Lumbee Indians.
Jul. 12th, 2002 07:49 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
scottobear
ref: on Roanoke, for a future tale (thanks to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif){kind=small}
ldy for putting me onto a new information trail!)
The Lumbee Indians are a Native American tribe located on the banks of the Lumbee River (known in contemporary times as the Lumber River) in North Carolina. The primary cultural influence for modern day Lumbees is their Cheraw ancestry, but they have assimilated members of various neighboring tribes. Many historians believe that the Lumbee also absorbed the settlers of the "lost colony" of Roanoke, one of the first white settlements in the United States. Numbering well over 40,000 individuals, the Lumbee are the largest tribe east of the Mississippi, and the ninth largest tribe nationwide.
The colony on Roanoke Island was Sir Walter Raleigh's second attempt to colonize North America. The first batch of colonists, dispatched in 1584, was composed primarily of gentlemen farmers who were so ill-suited to the hardships of colonial life that they returned to England after just a few months in America. Raleigh, determined to stake his claim in the New World, sent a second group of 117 settlers to establish a Virginia colony in 1587. These colonists, under the leadership of John White, landed on Roanoke Island and promptly went about building an outpost.
Though this second group of colonists was of a hardier mettle than the first, they landed on Roanoke Island in the midst of summer, much too late to begin planting crops to provide them with food for the rest of the year. As the Roanoke colonists prepared to face their first winter in America, they found themselves abysmally short on supplies. So their intrepid leader, John White, agreed to sail back to England and return with additional food in time to see them through the winter.
Alas, Europe was in a state of war, and John White had to wait in England for three years before he could return to the Roanoke Colony. When he finally made it back in 1590, he found the settlement completely abandoned. The only clue as to the settlers' whereabouts was an enigmatic message carved into a gatepost: "Croatoan." White concluded that the message was meant to direct him to the settler's new place of residence, the island of Croatan (known today as Hatteras Island), home of the Cheraw Indians.
However, Sir Walter Raleigh's patent of discovery for the area had expired, and he decided that there was little financial benefit to searching for the lost settlers. A few poorly funded search parties were conducted throughout the next decade, with no results. Though there were no signs of violence or foul play, the English eventually concluded that the colonists were victims of an attack by the Croatoan Indians, who had apparently murdered every last man, woman, and child (including the famous Virginia Dare, the first white baby born in America). For the next 300 years, historians would concur with this assessment.
Though there were a few tribes in the area that were hostile to the English newcomers, the Cheraw were not one of them. In fact, the Cheraw were friendly and generally nonviolent, and had a long history of welcoming members from other cultures, mostly stragglers from other tribes. Sometime during the 17th century, the Cheraw of Croatan migrated south to escape the encroaching white settlements, as the English settlers were not as open to the idea of sharing land as the Cheraw. Upon arriving in present day Robeson County, the Cheraw probably absorbed or were absorbed by a Native American population that had existed in that vicinity since prehistory. There is evidence that Native Americans had been living in the area for millennia, but the specific history of these original residents as well as the details of the Cheraw migration are still a matter of anthropological investigation.
Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, there are many English accounts of interaction with a Native American tribe in northeastern North Carolina, who referred to themselves as "The People of the Lumbee River." Though the Lumbees practiced many customs that were considered "savage" by the Whites, they also had many practices that were curiously reminiscent of European culture. Rather than living in mud huts as did many of the neighboring tribes, this tribe lived in stone houses and log cabins. They had knowledge of reading and writing, and were familiar with Christianity, despite the fact that missionaries had not yet visited them. They spoke their own language (a derivation of the Algonquin, Tuscarora, and Cheraw languages), but they also spoke a sort of pidgin English with remarkable fluency. Some of the Lumbees were vaguely European in appearance, with pale complexions, curly hair that was often brown or even blonde in color, and blue or green eyes. Finally, the vast majority of the Lumbees possessed the same family names as the original colonists of Roanoke Island.
