Lumbees double down against EBCI: Incoming governor faces tough political decision amid federal recognition fight
A map included in that brief shows how various peoples migrated to the area the Lumbee now largely call home. Map from Understanding Lumbee History
The bitter battle between the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and the Lumbee as the Lumbee seek federal recognition has grown even more contentious over the last few months. And now, following the announcement from Attorney General and Governor-elect Josh Stein that EBCI Principal Chief Michell Hicks — who has long called into question the Lumbees’ identification as a tribe — will be appointed to Stein’s transition team, a state representative from Lumbee country is sounding the alarm.
According to a press release, Hicks will chair the committee for the state’s Department of Administration, which oversees the Commission of Indian Affairs, on the transition team.
In a statement sent to The Cherokee One Feather, Hicks said that the tribe’s working relationship with Stein has been “positive and productive.”
“Serving on this transition team allows us to ensure that the unique needs and priorities of the Tribal community are represented as decisions are made that impact all North Carolinians,” Hicks said. “This partnership reflects a shared commitment to equity, progress, and collaborative leadership.”
Stein declined to comment for this story, but during his campaign, he made a stop in Cherokee and spoke to Hicks and members of Tribal Council. Stein thanked the tribe for inviting him to speak and noted that he intends to maintain a positive relationship with the tribe.
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Attorney General and now Governor-elect Josh Stein speaks to members of EBCI’s Tribal Council. File photo
“As attorney general, we’ve always had an open door and welcomed the opportunity to meet with you all, whether it’s up here in Cherokee or in the west or in Raleigh,” he said. “As governor, I want to continue that kind of open communication and open-door relationship with the tribe, and I look forward, God willing, to being able to do that with you in the years to come.”
Although Stein didn’t comment on the record, a News and Observer story noted that, according to Stein’s transition team, Lumbee Tribal Chairperson Harvey Godwin Jr. now has a spot on that team, as well.
Rep. Jarrod Lowery (R-Robeson), a former member of the Lumbee Tribal Council, sent Stein a letter expressing concern over questions over Hicks’ potential motives that could limit Lumbee sovereignty while also providing direct economic benefits to the Eastern Band at the expense of the Lumbee.
Rep Jarrod Lowery
“The Commission of Indian Affairs has long served as the bridge between state government and tribal communities,” Lowery wrote. “Chief Hicks’s appointment raises serious concerns about whether this vital institution will remain a space of collaboration for all tribes.”
Lowery noted that under Hicks — who is a registered Republican — the Eastern Band doesn’t even participate in the Commission on Indian Affairs. At this time, the Eastern Band has two spots on the commission, one of which is vacant; the Lumbee have three. Lowery also claimed that Hicks had a history of divisive, even racist rhetoric.
“There is considerable concern within the Native community about Chief Hicks’s history and leadership approach, which is painted by racially inflammatory remarks,” he said. “It is widely perceived that Chief Hicks harbors a vision that marginalizes other tribes in North Carolina.”
This language mirrors a statement the Department of Administration released following Lowery’s letter to Stein. That statement notes that the Commission of Indian Affairs is concerned with a “troubling pattern of behavior” in which the Eastern Band questions the legitimacy of other groups, calling the EBCI “an oppressor” of fellow tribes.
“In particular, the defamatory statements made by the EBCI regarding the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina are baseless and have been disproven on numerous occasions,” the statement reads. “These unfounded assertions not only tarnish the reputation of the Lumbee Tribe but also perpetuate unnecessary division.”
Hicks has certainly marginalized the Lumbee, although he would take issue with Lowery’s use of the word “tribes.” The Lumbee were recognized by the state in 1885 and received partial federal recognition in 1956 under the Lumbee Act; however, the tribe has not been entitled to the full federal benefits that are offered to other tribes, despite numerous attempts to get such legislation passed.
