EBCI chief criticizes Lumbee as federal recognition nears finish line
Lumbee Chairman John Lowery speaks in Washington, D.C.
From YouTube
The National Defense Authorization Act cleared the House with bipartisan support last week, prompting the Senate’s Dec. 15 procedural vote — which all but guarantees that the $901 billion spending bill will be at the president’s desk before the holidays. This year, the “must-pass” annual legislation will represent the largest single sum of funds devoted military programs in the nation’s history. And yet, those appropriations have nothing to do with the strong opposition voiced by a community in Western North Carolina.
Rather, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians are most concerned with a brief addition to the NDAA — the Lumbee Fairness Act — aiming to establish full federal recognition for the over 55,000 Lumbee living in the state’s eastern region.
EBCI Principal Chief Michell Hicks cited inconsistent Lumbee claims of ancestral ties to multiple tribes — including the Cherokee — and what he said was the community’s inability to “demonstrate descent from a historic tribe or continuity of tribal governance.”
“The Lumbee began identifying as ‘Cherokee Indians of Robeson County’ in the early 1900s,” Hicks wrote to The Smoky Mountain News in a statement.
The Lumbee, however, say their identity originated when displaced members of multiple tribes intermarried with locals of various ethnic and racial backgrounds. They point to common Lumbee surnames shared by members of the Lost Colony, which researchers speculate may have assimilated into local tribes.
Contemporary research into Lumbee genealogy suggests a blend of African, English and indigenous heritage among tribal ancestors.
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While a Pentagon spending bill seems an unexpected document to house a measure of tribal sovereignty, it commonly includes congressional items unrelated to the defense budget. In 2019, the legislation awarded sovereignty to Montana’s Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians.
This year, the NDAA’s Indigenous focus was expected to span beyond Lumbee recognition. According to Deborah Parker, chief executive officer of the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition, a provision to create a Truth and Healing Commission for boarding schools had been part of the NDAA as recently as Dec. 7. A bill to recognize the Wounded Knee Massacre was another anticipated addendum. Both were cut from the final document.
Still, Hicks argues that the legislation is an inappropriate vehicle through which to grant Lumbee recognition. The chief’s reasoning doesn’t center the NDAA’s irrelevancy, but rather the absence of standards he believes are vital to establishing tribal sovereignty.
“Once recognition becomes a political decision rather than a documented determination, it places the legitimacy of federal recognition into question,” he told SMN.
Indeed, the Lumbee have powerful friends in Washington, D.C. Sen. Thom Tillis spearheaded the Lumbee Fairness Act, and President Donald Trump made a campaign promise in 2024 to sign it when members supported his candidacy in staggering numbers — potentially influencing his North Carolina win during the most recent election.
Lumbee Chairman John Lowery claimed EBCI, which he called the ‘Eastern Band Splinter Group,’ had political tactics of its own.
“Sadly, many of our elders passed on without ever being recognized as full and equal native people, all because of the EBSG political maneuvering and misrepresentations,” Lowery wrote in a Dec. 11 statement.
Former EBCI Principal Chief Patrick Lambert discouraged such strife between the EBCI and Lumbee, while arguing that all North Carolina native communities are intertwined.
“Let’s step back from the name-calling and the heat of the moment. Let’s raise the conversation, not sink it. North Carolina’s Native peoples have survived so much — removal, relocation, racism, poverty, and political neglect. We are stronger than the division we are seeing tonight,” he wrote in a Nov. 5 statement.
But to Hicks, there’s little that connects the Cherokee to the eastern North Carolina tribe.
While the Lumbee, hailing from four of the poorest counties in North Carolina, would benefit tremendously from federal recognition, benefits and funding, Hicks said “shared hardship alone does not create tribal identity.”
The EBCI chief also refuted claims that opposition to Lumbee recognition is driven by the concerns about revenue loss in the event of another new casino. There’s currently one in the state — in Cherokee — but the $1 billion Catawba King’s Mountain casino is slated to open in 2026, and federal recognition would permit the Lumbee to build their own.
“The Eastern Band’s position long predates Indian gaming. For more than a century, well before casinos existed, the Eastern Band raised concerns about the Lumbee’s claims,” Hicks told SMN.
Either way, the Lumbee will finally see a desired outcome over 130 years after their first bid for federal recognition. But the conflict between the two tribes has also encompassed many decades, and it will likely continue.
Hicks described the implications of the NDAA’s eventual passage as “largely uncharted territory,” adding that “to our knowledge, the Lumbee would be the first group to receive federal recognition without demonstrating descent from a historic tribe or continuity of tribal governance.”
As for what the Cherokee might do next, the chief told SMN that “At this point, it would be premature to speculate about specific actions,” though they’ll “remain attentive as this situation develops.”
The Lumbee chairman also issued future guidance regarding inter-tribal relations.
“We do not hate them, nor do we wish them harm. But we must be wise,” Lowery wrote in the same Dec. 11 statement. “A snake may shed its skin, but it remains a snake, and the Lumbee have been dealing with the bite for over 30 years. Our future leaders must carry that understanding forward, always.”
