EBCI Chief Hicks urges Senate against Lumbee recognition
Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Principal Chief Michell Hicks testifies before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.
From YouTube
Sen. Thom Tillis’ 2025 Lumbee Fairness Act is inching toward the finish line, allowing for full federal recognition of about 60,000 North Carolinians closer to their goal, albeit nearly 140 years after their first government petition.
The legislation was first introduced in January. Since then, the House has not made any progress in advancing it. But the Lumbee Fairness Act has seen forward movement in the Senate — a cause for concern among leaders of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
The body’s Nov. 5 Committee on Indian Affairs hearing to consider the legislation was met with testimony from Principal Chief of EBCI Michell Hicks, who was joined in opposition by Ben Barnes, chief of the Shawnee Tribe.
Hicks maintained at the hearing that the Lumbee should seek recognition through the Department of the Interior’s Office of Federal Acknowledgement, the traditionally accepted process. While the 1956 Lumbee Act granted the community tribal status yet prohibited any federal benefits or relationships, including future government petitions, the DOI’s 2016 reinterpretation concluded the act did not explicitly prevent departmental recognition.
“There is a lawful process created for this purpose administered by the Office of Federal Acknowledgment. That is where claims must be reviewed, and where evidence must be tested,” Hicks stated in a Nov. 5 press release.
In a KOSU article, a proponent of Lumbee recognition said the OFA route would take decades and expose the tribe to EBCI lawsuits.
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Yet the chief had an additional reason to prefer the OFA process, alleging that Congress was dishonestly representing Lumbee ties to Indigeneity — ties he found questionable.
“If there is evidence, submit it to the OFA. If there is a tribe, the process will show it. But Congress must not legislate identity or manufacture tribes out of thin air by replacing proof with politics. Federal recognition must remain grounded in evidence and truth,” Hicks wrote in the release.
Hicks’ testimony invoked the Lumbee’s shifting claims to ancestral nations and linguistic groups, its lack of tribal language and an absence of verifiable Indigenous history and documentation.
To be eligible for OFA recognition, a tribe must establish “that it existed as a community from 1900 until the present.” While the Lumbee has long established roots in eastern North Carolina — “Lumbee” is a namesake of the Lumber River — tribal traditions feature influences from various nations, and most citizens don’t have a lineage identifiable to one specific tribe.
The Lumbee website states that “The ancestors of the Lumbee came together in the shelter of these lands hundreds of years ago; survivors of tribal nations from the Algonquian, Iroquoian and Siouan language families, including the Cheraw and other affected tribes.”
Thus, the tribe may not meet OFA criteria, barring it from future federal recognition attempts.
Ariana Locklear, a Lumbee attorney who has argued on her people’s behalf, refuted doubts of Lumbee ancestry in a reference to the Supreme Court case Montoya v. United States dictating what constitutes a tribe.
“There are three necessary components of tribal existence: first, people of Indian ancestry; second, who reside in sufficient proximity to constitute a community; and third, who are united under some form of leadership or government. The congressional record on the Lumbee Tribe shows that the Tribe exhibits all three components of an Indian tribe,” her testimony stated.
Lumbee Tribal Chairman John Lowery said seeking recognition through Congress, responsible for the 1956 Lumbee Act, is purposeful: the same body passed the ruling it is now called on to rectify. But Congress has introduced to the tune of 50 bills since 1973 that award the tribe federal status. None have made it into law.
Hicks is not the first Eastern Band chief to testify against Lumbee recognition. In 2020, Principal Chief Richard Sneed stood before the House with similar statements. In fact, the opposition dates back decades further. While a 2002 Wilmington Star-News article reported that EBCI Chief Leon Jones supported Lumbee recognition “if they meet the exact criteria,” it also noted that the Cherokee have historically stood against this outcome.
Why has EBCI leadership consistently stood against Lumbee recognition? It might come down to two high-stakes issues: federal funding and legal precedent.
The state of North Carolina recognizes eight tribes, the Lumbee among them, but only the EBCI have federal designation. It’s a status accompanied by independent sovereignty, government-to-government relationships, benefits such as the ability to operate a casino as well as services and funding from the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
In 2020, Sneed expressed concerns that the BIA could appropriately fund all tribes given the induction of nearly 60,000 people.
“[Federal recognition of the Lumbee would] significantly decrease the existing funds tribes receive,” he said.
The impact of those funds would be monumental for The Lumbee.
The tribe is mainly based in Scotland, Hoke and Robeson counties, all of which have high rates of poverty and poor health outcomes. Robeson ranks last of all counties statewide for the latter; in 2023, the county’s poverty rate was 27.7%.
As a Daily Yonder op-ed stated, “Access to programs and opportunities meant to mitigate the effects of colonization would be transformative for the Lumbee people.”
But while the same piece asserted that recognition could “right a historical wrong,” Hicks alleged it risked legally pernicious consequences.
The chief testified on Nov. 5 that “passage of the bill would set a dangerous precedent, encouraging countless groups with entirely baseless claims to seek federal recognition from Congress.”
Last month, Hicks accused the Lumbee of fast-tracking recognition through “political rhetoric” and “backroom lobbying” after the tribe sent a letter to President Trump claiming his daughter Tiffany has ancestral ties.
From the perspective of Lumbee Chairman John Lowery, the Eastern Band of Cherokee “suffer from a superiority complex.”
In a statement issued on Nov. 10, Hicks offered his reflections on the Senate hearings.
“In the days following the hearing, I’ve seen the anger, the frustration, and the pride of our people,” Hicks said in the statement. “Those emotions are real, and they come from a place of deep love for who we are. We are protective of what our ancestors built and what we continue to defend today. That passion shows just how much being Cherokee means to us all.”
Over the last several years, the outcry against Tillis by EBCI leadership has become intense. Hicks’ statement was no different.
“Senator Tillis’ unwillingness to hear our perspective is disappointing, but not surprising,” Hicks said. “My hope is that our sovereign nation in WNC will help change the course of leadership in our state towards one that represents all people, not just a select few deemed politically convenient.”
