What is the Lumbee Tribe? President Trump wants federal recognition for North Carolina group
The Lumbee Tribe, which traces its ancestry back hundreds of years to survivors of other tribal nations, has long sought to be recognized by the federal government as Native American.
The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina has for years sought federal recognition as a Native American group, and President Donald Trump is pushing for them to have it.
Trump on Thursday signed an executive order instructing the Department of the Interior to find a pathway for the tribe to be federally recognized – a designation that comes not only with prestige but with federal funds and resources. The Lumbee Tribe, which traces its ancestry back hundreds of years to survivors of other tribal nations, is recognized as Native American by the state of North Carolina but has been denied recognition by the federal government.
Trump's move seeks to fulfill a promise he made on the campaign trail when both he and Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris had pledged to push for federal recognition for the Lumbee Tribe, Reuters reported. Trump ultimately won the state in the election.
Here's what to know about the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina.
What is the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina?
The Lumbee Tribe is made up of survivors of multiple eastern tribal nations who settled in a geographically isolated area of North Carolina while Native Americans were being driven to the west, according to the tribe's website. Since those tribes each had their own language, the Lumbee used English as their common language.
The group's tribal headquarters are located in the small town of Pembroke, about 100 miles south of Raleigh, amid a tribal territory spanning four adjoining counties. The tribe, which consists of more than 55,000 members, is the largest tribe east of the Mississippi River and the ninth-largest tribe in the U.S., according to the White House's memorandum.
Throughout the generations, Lumbee members have intermarried with both white and Black North Carolinians. They agreed upon the name Lumbee in the 1950s and passed a tribal constitution in 2000.
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Though recognized in North Carolina as a tribe in 1885, the federal government stopped short in 1956 under the Lumbee Act. The law recognized the Lumbee as the Lumbee Indians of North Carolina but denied them benefits associated with federal recognition as a tribe, including funding for housing, schools and health care.
Trump orders federal recognition for Lumbee Tribe
Trump said during the 2024 campaign that the tribe should be federally recognized. Trump won the once-traditionally Democratic stronghold of Robeson County, North Carolina, where the tribal headquarters is located, with 59% of the vote.
"They were with me all the way, they were great," Trump said Thursday before signing the executive order.
The executive order gives the Interior Department 90 days to work with Lumbee leadership to determine and submit to the president a plan to obtain federal recognition, whether through Congress, the courts, or the Interior Department itself.
In a statement, Tribal Chairman John L. Lowery said "this action is a direct follow through of the campaign promises made by the President and shows his dedication to the Lumbee people."
Lumbee Tribe has sought federal recognition through Congress
While legislation giving the tribe official recognition has repeatedly passed the House, the most recent act granting full federal recognition died in December before the Senate could consider it.
Representatives for the Cherokee nation and other tribes have opposed the repeated attempts to recognize the Lumbee through Congress rather than the official process through the Interior Department like the country's more than 500 federally recognized tribes.
In a statement when the House bill passed in December, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Principal Chief Michell Hicks said, "federal recognition is not an entitlement. It is a status earned through evidence, not politics."
Contributing: Reuters
Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for Paste BN. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com