An academic paper published this year titled “Understanding Lumbee History: A Brief for Policymakers” co-authored by eight Lumbee scholars, not only argues in favor of full recognition of the Lumbee by citing primary and secondary sources; it also explains the tribe’s native identity. The authors argue that the ancestors of the Lumbee have thousands of years of history in the region and specifically along the Lumbee River. As with other tribes, throughout the colonization of the early United States, assimilation and dispossession have shaped the Lumbees’ history and culture. In a story from The Assembly, one of the authors of the paper, Malinda Maynor Lowery, is paraphrased as saying “refugees of decimated peoples huddled together in the impenetrable Robeson County swamp, where, over time, they intermarried with English- and Gaelic-speaking settlers, as well as Black slaves and freedmen.”
“Outside influences have not disrupted the Lumbees inherent understanding of kinship and homelands,” the brief reads. “Furthermore, their existence as a political entity which has retained its sovereignty is consistently demonstrated according to the standards of rigorous peer-reviewed research,” it reads, further noting that evidence drawn from genealogy, oral history, land records and maps demonstrate that the Lumbees’ ancestors came from the Tribal Nations Hatteras, Tuscarora, Cheraw and Powhatan.
The brief talks about the divisive rhetoric from entities, including The Eastern Band, that has been harmful to the Lumbee and others.
“This rhetoric is not new to Tribes seeking federal recognition especially those in the Southeast and east coast who have long histories of colonialism that intertwine deeply with histories of slavery and must contend with anti-Blackness in a region profoundly shaped by racial segregation, Indian Removal, and the denial and appropriation of Native identity by non-Native individuals,” the paper reads.
In the past, people have claimed that the opposition to full recognition for the Lumbee from the Eastern Band and other tribes is economically driven, given that there is a set amount of federal funding — meaning everyone else would get a slightly smaller slice of the pie — and potentially casino revenue.
Hicks has been on the record with his opposition to Lumbee recognition for decades, including during congressional testimony in 2006 when he said that the Eastern Band has questioned the Lumbees’ tribal identity since 1910.
“Today, like other tribes, we face a new threat to our separate identity: groups of people who claim, or who have claimed Cherokee, or other tribal affiliations whose legitimacy is doubtful at best,” Hicks said.
In 2020, former Principal Chief Richard Sneed similarly testified in front of Congress.
“We are Cherokee not because we woke up one day and decided to be,” Sneed said. “We are Cherokee because we always have been, from time immemorial”
Sneed claimed that most Lumbees can’t demonstrate any native ancestry.
“When a group of people falsely claim our identity, whether it’s to gain fame, financial gain or federal recognition, it is our duty and responsibility to defend the identity our grandmothers and grandfathers,” Sneed added.
This exact claim is heavily disputed in the previously mentioned brief.
In 2022, during their annual Tri-Council session, the three federally recognized Cherokee tribes agreed unanimously to a resolution opposing state and federal recognition of groups they say erroneously claim Cherokee identity, including the Lumbee.
“There is a war on our identities right now, and just us having to go to D.C. and educate our senators and congressmen about who we are, this is going to be huge what we’ve done today,” then-EBCI Vice Chairman Albert Rose said of the approved resolution.
Hicks has maintained and even strengthened this stance. In an op-ed published in The Smoky Mountain News March 6, he said that the Eastern Band faces “persistent challenges” from entities that seek to exploit Cherokee culture for their own ends.
“It is imperative to recognize that protection of Cherokee land and identity is not a trend — it is a sacred part of who we are as a people,” Hicks wrote. “Falsely claiming Cherokee and other Indian identity and culture not only dishonors our ancestors but also perpetuates harmful stereotypes and erases the lived experiences of genuine Native communities.”
References to the Lumbee claiming to be Cherokee date back about a century when the tribe sought recognition under the name “Cherokee Indians of Robeson County.”
The tribe has also stood against any kind of recognition — even informal — of other native groups claiming Cherokee heritage. For example, in July, following the Atlanta Braves’ recognition late last month of several groups in Georgia recognized by that state as Native American, Eastern Band officials issued multiple statements decrying the inclusion of groups that aren’t federally recognized. Anyone else, the release claims, is looking to “exploit Indigenous identity for personal gain, detracting from the benefits and resources meant for true Indigenous tribes. Countless groups across the United States have persistently and falsely claimed to be Cherokee. Today, there are only three federally recognized Cherokee tribes.”
