On the recordDecember 22, 2010
last weekend the Nation lost Dr. Helen Maynor Scheirbeck--a great civil rights leader and a passionate advocate for American Indian rights. Born in Lumberton, NC, as a proud member of the Lumbee Tribe, Dr. Scheirbeck's passing is a true loss for the Lumbee and the greater American Indian community. A champion for American Indian sovereignty, Dr. Scheirbeck worked constantly throughout her incredibly prolific career to enable future generations of Indian leaders to build healthier and better-educated communities. In her early work on Capitol Hill, Dr. Scheirbeck served on the staff of North Carolina Senator Sam Ervin, then chair of Senate Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights. This work helped lay the foundation for the historic 1968 Indian Bill of Rights that extended constitutional rights and protections to American Indians nationwide. Similarly, Dr. Scheirbeck's efforts to organize the 1962 Capitol Conference on Poverty helped to ensure that Indian communities were a focus of the nationwide war on poverty. Her commitment to self-determination and individual responsibility is further exemplified by Dr. Scheirbeck's work to empower tribal leaders to govern and educate their communities. Working on behalf of the Carter administration, Dr. Scheirbeck's leadership was instrumental in realigning Federal policies to support Indian sovereignty.
