On the recordSeptember 23, 2010
I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the Lumbee Recognition Act. The Lumbee Indians are among the earliest North Carolinians. They descended from the coastal tribes of North Carolina and lived along the Lumber River before our Nation was founded. During that time, the Lumbee have maintained a distinct community in what is now Robeson County, NC, with more than 40,000 current members in and around the county seat of Lumberton. Tribe members have worked diligently throughout the generations to sustain a strong tribal society. Each and every Lumbee can trace his or her ancestry to the tribe's base roll, which is comprised of school and church records and early 20th-century census data. This common ancestry has bound the tribe for generations and established the Lumbee as a longstanding, distinct community in southeastern North Carolina. Nearly two-thirds of the tribe live within 15 miles of the city of Pembroke, where they start families and businesses, run for tribal office, and attend the annual Fourth of July parade. The Lumbee fought alongside the American Colonists during the Revolutionary War, and helped shape North Carolina's history.
