment of it; "and met some
really nice folks."
V -d
{trailing in tin- work of the alert iniinl, in demanding ami under
i'1 ideal condition* proiluri'H finally a *nrl of rr?l?Hy. 'I hi* give* the
Zi ! experience of muling a suhliinilv anil power unripinled hy any
other form of roinniunii'iilion.
|;!| ?K.B. White
J; J Ah to inornl courage, I have rarely met the two o'clock in the
morning kind. I mean unprepared courage, lluit which i? necew*nry
on an nnex|H'cteil ocru*inn, anil which, in *pilc of the iiiohI
' ! Onforcsccn event*, leave* full freedom of judgment and deciaion.
?Nnpolean Itonaparle
* ? *
I
lie that leaveth nothing to chanee will do few thingH ill, hut he
will do very few thing*.
1 ?CJenrge, l.ord Halifax
I
i
Tlirrr nrr *01111* im*n wlio IilI tin* uur lli?'> inliiiliit. IilI nil lurn
walk on lii^lior uronml in llnil lifVliiiM*. ,
? !V1ii\ni*ll AniliTHon
Tin* opinion* wliirli *c liolil of our nnntlirr. otir relation* witli
fiiinii* mill kinfnik ore in no uriiar permanent, mivi' ill npprnrimre,
(nil are n? eteriinll) lluiil n* I)?? urn it*rlf.
?Mnrrrl I'rounl
Congressman Mclntyre Named
to Transportation Task Force
Washington, I). ('.?Congressman
Mike Mclnlyrc (D-7ih) has been
named lo a special Task Force on
Transportation and Infrastructure
"Thiskey appointment will allow me
(he opportunity to push for legislative
changes that will return more
money to North Carolina's higlm ay s.
infnisiructurc. and beaches." The task
force hasbccn set up by the Blue Dog
Democratic Coalition. One
of the priorities for the 10th
Congress will be to rewrite the
nation's highway law known as the
Intcrnodal Surface Transportation
and Efficiency Act (1STEA). 1STF.A
sets general transportation policy and
authori/.cs funding for road and
bridge projects In addressing one of
the short comingsfif the ISTHA regulations.
Melntyre noted. "Many
states, including North Carolina, do
not receive an adequate return on the
money their citizens pas into the
National Highway Trust Fund under
the current 1STEA formulas I will
work feverishly to rectify this situation
" Yesterday Mclnlyre's office
met with state transportation officials
regarding several North Carolina
transportation concerns
North Carolina currently averages
an K2% return annually from
every dollar in highway user fees
paid for by the traveling public, with
that figure dipping to 76% in 1995
"The Blue Dog Coalition will have a
big say in how the ISTEA laws arc re- *
w ritten and I will urge this task Force
to insist that states like North Carolina
receive at least a 95% return on
their transportation contribution I
w ill also work to provide states more
flexibility from government regulations
in allocating that money This
w ill mean an additional tens of millions
of dollars each year that North
Carolina is free to use to respond to
specific state and local surface transportation
needs "
Mclntyrc also stressed that he will
work with the Task Force, the appropriate
Committees of Congress and
with Federal officials to ensure that
North Carolina's beaches arc properly
re-nourished following the destruction
left from Hurricanes Bertha
and Fran "Out beautiful beaches
arc not only a national treasure but
arc also critical to our economic development
We must restore thcin to
their beautiful conditions and I will
work to that end "