The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ chief expressed disappointment in the U.S. House passing a bill that would extend federal recognition and sovereignty to the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina.
“This bill, if enacted, would establish a dangerous precedent for federal recognition, abandoning the requirement of historical, genealogical, and cultural evidence,” Eastern Cherokee Principal Chief Michell Hicks said in a statement this week.
The bill, H.R. 1101, passed the House in a vote of 311-96 on Dec. 17 and was sent to the Senate. U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards, a Republican who represents the Western North Carolina region where the Qualla Boundary – the Cherokee’s sovereign nation – is located, voted against the bill.
The Lumbee, based in Robeson County, have been fighting for full federal recognition since the federal government process was established in 1978. There are about 55,000 members of the tribe.
The U.S. Supreme Court first officially recognized the sovereign status of Native American tribes in the 1830s, but so far the Lumbee have only received partial recognition – which lacks federal benefits such as inclusion in Bureau of Indian Affairs services or the opportunity to open a casino.
Currently, the Eastern Band of Cherokee is the only Indigenous tribe federally recognized in North Carolina.
In his opposition to federal recognition for the Lumbee, Hicks repeated claims that “the Lumbee cannot even specify which historical tribe they descend from, and recent research has underscored the dangers of legislative recognition without proper verification.”
According to Lumbee tribal history, their ancestors were “survivors of tribal nations from the Algonquian, Iroquoian, and Siouan language families, including the Hatteras, the Tuscarora, and the Cheraw.”
“The Lumbee Fairness Act will modify the Lumbee Act, passed in 1956 during the era of ‘Indian Termination,’ and place our Tribe on equal footing with other federally recognized tribes and end our status as second-class Native people,” Lumbee Tribal Chairman John L. Lowery said in a press release.
Hicks argues the federal recognition process should go through the Office of Federal Acknowledgment (OFA), not through Congress.
“The Office of Federal Acknowledgment exists to ensure groups seeking recognition provide verified genealogical and historical evidence. Circumventing this process undermines the integrity of federal recognition and the sacrifices tribes have made to protect their sovereignty and culture,” Hicks said.
“Allowing this bill to pass would harm tribal nations across the country by creating a shortcut to recognition that diminishes the sacrifices of tribes who have fought for years to protect their identity. … Instead, the Senate should direct the Lumbee to seek recognition through the OFA, where their claims can be evaluated based on the facts,” he said.
In response to the recent pushback, Lowery wrote in a statement this month: “The Lumbee will not allow our people to be pushed in the corner by those who suffer from a superiority complex.
“Have no illusions, the Eastern Band’s leadership feels they are superior to Lumbee and act as if they have some perceived moral high ground because their legislative recognition was prior to ours or because their history is more widely known. They are mistaken on all accounts and history will paint them as wrong once the ink dries on this time period in our lives!”
The Eastern Band was recognized in the late 1800s. The Qualla Boundary, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians land, was established in 1876. There are 574 federally recognized tribes in 37 states.
This isn’t the first time that a bill to recognize the Lumbee has made it to representatives. In 2020, former President Donald Trump and then-Democratic nominee Joe Biden supported the recognition.
Hicks cited opposition from other tribal leaders across the country and said: “I urge Senators to reject this bill and uphold the standards that protect all tribal nations from harm and injustice.”
