For the first time since 2021, North Carolina’s Lumbee Tribe made its case in a Senate hearing that it should be granted federal recognition.
Wednesday’s hearing could be a positive step for the tribe, which has long sought the designation from Congress.
Designation would make the tribe eligible for additional federal dollars.
Senators on Wednesday held a hearing on a bill, sponsored by Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, that would grant the tribe recognition.
“This issue has come before Congress many times over the decades but never with this level of unity and support. These days it’s rare to see Republicans and Democrats come together on anything. But when it comes to Lumbee recognition, the support is overwhelming and it’s bipartisan,” Tillis told the Senate Indian Affairs Committee.
The Senate has always been the place where efforts to achieve Lumbee recognition have stalled, but it has support from President Donald Trump. It also had support from former President Joe Biden.
Before the hearing, a number of lawmakers from the state, including Tillis, joined the Lumbees to show their support.
But seeking recognition through Congress is controversial.
Numerous tribes, including the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, have spoken out against it. The Eastern Band has said there are more than a hundred tribes in the country that oppose the Lumbees going through Congress for recognition.
The Eastern Band argues the Lumbees can’t demonstrate Native ancestry and if they want recognition they should go through the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs process, not Congress.
“This issue in North Carolina has become so emotional and politically driven that it takes away from the true process that should be doing the evaluation… we just don’t feel that Congress has the tools to be able to look at the details of the merit… we need experts to make the determination,” Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Chair Michell Hicks told Spectrum News.
Hicks worries about the impact if the Senate approves Lumbee recognition. The bill has already passed the House.
“I think it potentially opens Pandora’s box because of not properly reviewing the requests, and that’s very concerning for identities in a lot of Indian country,” Hicks said.
The Lumbee chair said Wednesday that the process run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs takes too long and expressed concerns that if it went through that path, it could end up in court.
A few senators reiterated the power of Congress when it comes to granting recognition.
“If you want to make the argument that we need to build a historical record and you trust this agency within an agency more than you trust us that’s fine, that’s fair. But this is still our authority,” said Sen. Brian Schatz, a Hawaii Democrat.
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Reuben Jones
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