Along the Robeson Trail
by Dr. Stan Knick, Director- UNC-P Native American Resource Center
Another contemporary issue
which faces the Lumbee and other
Native Americans is inter-tribal
rivalry. This competition, and
sometimes outright conflict, between
tribes or nations of Indians is nothing
new. It can be seen extending back for
hundreds, if not thousands, of years.
Indian legends tell us of very old
rivalries which go back farther than
anyone can remember. Some of the
earliest written records about Native
Americans describe what must have
been traditional rivalries between
groups (for example, North Carolina
Algonkian-speakers versus Iroquoianspeakers
in 1586).
It is easy to see how inter-tribal
rivalries developed. In some ways, it
was advantageous to individual tribes
(and their leaders) to perpetuate
rivalries with others as a means of
strengthening tribal identity, or
claims to certain lands or hunting
rights.
Some rivalries evolved as a result
of ancient political struggles and
warfare. Others came about as a
consequence of economics, such as
the desire to control trade relations
(for example, the Occaneechi of the
Carolina Piedmont controlled the trade
route between the mountains and the
coast, placing them in a crossfire
rivalry between the Cherokee and
Tuscarora).
Some rivalries were clearly
worsened by the coming of Europeansponsored
wars. For example, when
the Cheraw and Catawba were
employed by the colonists to fight
against the Tuscarora during the
Tuscarora War, it didn't exactly get
rid of their old animosities.
There arc plenty of modern
examples. A meeting held not too
long ago in Brazil, when several tribes
gathered to protest construction of a
dam and power plant on the Xingu
River, is a good case-in-poinL Just
before the confrontation with the power
company representatives, as the
leaders of the various tribes talked
over their strategy for the day, the
chief of one tribe (Kayapo) said to the
chiefs of the other tribes: "I'm glad
that you others could be with us today,
so that you can leam how we real
Indians handle these whites." The
facial expressions of the other chiefs
made it clear that the rivalry between
the tribes, articulated by the Kayapo
chief, was deeply felt by folks on all
sides.
Sometimes these inter-tribal
rivalries are handled pretty well by
both parties. In some instances, there
iseven occasion for humor. Chippewa
people continue to remind the Lakota
that when the Chippewa chased the
Lakota out of the Woodlands and onto
the Plains they were just getting a head
start on the federal relocation
program! The Lakota reply is often
that anything would be better than
living in Minnesota!
At other times, old rivalries
between tribes or nations are used to
the advantage of outsiders. This seems
to be the case in the on-going NavajoHopi
case, and may also be true in the
historic Lumbee-Cherokee and
Lumbee-Tuscarora differences. Old
rivalries usually serve only to divide
the few resources which Native
Americans have, making them easier
to control by outside interests such
as big business, politics and
governmental institutions.
Despite the fact that inter-tribal
rivalries may have bad some
advantages in earlier times, and that
they grew out of unavoidable
historical and cultural processes,
nowadays they have become almost
entirely disadvantageous to Lumbees
and other Native people. Who wins
these intcr-tribal rivalries? Not the
Indians.
In the next segment we will
discuss more contemporary issues
which face the Lumbee today, as we
move toward situating the Lumbee in
context. For more information, visit
the Native American Resource Center
in historic Old Main Building, on the
campus of The University of North
Carolina at Pembroke.