During his 2006 testimony, Hicks argued that that the Office of Federal Acknowledgement, established in 1978, is the proper venue for the government to consider full recognition of a group of people. This argument was mirrored in a YouTube video posted a few weeks ago. That video features appearances by leadership of the Eastern Band, the Delaware, the Cherokee Nation, the Shawnee, the Seminole and Lummi tribes.
“As I think about groups, such as the Lumbee group, that have no sister tribe in Oklahoma, where the southeastern Native Americans were moved to, it makes you wonder, it makes you question their validity.” Hicks said in the video.
In the video, the Principal Chief of the Cherokee, Chuck Hoskin Jr., claimed that recognition through legislation has become political.
“What I see is that when the congress weighs in on recognition it is completely divorced often, or largely divorced, from a real examination of this historic record,” Hoskin said.
Hicks said something similar.
“As I think about the responsibility of Congress, the senators that are working so hard to make sure this recognition occurs, I feel that they haven’t done their homework. They haven’t allowed the process to do its job,” he said.
Most recently, “Commentary cartoons” by Jakeli Swimmer posted to the Cherokee One Feather’s Facebook page gave a list of reasons to oppose Lumbee recognition. The cartoons claim that recognizing the Lumbee not only undermines Cherokee sovereignty, but also Cherokee culture. Ultimately it claims the Lumbee are the “true bullies.” Given the size of the Lumbee nation, the post claims, they are spread across the country and have embedded themselves into positions of political influence, influence they’ve wielded to harm the Eastern Band.
“The biggest problem is their political voting power, again having a large population makes their federal recognition a priority for many state official’s (sic) campaigns,” one image reads.
Politics does play a large role in the effort to gain full recognition for the Lumbee. At one point in his letter to Stein, Lowery said that the state deserves a governor for all people, “not just those who are able to write large campaign checks.” While the Eastern Band donates to both Republican and Democratic candidates and groups, as noted in the Dec. 11 edition of the email newsletter NC Tribune, so too do the Lumbee.
“Instead of just going through a PAC, this gets expressed through individual donations from Lumbees such as insurance agent Jarette Sampson and Metcon Buildings & Infrastructure founder and CEO Aaron Thomas,” the newsletter reads, noting that those individuals have given six figures.
“Thomas … gave an assortment of Republicans $121,400 in the 2023-24 election cycle alone,” the newsletter continues. “He backed Lowery and such figures as incoming State Treasurer Brad Briner, incoming State Auditor Dave Boliek and rising House Majority Leader Brenden Jones.
His wife, Azalea Thomas, gave an additional $24,800, including a donation to Stein.”
The Lumbees’ quest for recognition and the opposition from tribes like the Eastern Band has also risen to become an issue that garners national attention. Most recently, companion bills in the House and Senate — called the Lumbee Fairness Act — seek to amend the Lumbee Act to give the tribe full federal benefits. The companion bills were filed earlier this year by Congressman David Rouzer, the Republican who represents Robeson County, and North Carolina’s Sen. Thom Tillis. The bill extends federal recognition to the Lumbee and members of the tribe residing in Robeson, Cumberland, Hoke and Scotland Counties.
“The Department of the Interior and the Department of Health and Human Services must develop, in consultation with the tribe, a determination of needs to provide the services for which members of the tribe are eligible,” the Senate bill’s summary reads.
Following Tillis’ introduction of his bill, the Eastern Band struck back in a press release calling his speech on the Senate floor an “emotional tirade.”
“Sen. Tillis owes tribal leaders across the nation an apology,” the release read. “Tribal governments have struggled, fought, and bled for centuries to exist and maintain our cultures. Our concerns are rooted in historical facts and a desire to protect what our ancestors fought to pass down. For him to ignore these realities and launch a personal attack on those who dare to disagree with him is unacceptable and unbecoming of a U.S. Senator.”
Following the Eastern Band’s fiery statement, Lowery released one of his own praising Tillis.
“The Lumbee Tribe, Senator Tillis, and our many allies on the Hill, continue to fight against a multimillion dollar fueled opposition led by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians EBCI, owner of several casinos in North Carolina and nearby states like Virginia,” Lowery’s letter read. “The Eastern Band’s highly paid lobbyists profit mightily while the Eastern Band leadership complain incessantly about the housing dollars the Lumbee are eligible to receive from the Federal government.”
