< > Editorial And Opinion Page ^ ^/ AS I SEE IT Bruce Barton Lumbee Self Determination Panel making stead) progress I admit that I used to smirk from time to time in the beginning when I paused and considered the worth ofa Lumbee Self Determination Panel put in place by a White. Conservative Republican Judge, but I am being won over by "the stead) progress of the legitimate and decent Lumbee who make up the 39 member bod). The panel is led b\ Jim Lowry. a Robeson native now living in Guilford Count) where he owns a car dealership or two. He is slow to anger, and is a reconciler of the first order. LowTy is doing reasonably well in leading the panel that was put in place by Superior Court Judge Howard Manning to decide whether or not the Lumbee people want a tribal government; and. if they do. what kind of government do they want and how can it be put in place? Manning entered the fray between LRDA (Lumbee Regional Development Association) and the Lumbee Tribal Council and created the panel by court order when the Indians could not agree and began to sue and counter sue in his state court. On reflection, it might be the answer to a dilemma that has haunted the Lumbee people for decades. For instance, in the 30s the Indian people in Robeson County suffered an internecine feud between two factions; one led by the late Indian activist Joe Brooks and another by Rev. D.F. Lowry. The split in the Indian ranks was never healed and continues until today. I believe the panel is earning the Lumbee people's trust. I support the collective effort of the panel and ask our readership to give them the benefit of the doubt. The alternative ismore feuding and fighting amongst ourselves. by Bruce Barton Kansas S3, Oklahoma SO Kelvin Sampson Lawrence, Kansas - " I told Kelvin that this game was the hardest we've played and it was the hardest anyone has played against us as well", Kansas Coach Roy Williams said, referring to Oklahoma counterpart Kelvin Sampson. Williams was talking about the defensive battle Sunday afternoon (Feb. 20) when Kansas bested the Sooners 53 to 50. No. 21 Kansas committed fewer errors down the stretch than 19* ranked Oklahoma and held on for an important Big 12 Conference victory. The game leaves the Sooners with a still impressive 20-5 overall, and 8-4 in conference play. Coach Sampson said, "It really came down to the last two minutes of the game. Our team played well, we just did not make the shots. Our leading scorers weren't up there this time. Big 12 Player of the Year candidate Eduardo Najera dribbled the ball out of bounds at the end. and finished with just 8 points and 10 rebounds, paltry figures by his standards. The Sooners played Wednesday night (Feb. 23) at home against Texas Tech and will play again Saturday (Feb.26) at home against Missouri. They will finish the regular season against Texas A&M on their home turf Wednesday (March 1) and Saturday (March 4) at Oklahoma State for bragging rights to the state of Oklahoma. WHA T ABOUT THEM SOONERS!! FLASH! As we went to press, it was reported that long time Georgia Tech Basketball Coach Bobby Cremins has retired. Guess whose name is being bandied about as a possible replacement? Yep, you guessed it ... our Coach Sampson. No word from Coach Sampson as to whether or not he might be interested in the Atlantic Coast Conference team. Ummm! ^wej) (NAPS)?To learn about a national literacy drive, see the National Educational Association web site at www.nea.org. For resources to help you plan your financial future, check out www.wingspanbank.com. For information about Russell Athletic activewear, casualwear and athletic uniforms, visit www.russellathletic.com. For facts about Assurex Interna- , tional, the world's largest privately held commercial insurance brokerage group, visit www.assurex.com. Consumers can get paid to receive e-mail at moneyformail. com. For information on Command- . A-Bot and other great K'NEX products, visit www.knex.com or call (800) 822-5639. Unlike other dogs, hairless I dogs don't pant to cool off. * f Ami()l%de4M s A[?P ROBESON ^ COL'S Tl / CHAN \SU cutis Twenty-fifth Annual \.C. Indian I hity Conference is March S - II... And will be held ai the llolida> Inn Bordeaux Convention Center. 