The mixed racial characteristics of the Lumbee people have been both a blessing and a curse throughout their history. In the 1830s, the Indian Removal Act was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Andrew Jackson. The act mandated the removal of all American Indians east of the Mississippi onto government reservations located in Oklahoma, initiating what is now known as the "Trail of Tears." The Lumbee managed to escape the horrific fate of their Cherokee neighbors because the federal government felt that the Lumbee were too "white" in appearance to justify moving them to Oklahoma.
Before, during, and after the American Civil War, the Lumbees intermarried with escaped and freed black slaves. The Lumbee practice of assimilating blacks into their cultural melting pot led to rampant discrimination and oppression by the white majority during the middle 19th century. The Lumbee were regarded as the lowest of the low on all fronts - too black to be Indian, too red to be Caucasian, and too white to be considered Negro. The Lumbee' own assertion that, regardless of skin tone, their cultural heritage qualified them as Native American fell on deaf ears. White animosity was compounded by the fact that the Lumbee were not poverty-stricken reservation dwellers, but, quite to the contrary, had built a thriving social, economic, and political base in the city of Pembroke and owned some of the richest farmland in North Carolina. In the 1860s, the assault and murder of entire Lumbee families was not uncommon, and the perpetrators not only escaped prosecution, but were often granted the right to seize the victim's farmland.
In 1885, after academic interest arose in the origins of the Lumbee, they were officially recognized as a tribe by the state legislature of North Carolina, and in 1888, the state constitution was changed to recognize the Lumbee and other tribes as citizens. The official tribal name would undergo many changes over the next few decades, and the tribe was known alternatively as the Indians of Robeson County, the Croatan, Croatoan, and Robeson Cherokee. In 1953, the North Carolina General Assembly finally changed the name of the tribe to Lumbee, which is what they had been calling themselves all along.
Having achieved state recognition, the Lumbees set about obtaining federal recognition of their tribe, leading to the introduction of no less than 12 different Lumbee-related bills in Congress over the last century. In 1956, the federal government officially recognized the Lumbee as Native American, but stopped short of declaring them to be a "tribe," thus denying the Lumbee any federal subsidies for healthcare, housing, and cultural education. Reasons for the lack of federal recognition are varied, but are most commonly linked to their genetic ties to white settlers; the Lumbees supposedly do not have the requisite "percentage of Native blood." The Lumbee petition for federal recognition is also hindered by the fact that their ancestral language has been wholly replaced by the Lumbee English dialect, a curious mixture of modern American slang, Native American vocabulary, and the Elizabethan English used by the early settlers.
By the by, the official stance on the disappearance of the Roanoke Island colony remains unchanged, and the federal government suggests that it is just as likely that the colonists all perished from starvation or simply vanished into thin air. The National Park Service's literature on the colony makes no mention of the Lumbee and declares that "the fate of the lost colonists remains one of the great mysteries of American history."
Assorted Sources... Gotta love the internet.
http://www.bartleby.com/65/lu/Lumbee.html
http://classweb.gmu.edu/mgabel/nclc110_1997/lumbee.htm
http://www.geocities.com/bigorrin/lumb.htm
http://www.lumbee.org
http://www.lumbeetribe.com/
http://www.members.tripod.com/~redheart/thelostcolony.htm
http://www.meyna.com/lumbee.html
http://www.ncsu.edu/ncsu/stud_orgs/native_american/nctribes_orgs/lumbee.html
http://www2.ncsu.edu/ncsu/univ_relations/news_services/press_releases/98_11/374.htm
http://www.nps.gov/fora/search.htm
http://www.uncp.edu/nativemuseum/right.html
http://www.millersv.edu/~columbus/papers/nixon-02.html
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no subject
Date: 2002-07-12 06:33 am (UTC)Rather than living in mud huts as did many of the neighboring tribes, this tribe lived in stone houses and log cabins. They had knowledge of reading and writing, and were familiar with Christianity, despite the fact that missionaries had not yet visited them. They spoke their own language (a derivation of the Algonquin, Tuscarora, and Cheraw languages), but they also spoke a sort of pidgin English with remarkable fluency. Some of the Lumbees were vaguely European in appearance, with pale complexions, curly hair that was often brown or even blonde in color, and blue or green eyes. Finally, the vast majority of the Lumbees possessed the same family names as the original colonists of Roanoke Island.