The Eastern Band’s beef with Tillis has carried over to other areas, as well. During the tribe’s effort to begin sales of recreational cannabis, Tillis and fellow North Carolina Republican Sen. Ted Budd penned a letter posing questions over the merits and logistics of the move toward legalization. This after Tillis said in Haywood County that he would be in favor of looking at recreational cannabis “like tobacco,” legal, regulated and taxed.
In addition, The Eastern Band has excoriated Tillis for his opposition to the “Wounded Knee Massacre Memorial and Sacred Site Act,” which would direct the Department of the Interior to take 40 acres of land in Oglala Lakota County, South Dakota, and return it to the Oglala and Cheyenne River Sioux tribes to be maintained as a memorial and sacred site.
During its April 4 meeting, EBCI Tribal Council approved a resolution in support of that legislation that notes that Cherokee leaders recently met with leaders of the Oglala Sioux and Cheyenne River Sioux tribes, along with other leaders of the Great Plains Tribal Chairman’s Association and the Coalition of Large Tribes.
The resolution claimed that Tillis was blocking both the Wounded Knee Sacred Site Act and the EBCI’s Historical Lands Act to force tribes to give up their opposition against Lumbee recognition.
“Senator Tillis is also blocking other federal legislation important to federally-recognized Indian Nations as punishment for insisting that groups of people who claim to be American Indians and tribes should be required to go through the existing regulatory process developed by the Department of Interior over many years, to achieve federal recognition, and that these groups should not be allowed to circumvent this process through federal legislation,” the resolution read.
The resolution further called for the Lumbees to be “held accountable” for continuing to push Tillis to “hold hostage” the interests of federally recognized tribes.
To add to the political intrigue, incoming president Donald Trump has promised that he would sign a bill recognizing the Lumbee, should one cross his desk.
“I’m officially announcing that, if I am elected in November, I will sign legislation granting the great Lumbee Tribe federal recognition that it deserves,”Trump said during a rally in Wilmington earlier this year
“I’m glad President Trump supports full federal recognition for the Lumbee people,” Lowery told the Carolina Journal following the Trump rally. “He understands that ending the nearly 70-year termination policy that Congress put on the Lumbee Tribe will finally conclude the 130-year journey for justice that has been sought by the Lumbee people. Full federal recognition is about fairness and increased economic opportunities that will be a huge economic impact for southeastern North Carolina.”
Robeson County, the heart of Lumbee country, is indeed Trump country, but its shift to the right over the last decade and a half has been the biggest in the whole state. It was blue in 2012, when President Barack Obama, during his re-election bid, won the county by over 17 points. In 2016, Trump beat Hillary Clinton in the Presidential election by over four points. Trump beat current President Joe Biden by 18 points in 2020 and almost 28 points in this year’s election.
In 2022, the Republican National Committee opened a community outreach center in Robeson County, the focus of which was Native American outreach.
“When we talked about where in North Carolina do you wanna start a strategic office, where do you want to start with a community office, Robeson County was very natural and it was the first place that we thought,” then-NCGOP chairman, and current RNC chair Michael Whatley said at the opening of the community center in 2022. “When you think of this county, the tri-racial make-up of it, a third being Native American, a third of them being black, a third being white, this is just an absolute perfect place.”
That same year, Lowery won his first General Assembly race, flipping the District 47 House Seat to GOP control. As the Lumbee have shifted their politics to become more conservative, the county has become a Republican stronghold, and the timing has lined up for Lowery to become a greater political force in a relatively short period of time and may continue to have a louder voice, which could put Stein in a tight spot down the road since he likely doesn’t want to alienate either tribe.
Lowery’s letter urges Stein to clarify his intentions regarding Hicks’ influence on tribal policy. Ultimately, Lowery asked to meet with Stein to see if the Governor-elect could address his concerns. The evening of Dec. 17, after this story was sent to print, Lowery got back to SMN, saying Stein has yet to reach out to him.
