Editorial and Opinion Page Along the Robeson TraJT by Dr. Stanley Knick 0 Director, UKCP Native American Resource Center J Iii the post few weeks, we have been discussing the Lumbce in context. We have seen that situating the Lumbce in a broad context requires us to think about a lot of different things, including the process of how we think. How might an anthropological perspective fit in this study of Lumbee context? Anthropology is the study of human beings in all their diversity. As an academic discipline it bridges between science and the humanities. In some ways it is the science of humanity. It aims to make sense of human beings by looking at them holistically ? from biological, mental, social, cultural, historical and other perspectives. It listens to the sometimes cryptic voices of human nature ? hearing the patterns of hidden tones in human life ? to understand the meanings of the human animal. At its best anthropology is analogous to looking at the world through both eyes instead of with one eye. Just as the use of both eyes affords a measure of depth perception much greater than docs the use of only one eye, so should the study of human beings from various angles afford a kind of depth perception ? an important part of context. This depth perception in the study of human beings should permit a more profound understanding of human history and culture than could the study of the same subject matter from any single perspective or using any single realm of evidence. Thus anthropology must be concerned with pulling together context from various sources. Conventionally, anthropology as a discipline has approached the study of human beings from four main subficlds: archaeology or prehistory; physical or biological anthropology; cultural anthropology; and linguistics. When anthropology began, this division of the task made a kind of sense as a way to martial the many students and scholars of anthropology atid the many studies of the many aspects of the many peoples of the world. Somewhere along ihc line there was supposed to be a synthesis of information gathered in these four subficlds, and the result was going to be a spectacular revelation of the nature of human beings as a whole. But the ideal often does not match well with the real. In many cases, as Lance Hogben said, anthropology has studied man one cell at a time and made nothing of him. Neither has anthropology always been successful in its attempts to understand Native Americans in particular. Thus in many Native American communities, "the anthros" are seen at best as a nuisance, and at worst as cultural pirates. Floyd Westerman's great song "Here Come The Anthros" is an apt summary of the perspective of many Native Americans. That view is not without foundation, since all too often anthropologists (and other researchers) have spent too little lime with too few members of Native American communities, coming away with a superficial appreciation of the subtleties of history and culture. The fact that most anthropology of Native America has been done by non-Native people has not made things any belter. Part of anthropology's paradox is that while it aims to study everything about human beings ? their broadest possible context ? it is faced with the virtual impossibility of collecting all the human evidence into one place. Thus for all its ambitious goals, anthropology is confronted with the limiting reality that the topic in hand is huge. So, certain limitations corresponding to available lime and energy have to be set on any anthropological study of human culture and history. What results is clearly not a view of everything. What results instead is a partial view from as many directions as can be manajged. Study of the Lumbcc in context must be limited as well. Material from various realms of evidence can be examined: prehistory; history; contemporary culture and issues; ? health; governmental relations and so on. Sometimes the evidence cuts across or overlaps from one realm to another, or implies evidence from yet other realms (i.e., epidemiology, historiography,etc.). Butsomerealms of evidence have to be left out. One part of the hypothetical total analysis which can be excluded concerns the genetics of the Lumbee. This does not seem to me to be a major shortcoming in an analysis of the history and culture of a people, since genes do not a culture make. Franz Boas, the father of American anthropology, told us that cultural things must have cultural explanations. A French infant taken at birth from France to Ireland would always have the genes of her French ancestors. But if she were raised and embraced exclusively by Irish parents in an entirely Irish culture, in every other way (language, beliefs, attitudes, behaviors, etc.) she would be culturally Irish when she became an adult. Similarly, details of the genetics of the Lumbee are less important to an understanding of their context than is the evidence relating to historical and cultural realms. The role of anthropology in an attempt to situate the Lumbee in context is only to serve as a guiding principle. Wherever evidence from diverse sources can be synthesized, it ought to be. Wherever the Lumbee can be viewed holislically, they ought to be. Wherever the methods of science and the humanities can fruitfully be merged in the analysis, they ought to be. And wherever an interpretation at the level of understanding can be reached, by stepping from bits of knowledge to patterns of wisdom and beyond, it ought to be. In the attempt to sec the Lumbee in context, understanding is the goal. For more information, visit the Native American Resource Center in historic Old Main Buikling, on the campus of The University of North Carolina at Pembroke. (it . . Say you read it in Carolina Indian Voice. To subscribe call 521-2826 i I Former Leader of Indian Housing Asks for Unification of Tribe Dear Editor 1 sent the following Memorandum to the Lumbce Tribal Council and to Lunibee Regional Development Association As a member of the Lumbce Tribe, 1 also wish to share my thoughts with the readers of the Carolina Indian Voice I just recently returned from the Annual Lumbce Homecoming w hich was sponsored by LRDA Seeing so many fellow Tribal Members coming together to celebrate our heritage. culture and spiritual blessings was extremely pleasing. My happiness and spirit of celebration, however. was constantly dampened by the know ledge that we as a Tribc are far from being unified In fact, we are more divided now than I have ever seen in my many years of living on MothcrEarth You.ladicsandgentlemen. arc in a position to do something about this division that scents to dominate our present existence To disregard our heritage and culture by taking a Tribal dispute outside the Tribc and into a foreign court represents a total lack of respect for Tribal traditions, and for our hopes for restoration ofTribal Culture, and is an outrageous disrespect of our ancestors. The good news that for the first time in contemporary history the Lumbce as a Tribe was included in a federal law for an appropriation of funds, w ith little discussion of recog nition The fact is, the Lunibce Tribe is missing out on a lot of funds on an annual basis which would support Education, Health, Social Services. Transportation, Housing and many other areas of need due to the fact that we arc in a stalled position on the most important issue that wc should be focused on. that is Federal Recognition1 To be treated the same as all other Native Americans is my only hope before I pass on to the Great Spirit Ladies and gentlemen you control that possibility! But as long as you keep up our fight for selfish control rather than.focusing on the most important issue. l ean not hope to sec Federal Recognition in my life time Please be assbrcd tat this angers me very much! The fact that Lumbec (and the other three Tribes who come under the umbrella under the N.C Stale Indian Housing Authority) was grandfathered in the Native American Housingand Self Determination and Assistance Act of 1996 sends a clear message that Lumbccs arc Native Americans. If you want to fight an issue in a foreign court, why not fight the issue of the Bureau of Indian Affairs discriminating against many Tribal Members while providing selective services to only a few of our Tribal Members. Lumbee would never have been included in the NAHASHAG had the Indian Commission not insisted the Charlie Rose fight the battle for the approval of N C State Indian Housing Authority. The resistance argued that we have Pembroke and Robeson County Housing Authorities. therefore there was no need for N.C. State. They failed to sc? by 4W97 rtvou ?p*c?t bar* itauad e*ac*t ?+?* HUM ad M An mmfW advanra on yO?r arcnurrt Rabat** timml by KV31/H7 CormA yr># t?? arfrxnr nt^oofmg t*t? daductfAty o# Av*4*M* to OA MO and fiC raatdanM orfy Property inouranc? rarMrad Ofa? and* &it/9T Marr^tp fO>C "i Singletary s Pour House \ Ceramic Studio \ " \ I *Free Classes * Design Your Own Arrangements * Native American Pieces s *Greenware or Gifts itladenhoro, NC ^ 910-6910 j