I find this MOST intriguing!
1790 - Locklears, Chavises, Oxendines, Hammonds, Brooks, Cumbos, Revels, Carters, and Kerseys (people with predominant Lumbee surnames) are listed on the 1790 Census of Robeson County as "All other free persons".
Wow! I'd never even heard of these folk!
Re:
Date: 2002-07-12 06:49 am (UTC)your link helped to spin off that train of thought!
I'm glad that you dig it, too!
I was amazed that I'd not heard of them... my North American tribal knowledge isn't that great outside of a little toe dipped into the information pond.
Honestly, until the other day, I was under the impression that the colonists had been massacred.
no subject
Date: 2002-07-12 08:09 am (UTC)Re:
Date: 2002-07-12 02:56 pm (UTC)Re:
Date: 2002-07-12 02:58 pm (UTC)I would like to see more research done, and have the matter settled!
no subject
Date: 2003-09-25 01:15 pm (UTC)I resist yours and other's assertion that we
"intermarried and assimilated" with African
Americans and is this lack of Native blood
that has cost us federal recogntion. That's
bull mularkey. We do have Portugeuse influence
but in no way, shape, etc. can you prove we
intermarried with African Americans. In fact,
many well known anthropologists around the turn
of the century that the majority of us were
3/4 or more blood. I wish you people would
get off your Cherokee kick and quit kicking around
the Lumbee. Sir or Madame, we were federally
acknowledged in 1956 and the reason that we were
classified as free persons of color in the civil
war period was not that we were simply Mulattos
claiming to be Native American. The truth is
that all remaining NA after the removal, yes even
the Cherokees, were classified as free persons
of color in NC. So, instead of acting like a know
it all and disparaging our racial heritage, be
an honorable person and research the facts offline
on your own. Yanire' kida ya,(see you down in the
road in our Cheraw/Eastern Siouan native language), Arvis Boughman
no subject
Date: 2003-09-25 01:42 pm (UTC)I appreciate your time taken to comment, and hope that whatever the facts are straighten out and are revealed to all persons soon.
oh that gets my f'n goat!
Date: 2003-09-25 05:36 pm (UTC)scott clearly wrote he found this information, it's not like he's writing a dissertation. this is his journal and if u don't like what he wrote then bye.
oh, and i am matrilineally (HERitage ya know) a Cherokee (with Tuscarora and Crow coming from my grandfather).
Re: oh that gets my f'n goat!
Date: 2003-09-25 05:38 pm (UTC)Re: oh that gets my f'n goat!
Date: 2003-09-25 05:39 pm (UTC)Re: oh that gets my f'n goat!
Date: 2004-03-23 03:30 pm (UTC)much room for documentation. If you want some documentation check
out a book I co-authored with another Lumbee called Herbal Remedies
of the Lumbee Indians. That should clarify some of your questions.
Arvis
Re: oh that gets my f'n goat!
Date: 2004-03-24 05:04 am (UTC)Re: oh that gets my f'n goat!
Date: 2004-08-17 07:49 am (UTC)Re: oh that gets my f'n goat!
Date: 2004-08-17 07:51 am (UTC)Re: oh that gets my f'n goat!
Date: 2005-02-24 04:26 am (UTC)I have been reading these posts and found the comment by the guy denying African ancestry interesting, if not typical of many Lumbee. You simply cannot deny the mix of African blood in many Lumbee- maybe even moreso in this day and time. There are many who are downright Negriod in their features.Many families claimed "Portugese" (there is no documentation to suggest that Portugese ever came in significant numbers to the Carolinas)- this was just a typical Cololonial era ploy to distance oneself from African blood and you get even more evidence of African heritage.