1707 Owen Drive, l avettev ille. North Carolina. I HIA1E: "500 years of tradition...breaking into the Millennium". I'lie Purpose is "to inform North Carolinians about Indians in North Carolina in the areas of education, sovereignty, self determination, health issues, economic development. Native American culture, affordable housing, employment and training, tribal recognition and I S Census 2000." Mighty big marching orders, huh? We hope to see you there. Indian Baskethallers featured in American Indian Report. Indian Countr\ Nona Magazine Our Robeson County Indian basketballers appeared in the February issue of American Indian Report. Big as life on page 28 in the "Perspectives" column of Valerie C'eriano. It was a good article that highlighted the history of Indian basketball and how they overcame the rank racism of their day and all that happened to them along the way. There is a wonderful picture of the 1953 Pembroke High Eagles, and another picture featuring some of the players of long ago as they look today. Featured in the photograph are Ned Sampson. Delton Ray Locklear. Bundy Ross l.oeklear. Oceanus Lowry. Gary Wayne Locklear. Kenneth Ray May nor. Bobby Jacobs. Hartman Brewington. Tim Brayboy and others. Come by the Indian Education Resource Center if you would like to see a copy of the news magazine featuring the article entitled "Athletes beat prejudice, graciously accept Plaque." Sandra Dee McCormick receives national teacher award from Scott Foresman Scott Foresman Book Publishers and the National Teachers Hall of Fame are pleased to announce ten winners of this y ear's Scott Foresman National Teachers Award. One of the ten winners is Robeson County's own Sandra Dee McCormick. a second grade teacher from W.H. Knuckles Elementary in Lumberton. This is Ms. McCormick's second big honor in the last few weeks as she recently received word that she has earned her National Teacher's Certification. Ms. McCormick was chosen from more than 600 participants of K-6 reading teachers who were invited to submit written essays. They were also evaluated via professional references and on site evaluations and interviews. The essay asked them to tell how they made a difference as a reading teacher in the lives of their children. The teachers will receive an all expense paid trip to the 2000 International Reading Association Convention in Indianapolis May 1-4, including airfare and hotel accommodations and SI.000 worth of select Scott Foresman educational materials. Congratulations to Ms. McCormick, the only teacher chosen from North Carolina for the prestigious award. Say you read it in the Carolina Indian Voice The first explorer to sight Antarctica, it's believed, was Nathaniel Brown Palmer, a U.S. sea captain, in 1820. (Let's Keep ^ Mitchell "Bosco" Locklear iv. .V. Working for You! Board of Education-at Large # May 2, 2000 This is a County Wide Election *For Experience *For Continued Progress *Someone Who Speaks Up For Your Interests Re-elect Mitchell "Bosco" Locklear V"A Man you Can Trust" Ijou're Like Family Here At Robeson County's FirstHealth Family Care Center fr Family Care Center-Pembroke 513 W. Third Street rtmbroke, NC 28372 (910) 521-6029 Hours: Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Riwnda lxnory, M.D. Janinc Scott-lxrwe. M.D. Doctors may not make house calls anymore, but ours do the next best thing?practice medicine right here at home. Please call to make an appointment. FirstHealth FAMILY CARE CENTER x . Visit us on the iveb at wuw.firsthealth.org < * Loving animals 'till it hurts! cia Garry Lewis Barton A woman who used to work at the newspaper in S C. along with me was a staunch animal lover. Like so many other so-called animal lovers, she advocated neutering and spaying animals. "If cutting out animals' reproductive organs i? an act of love," I told her one day,"do me a favor and don't ever fall in love with me." "I'd shoot you instead," she laughed, "and put you out of your misery." She made a good argument by informing me that humans were- ~ the ones who lured animals around the campfires. I believe she -used the word "domesticated" to II describe what she felt we had done to animals. So, according to her ~ logic, animals are our responsibili- ~ ty. And since there are so many running the streets because of ^ their prolific breeding habits, especially dogs and cats, it's ~ man's responsibility to spay (surgically remove the ovaries of) the females and neuter (castrate) the male animals. My Mama, Berna has what I call one of those "Yo quiero" dogs made famous on those Taco Bell commercials. I don't like dogs, but since moving in with my Mama, Peanut and I have ? learned to tolerate each other. Truth be known, he doesn't like ~ me any more than I like him. 01' Peanut's an ornery, ill-tempered cuss. He's 20 years old, or thereabouts. And Mama loves him desperately, oftentimes ? referring to him as my brother. And Peanut's been neutered, "ZZ. or castrated, or whatever you want to call it. ZZ No wonder he's so ornery and cantankerous! I don't like of Peanut. But I can sympathize with his ^ gonads-less plight. Of course, since they