THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, June 20, 1994 TAG: 9406200029
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: 940620 LENGTH: Medium
The 43,000-member Lumbee tribe of Cheraw Indians is the largest in the eastern United States. This summer, it's preparing to form its first tribal government, watch its first candidate take countywide office, and get another chance at federal recognition.
{REST} ``This is going to be the year of the Lumbee Indian,'' predicted Ruth Locklear, one of the drafters of a Lumbee Constitution that the tribe will vote on next week. ``This has been a long time coming.''
The Lumbee are concentrated in their native Robeson County - where 42 percent of the population is Native American - with large pockets in Greensboro and Charlotte. Their struggle for federal status, which began in 1888, is still being waged in the halls of Congress.
U.S. Sen. Lauch Faircloth, R-N.C., has announced his support of a bill giving the tribe federal recognition, which could provide members educational and health benefits.
Fellow Republican Sen. Jesse Helms, a vocal opponent of recognition, has helped defeat past versions of the bill through tactical maneuvers on the Senate floor. Helms has argued that Lumbee recognition would require a new government bureaucracy and cost up to $100 million per year.
A final vote on the bill, which already has passed the House, is expected this summer, the News & Record of Greensboro reported.
Meanwhile, a public hearing was held over the weekend on a constitution that would set up tribal council elections and the first formal Lumbee government. Straw polls across the state suggest it has a strong chance of passing when balloting begins June 27.
The first Lumbee to win a countywide race will be sworn in as clerk of court in Robeson County on July 1. More significant was the May runoff for sheriff, in which Lumbee candidate Glenn Maynor clinched the Democratic nomination - virtually assuring his election this fall.
``The sheriff's office is the big enchilada. That's the top political office in the county,'' said Connie Brayboy, editor of the Carolina Indian Voice in Pembroke.
The turnout by Lumbee voters in the May elections - a phenomenal 65 percent - is one measure of the momentum the tribe has achieved this year, a momentum expected to help carry the proposed constitution later this month.
Electing a tribal council could smooth the way for federal recognition by giving the Lumbees a governing structure, but obstacles remain.
Joining Helms in opposing Lumbee recognition are tribal leaders of the Eastern Band of Cherokees. The Cherokee leaders fear that recognition of the Lumbees would siphon money from programs for other tribes.
Among the Lumbees themselves, there has been no support for creating a reservation, which some link with high suicide and alcoholism rates that plague other tribes.
``They've never been on a reservation and we don't need to create one in 1994,'' said Mia Strickland, a Lumbee and aide to U.S. Rep. Charlie Rose, D-N.C., author of the recognition bill.
``The number one thing that most of the members want from the federal government is to finally give them that dignity, that they are Indian people. That doesn't cost anything.''
A law written in 1956 and specifically directed at the Lumbees prevents the tribe from applying for federal benefits through the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Members also do not qualify for federal hiring preferences.
``We've had all the down sides of being a minority without any of the benefits,'' Strickland said.
Supporters of federal recognition believe the bill could help the Lumbees with everything from tuition aid and economic development to medical care through the Indian Health Service, which is now closed to Lumbees.
The Senate killed federal recognition of the tribe by a two-vote margin in 1992, and President Bush had vowed to veto the bill even if it had passed.
The Clinton Administration does not oppose Lumbee recognition.
Ironically, some tribe members believe that the lack of recognition - and the corresponding lack of reservation status - has been a blessing in disguise, forcing Lumbees to cling to their identity through hardships.
Still, there remains a belief that they have been shortchanged by a government that refuses to recognize them or make amends for generations of mistreatment.
Lumbee leaders involved in the recognition issue say that, no matter what happens in Washington this year, the activism of 1994 already is an important chapter in the tribe's history.
``It's a little humbling, knowing that our ancestors worked for the same things and now all of them are dead,'' Ruth Locklear said. ``Maybe their struggle will come to fruition in our lives. But whether we fail or succeed, we'll be back again. We're not going anywhere. We've got children coming behind us.''
by CNB