The reality is that Lumbee- myself included- are a mix of three races. It can be proven that many Locklears, Chavisis, Oxendines, etc are descended from freed slaves. It seems silly to insist that there is no African blood. It's so obvious in looking at so many Lumbees.
The Cheraw influence was there. Possibly remnants of other tribes, including Cape Fear, Waccamaw, etc. We'll never know for sure. But the guy above who said someone needs to "do their research" obviously hasn't done his.
Fred
montecristo_28557@yahoo.com
Re: oh that gets my f'n goat!
Date: 2005-02-24 04:26 am (UTC)I have been reading these posts and found the comment by the guy denying African ancestry interesting, if not typical of many Lumbee. You simply cannot deny the mix of African blood in many Lumbee- maybe even moreso in this day and time. There are many who are downright Negriod in their features.Many families claimed "Portugese" (there is no documentation to suggest that Portugese ever came in significant numbers to the Carolinas)- this was just a typical Colonial era ploy to distance oneself from African blood and you get even more evidence of African heritage.
The reality is that Lumbee- myself included- are a mix of three races. It can be proven that many Locklears, Chavisis, Oxendines, etc are descended from freed slaves. It seems silly to insist that there is no African blood. It's so obvious in looking at so many Lumbees.
The Cheraw influence was there. Possibly remnants of other tribes, including Cape Fear, Waccamaw, etc. We'll never know for sure. But the guy above who said someone needs to "do their research" obviously hasn't done his.
Fred
montecristo_28557@yahoo.com
Re: oh that gets my f'n goat!
Date: 2005-02-24 04:27 am (UTC)Cheraw/Eastern Siuoan language
Date: 2005-02-24 04:31 am (UTC)Re: Cheraw/Eastern Siuoan language
Date: 2005-03-15 10:00 pm (UTC)This is Arvis Locklear Boughman again. I tried to keep my mouth shut but sometimes you just can't help it. There is a record of words we used in our Cheraw language at Lumbee Legal Services and there are culture classes being held all over Lumbee land reteaching our historical language (see Lumbee website). As for the posturing wannabe, I am man enough to tell you who I am. Are you not man/woman enough to post who you are? Our documented history runs back over
three hundred years when my great, great, great, great, great grandfather, Robert Locklear was chief of the Cheraws. We have been
recognized by the state since the 1880's (ooh documentation).
Pretty good for a so-called wannabe group, huh?
P. S. I will be back soon offering some documentation to my
assertions in my earlier post. Arvis Locklear Boughman
Re: oh that gets my f'n goat!
Date: 2005-03-16 03:01 pm (UTC)My posts are an offshoot of a book which took my co-author and I seven years to research. It is also my opinion that if your heart was truly with your people, you would be more careful with your words. For example, the statements you made commenting on some tribal member's so-called appearance. I am not a bigot, but I question the assertions that we have a great deal of African American influence because I believe these accusations to be false and because they have been used as tool in the past to question Lumbee Indian and tribal legitimacy. I sometimes wonder why there is no mention of the European/African-American/Native American connection in other tribal groups? I have met many blonde haired blue eyed and kinky haired Native peoples from many different nations. Mr. Cristoe, if you are truly Lumbee, let me remind you that many deceased Lumbee leaders fought their whole lifetime for their Indian identity and fought against attempts to relegate them to second class Indian status or citizens. I can trace my ancestory back to Chief Robert Locklear in Marlboro County, SC as can the Chavis'(Ishmail Chavis was another Cheraw chief), Quicks, etc. However, in colonial times,Indian territories gave refuge to people of all races(i.e. Seminole, Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw). Does this make modern southeastern native peoples less "Indian"? I think not. Will all Native people you encounter look like "National Geographic Indians?" I also think not.