say one human year is the equivalent of seven dog years, ol' Peanut would be ZZ somewhere in the neighborhood of 140 human years. His excised body parts probably wouldn't work today even if he still had 'em. It pains me not only to think about him going under the knife, but also to consider the joys he has been deprived of because that joy might have inconvenienced some human being. In the famous Taco Bell commercial, a chihuahua speaks ~ like a human in Spanish, saying "Yo quiero Taco Bell." Translated into English, I think that means, "I want a Taco Bell." Folk, if oP Peannut understood the ramifications of what he was missing because of what was done to him, he'd probably be declaring in a plaintive voice, "Yo quiero me gonads." " I'm sorry, folk. I just can't buy into the notion that animal lovers neuter and spay their pets because they love them. I believe far too many of them diminish the quality of their ~ pets' lives simply to improve the quality of their own lives, otherwise they'd love their pets in the state God made 'em. And if God hadn't intended for animals to engage in sexual activity, why did He insist that Noah load a male and a " female of each species of animal into the Ark? I dare say, if we would be honest with ourselves, consider- ~ ing the high incidence of teenage and out-of-wedlock pregnancies throughout this country, we'd have to admit that human beings were better candidates for the gruesome neutering and spaying.. ~ Perhaps God will forgive me for being so bold, but I'd like to suggest a possible Eleventh Commandment specifically for ? so-called animal lovers: T, "Do not unto animals, what you wouldn't have done unto ' you!" We'll talk again, folk. - The Carolina Indian Voice *% Published each Thursday in Pembroke, N.C. by First American Publications Connee Brayboy Editor Z Bruce Barton Publisher " Ricky Barton Business Manager " Garry Lewis Barton Production Manager ? LONG AGO ROBESON!AN NOT A FAN OF HENR Y BERR Y LOWRIE EITHER It was amusing to read about the Robesonian Newspaper lambasting Eddie Hatcher recently unless you happened to be Eddie Hatcher. The " daily newspaper has often been quick to render a judgement before the * trials of the Eddie Hatchers & Henry Berry Lowries of our nefarious county. We have heard this editorial tenor before, especially when the Robesonian used to spent a lot of time saying nasty and sarcastic things ? about Henry Berry Lowrie and his stalwart band back in the 1870s. It would be nice if the Robesonian wrote more about causes, and less about symptoms. But you know how it is. Ain't that right? Here are a couple of Robesonian clippings about Henry Berry Lowrie, their favorite whipping boy back then. The first clipping is from the Robesonian. May 23.1872. Paee 3. column 2. "H.B. Lowrey (this was usually the way the daily spelled the last name of the object of their derision.).?Some of our neighboring exchanges last week contained the statement made on the authority of a reliable (very) gentleman, that the reported death of H.B. Lowrey was all a mistake, and - that the great outlaw was still 'lurking in the swamps of Robeson.' On the contrary, it is known that Henry Berry Lowrey is dead-that he was shot and killed by his brother Stephen on the day after the robbery of Mr. McLeod's safe in this town (Lumberton). three months ago." Robesonian. May 30. 1872. Paee 3 Column 2. "A GOOD HIT.-Our young friend, A.J. McNair, of this town (Lumberton) got off a good thing on the Grant administration on the day of the * radical speaking here. Col. O.H. Dockery, Holden's Kirk-war Brigadier General, and better known in this section as the 'dysenteric dodger,' asked Mr. McNair whether he believed that H.B. Lowrey was dead; on ? his saying that he did not, Oliver expressed his concurrence and asked where he thought the outlaw was. Mr. McNair stated that he believed I! him to be in Washington City. Col. Dockery inquired what he thought ~ Lowrey was doing there when McNair replied, 'Soliciting an appoint- ~ ment from Grant in the civil service.'-The dodger sloped." The first article was Just dead wrong; the second one was a feeble ~ attempt at sarcasm. The correspondent of this column is one of those who believes firmly that Lowrie (or Lowrey, or Lowry) escaped the deadly confines of Robeson County and lived out his life elsewhere. I Your correspondent believes that he is buried somewhere in the foot- ~ hills of Tennessee and says that "If / knew where he was burled exactly, I would mimic his wife Rhoda and take it to my grave. WE DON'T NEED TO KNOW EVER YTIHNG! " -BRUCE BARTON , , , The ruby-thrdated hummingbird moves its wings at a rate of 200 wingbeats per second.