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C N
From the Office
of the
Superintendent
by Dr. Barry Harding
V
A- I'.HX draws to a close I thought
ili.it I'm* ought be a good tune to update
everyone on the status of construction
in our school sv stent It of course has
been some lime since voters across the
state approved the referendum which
resulted in the as ailabihtv of $64M for
construction and renovation of facilities
in our svstciti While actual needs
amounted to a great deal more than
that that figure allowed to us to get
started on some of the more important
projects
It is hoped that the first major project
- at Fairmont Middle School - will be
reads for occupancv bv the end of
January That project called for the
construction of a new classroom building
to replace the old 2 storv building
which was original!) butll 7(? years
ago in 1^22 with some renovation
done to it in 1940 In addition to
classrooms, the building also houses
the school's auditorium Needless to
sa>. it has outlived its usefulness and
the 540 students in grades 5-X who
attend the school will be much better
served bv the replacement facility
When the students are able to occupy
the new building. the 2 storv building
and the agriculture shop will be loin
dow n
llic next project to get underway
will bs work at Prospect Bids wcic
opened just recently and. aftci approv
al bv the BoardofHducalion wInch
has scheduled to take place at its Januarv
meeting construction, hopefully
will gel undcrwav bv mid February
That project will consist of a twelve
classroom addition as well as certain
rcnov aliens. The const ruct ion of those
classrooms will allow the removal of
the twelve mobile units which are currently
being used toacconnnodalesouie
of the 1~"> students ranging from prek
to eight grade who attend the school
Currently in the schematic design
phtise ,iie the other two major projects
thai nave been given priority bv the
Board They include a complete renovation
ol existing 2 siory building ai
Red Springs Middle School along
with the construction of 6 additional
clas<>r<Hiinsut the school vv hich house
5(?j student s i n grades 5-X The hi i i Iding
gelling the lion's share of attention
was built in 1925 and is thus one
of the oldest buildings in use in our
school system Wc hope to open bids
for the project in June with construction
to follow shortl) thereafter
The other major project scheduled
to get underway is the building
of a new wing at Lumbcrton Senior
High School The wing will be designed
to accommodate the 600 ninth
graders who currently attend Lunt
bcrton Junior High School When
completed I. umbei ton Senior will
then join ihcoiher five high schools
in our svslem ;is a Tour scar high
school Up until then it has been the
onl> high'sehool in the counts which
onl) had three sears of high school
beginning ssith the tenth grade li
s\ ill also bring about a realignment
of grades at Lumberton Junior High
which then allow u to become a
middle school The opening of bids
for the high school project is scheduled
for June of IW) ssith occiipancs
hopefully taking place in
August i>f the scar 2.0t)ti That would
Ik in time for the beginning of that
school sear
Ol the (>4M in bond niones availablc
to u> the four projects which I
listed will account for S25M Another
fib'NI has been allocated for
critical needs projects While the
School Board has approscd a list of
those needs, u remains for them to
approve contracts to take care of
them and I expect that to take place
shortls When that has been done, sve
will still hasc approximated S2WM
left for other projects which will be
considered during the next few
months (l_
As I've s.nd before wlulc ?u>4M
sounds like an awful lot of utoncs and
it is - the number of schools that
we liasc that need attention paid to
litem for their condition is such that
S<>4\l represents onl> about a quarter
of what we actually need A survev
made bv the consultant group which
we cmploved shorilv alter the bond
referendum indicated that what we
could acluallv use is S2,WA1 It has
been a mailer of setting priorities in
order to make the best use of the nionev
available I believe we've done that bv
the decisions made Further decision1
will, doubtless, be afTecied b> incsitablc
grade lesel realignment at some
of our sehools Whatever we do when
the times comes, sou mas rest assured
it st ill be done w ith the best interests of
our children in mind
|^BT-800-we prevent^B
Pediatric Pointers
Bv Joseph T Bell
Tobacco lias Ion.1 been used bv
Name Americaus in .aiioo^ fonns
and forsariousrclyu: mimicspasi.
lobacco and its used in
Native ceremonies 'an.! iniinls Sonic
of these practices arc \iill bouiji carried
on todav
Unfortunatcl). most tobacco use
todav is in for.in ol cicorac habitual
cigarette smoking is i'i<. single Tnbo^
prev entable cause of di >ease a nd death
in the U,S. todav Ibis week v\c will
discuss children exposed iosidcsl ream
and second-hand eigarcl te smoke. Tltis
involunlarv. or "passive" shioking increases
a child's risk ofhav ing serious
respirator) illnesses Almost 5(l"? of
all children are exposed to cigarette
smoke bv at leasi one adult smoker at
"home"
, Children who ate e xposed to passive
smoke have a lower respiratory
infect ions including pneumonias and
bronchitis The livqneiicx of respirator)
problems ii-sulling front these
exposures caiisi. mort tlisabihi) da\s
for these children and more enrol
work davs for their parents Children
exposed lo smoke also have more freM.
"
quent and longer hospitalizations lot
these problems n- well as liiglui ov erall
denilt rates
Cliildicu whose patents smoke also
have long-term effects. including decreased
lung function compared with
children of nonsmoking parents Tliev
have more chronic respirators symptoins.
especialh persistent whcc/ing.
mid :u^nnre |ikcl> to develop asthma
Passive tobacco smoke is associated
with more chronic car infections, and
children exposed to a parent's smoke
also arc at greater risk of becoming
smokers themselves
M\ advice to parents is to trv not to
smoke in anv enclosed area that kids
niav be in. This includes tlie home and
cars It's not good enough to smoke in
a separate room wilh the door closed,
smoke wilt go under the door andjmd
its wax intocverv room in the house H
vowmiisl smoke. it won Id be best forihe
health of tour children to always step
outside before lighting up
Don't forget that if von have aiiv
topics >011 would like nic to discuss 01
(|iicslions answered write me at PO
Box torn Pembroke. NC 2X172 Take
eare and we w ill talk again next week!
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