Mr. David McGirt is right. Mr. Adolph Dial was a friend of mine. His book "The Only Land I Know" is the best/most all encompassing work on the Lumbee. Without furthur delay let me list some OFFLINE documentation for some of my previous/questioned points.
1) The Lumbee have Portugeuse influence : Lowery, Clarence E.
The Lumbee Indians of North Caroina, Private Publication, 1962.
(I believe Mr. Adoph's book The Only Land I Know also addresses this point) Other so-called racial assertions cannot be proven.
2) There is a high degree of Indian blood, in many cases 3/4 or more
quantum within the Lumbee nation: 1923 James Henderson, BIA superintedent of the Cherokee BIA agency, National Archives Reference 93807-1923 File No. 150 Record Group 75
3) The Lumbee have had state acknowledgement since 1888 and federal acknowledgement since 1956
a)1885 Laws of North Carolina ch.51, "An Act to Provide for Seperate Schools for Croatan Indian in RObeson County," 10 Feb. 1885.
b) 84th Congress. 2nd Session P.L.84-570 "An Act Relating to the Lumbee Indians of North Carolina. 70 Stat. 254. Date 7 June 1956
4)Lumbee and Cherokee recategorized as free persons of color rather than Native American
a) N. C. Constitution, Amendments of 1835, article 1 sec.3, clause 3.Rpt. in North Carolina Government 1585-1979 (Raleigh, 1981)
5) Robert Locklear is Chief of the Cheraws in early 1700's
a)Timelines of History (http://www.members.theglobe.com./algis/1725-1749html)
6) Lumbee connected to Eastern Siouan and Cheraw tribes
a) Rights Douglas. "The Trading Path of the Indians." North Carolina Historical Review (October 1931) 8: 403-426
b) Swanton, John R. The Indian Tribes of the Southeastern United States. (Smithsonain Institution. Bereau of American Ethnology. Bulletin 137) Washington, Government Printing Office, 1946. Pp. 112, 145, 178, 183.(The BIA has traveled down to Robeson County over six times each time asserting our Indian and tribal identity)
c)South Carolina Indian, The Cheraw (http://www.sciway.net/hist/indians/cheraw.html
d)The Lumbee Homepage (http://www.lumbee.org/chr_history.html)
e) Arnett, Ethel S. The Saura and Keyauwee in the Land that Became Guilford, Randolph and Rockingham. Greensboro, N. C.: Media Inc., Printers and Publishers, 1975.
f) Knick, Stan. "How Long Have the Lumbee Been Here?" Robesonian 16 Jan 1992:4A
You really can't believe all the information you hear on the crapnet, I mean internet. In the words of Rev. Dawley Maynor's grandmother, a phrase that has been proven to be Eastern Siouan, "Epta Tewa Newasin" (Creator bless us) I hope this has been somewhat helpful.
Yanire' kida ya, Arvis Locklear Boughman
Re: oh that gets my f'n goat!
Date: 2005-03-16 05:51 pm (UTC)Below is the actual text from the Federal Register denying the petition to be federally recognized.
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Indian Affairs
50 FR 18746
May 2, 1985
Final Determination That the United Lumbee Nation of North Carolina and America, Inc. Does Not Exist as an Indian Tribe
TEXT:
April 19, 1985.
This notice is published in the exercise of authority delegated by the Secretary of the Interior to the Assistant Secretary -- Indian Affairs by 209 DM 8.
Pursuant to 25 CFR 83.9(f), notice is hereby given that the Assistant Secretary has determined that the United Lumbee Nation of North Carolina and America, Inc., does not exist as an Indian tribe within the meaning of the Federal law. This notice is based on a confirmed determination, following a review of public comments on the proposed finding, that the group does not satisfy five of the seven mandatory criteria set forth in 25 CFR 83.7 and, therefore, does not meet the requirements necessary for a government-to-government relationship with the United States.
