North Carolina’s Lumbee Tribe hoping for a long-awaited federal recognition

North Carolina’s Lumbee have been waiting for generations for the federal government to fully recognize them, bringing with it financial benefits and rights. They’re hoping support from President Trump will help them get it.

After generations of promises and disappointments, the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina may be on the cusp of receiving full federal recognition.

Kendra Locklear can’t help being skeptical.

“My people have been waiting for federal recognition for over a hundred years,” the tribal member said as she attended a recent powwow in Pembroke, North Carolina, the tribal seat. “So, I’m just hesitant to accept it. I’ll believe it when it happens.”

All the North Carolina news, in Cardinal & Pine’s free, award-winning newsletter. Sign up here. 

Congress formally recognized the Lumbee in 1956, but without the rights and monetary benefits that usually accompany such federal acknowledgment. Tribal Chairman John L. Lowery is ready for that to change.

“Because of this legal limbo that we’re sitting in, we are almost second-tier tribe,” he said from his office in the tribal headquarters building, nicknamed “The Turtle.” “We’re a second-class tribe.”

@cardinalandpine

Because of Trump’s support, some Lumbee tribe members are optimistic about finally having full federal recognition. But this North Carolina-based tribe has been made promises before. Check it out, and for more North Carolina news and culture, follow @cardinalandpine. 🎥 Raw footage by Associated Press, edited by Cardinal & Pine

♬ original sound – Cardinal & Pine – Cardinal & Pine

Identity has long been an issue for the Lumbee. During a recent opening for an exhibition of his artwork, Lumbee and former Major League baseball player Gene Locklear recalled the reaction when he said he was a Native American.

“I was looked upon as, `I’ve never seen a baldheaded Indian before,’” he said with a chuckle as guests perused his paintings at the Museum of the Southeast American Indian.

People dance during the BraveNation Powwow and Gather at UNC Pembroke, Saturday, March 22, 2025, in Pembroke, N.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)

North Carolina first recognized these people in an 1885 act providing separate schools for the “Croatan Indians in Robeson County.” In later years, the state began calling them Cherokee.

“They did a lot of changing our names and calling us this, calling us that,” says Lowery. “For whatever reasons. And, so, we finally stood our ground.”

Read More: ‘Decolonize your bookshelf’: This Indigenous-owned store in North Carolina does more than sell books

They chose Lumbee, after the Lumber – the blackwater river that flows through their Sandhills and Coastal Plains homeland. They call themselves the People of the Dark Water.

A parade of politicians have promised to secure full recognition for the Lumbee. But multiple congressional efforts have fallen short.

This time around, they have a formidable ally.

On January 3, in one of the first acts of his second term, President Donald Trump signed a memo, not granting, but supporting full federal recognition. “I love the Lumbee Tribe,” Trump said as he sat behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, Sharpie in hand. “Yeah. They were with me all the way. They were great.”

Trump gave the Department of the Interior and other administration staff 90 days to recommend the best path toward full recognition.

People bow their heads in prayer during the BraveNation Powwow and Gather at UNC Pembroke, Saturday, March 22, 2025, in Pembroke, N.C. (AP Photo/Allison Joyce)

But the Lumbee also have a formidable opponent, the Eastern Band of Cherokee, at the other end of North Carolina. “We are going to do everything we can to stop it from going through the congressional route,” says Principal Chief Michell Hicks.

Hicks has no doubt there is native descent in the Lumbees’ area. But he says that does not make them a distinct tribe.

“There’s no fair comparison to splinter groups versus a tribal government,” he said from his office in the town of Cherokee.

Hicks says the Lumbee should press their claim through the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Office of Federal Acknowledgment, which vets tribal claims using anthropological, genealogical, and historical evidence.

The Lumbee would instantly become one of the largest fully-recognized tribes in the county, potentially claiming a significant portion of limited funds.

“Where did these 60,000 people come from?” Hicks asks. “There’s so many gaps in their claims that, you know, we think that experts need to evaluate.”

Lowery finds this opposition insulting.

“We have been through a process,” he says. “Matter of fact, the BIA studied us in the 1930s through a eugenics test, where they measured our nose and measured our hair and measured our eyes. And, you know, they came down and did all kinds of invasive types of stuff to our people, just to see how much Indian we were.”

Lowery says Pocahontas’ people were only recognized a few years ago. He doesn’t think the Lumbee should have to0 go through the laborious, costly administrative process.

“I’m tired of seeing our elders pass away as second-class natives in their own country,” he says. “So, I’m ready for my people to be fully recognized. I’m ready for us to be fully at the table.”