Notice of the proposed finding to decline to acknowledge the group was first published on page 14590 of the Federal Register on Thursday, April 12, 1984. Interested parties were given 120 days in which to submit factual or legal arguments to rebut evidence used to support the proposed finding. The initial 120-day comment period was subsequently extended for an additional 120 days from September 7, 1984 when it was discovered that some of the principal parties received incomplete reports. The notice of extended appeared in the Federal Register on November 1, 1984 on page 44024.
During the comment period and its extension, one letter in agreement with the finding was receiving on July 24, 1984. This letter supported the recommendation against Federal acknowledgment in principle and provided minor corrections to some statements in the proposed finding document. In addition to the letter of support, two reports, one with supporting documents were submitted from the groups's leader, Mrs. Eva Reed, challenging the proposed finding. One was received August 13, 1984 and the other January 10, 1985. These reports were carefully considered to determine whether the evidence and arguments would strengthen the group's overall petition for acknowledgment. While these reports did provide information to correct some minor factual errors in the proposed finding, they did not present evidence which would warrant changing the conclusion that the United Lumbee Nation of North Carolina and America, Inc., does not exist as an Indian tribe within the meaning of Federal law.
Neither the original petition nor the later reports submitted by the group demonstrate that a antecedent Lumbee group existed in that part of California or that an organized group of Lumbee ever migrated there. The petitioners could not establish the group's descendency either culturally, politically, or genealogically from any tribe which existed historically in the area.
Evidence presented demonstrate that the group's membership was quite dispered, and no documentation was provided to show that a substantial portion of the group lives in a distinct community which is recognized as Indian. In addition, no evidence was offered to show that the group exercises any tribal political authority over its members.
Re: oh that gets my f'n goat!
Date: 2005-03-16 05:52 pm (UTC)The United Lumbee Nation of North Carolina and America, Inc. is a group which can be characterized as a voluntary organization. Members have the option of joining. Prospective members of the United Lumbee Nation are expected to have an interest in Indians and Indian culture and their own membership criteria require 1/16 degree of Indian blood. The group has accepted as members individuals who do not meet the blood degree requirement. United Lumbee Nation members claim to descend from a variety of recognized and unrecognized Indian tribes and groups, including, but not limited to Lumbee. Most claim Cherokee or Choctaw ancestry.
In accordance with 25 CFR 83.9(j) of the acknowledgment regulations, an analysis was made to determine what, if any, options other than acknowledgment are available under which the United Lumbee Nation could make application for services and other benefits. No viable alternatives could be found due to the group's mixed and uncertain Indian ancestry, the geographical dispersion of its membership, and the group's lack of inherent social and political cohesion and continuity. The conclusion is based on the factual arguments and evidence presented in the group's petition, the group's comments to the proposed finding, and the acknowledgment staff's independent research.
This determination is final and will become effective 60 days from the date of publication, unless the Secretary of the Interior requests the determination be reconsidered pursuant to 25 CFR 83.10.
John W. Fritz,
Deputy Assistant Secretary, Indian Affairs.
[FR Doc. 85-10732 Filed 5-1-85; 8:45 am]
Re: oh that gets my f'n goat!
Date: 2005-03-16 05:54 pm (UTC)Yum!
Re: oh that gets my f'n goat!
Date: 2005-03-16 06:02 pm (UTC)Taking an indigenous peoples law class this semester (as well having a degree in anthropology) has revealed to me that sometimes the history/ancestry of a people is contested hotly even among those claiming membership.
Causes could be:
The "English" notion of tribes as fixed when certainly from "pre-history" to "history" they were not.
The fact that many tribes were uprooted and forcefully assimilated and have lost any records oral or otherwise that would give tribal historical or ancestral info.
Re: oh that gets my f'n goat!
Date: 2005-03-16 06:05 pm (UTC)Nice to see the law POV.