Part 9: Reflections on the Battle for Lumbee Recognition

Record Number: 
BLOG028
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Locklear, Arlinda. "Part 9: Reflections on the Battle for Lumbee Recognition." YouTube. 28 April 2010.

Annotation: 

Arlinda Locklear concludes her lecture on the Lumbee's fight for recognition to a group of students at UNC- Chapel Hill in this ninth video segment by taking questions and comments from her listeners.

Question 1: "How Did the Eastern Band of Cherokee Obtain Recognition?"

Locklear says that the Cherokee were recognized by a special act of Congress in 1891; this was after the Lumbee were recognized by Congress in 1885. She also mentions that the Cherokee were recognized by the state before the Lumbee.

Question 2: "Gaming's Impact on Federal Recognition?"

Locklear answers that the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was passed by Congress in 1988. This act states that any Indian tribe could have casinos "independent of state control." Ever since then, Congress has been suspicious of any tribe seeking recognition with the intent of doing so for the gaming, Locklear says. She says that she can think of four tribes whose petitions for federal recognition were dismissed because of the Gaming Act. Locklear says that the Lumbees have an advantage in that they have been fighting for recognition over a hundred years before this act was created. So, it's obvious the Lumbee want recognition and not gaming.

Question 3: "Lumbee's Current Access to Federal Funds?"

Locklear says that because the Lumbee are already state recognized, they are eligible for many federal services offered to Indian peoples, such as "HUD Indian Housing, Indian Education, some higher education grants for the health fields," among others. She says that there are only two agencies that the Lumbee would gain services from if they were federally recognized, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Indian Health Services. So, she says, Lumbee recognition would have a smaller impact than a tribe seeking federal recognition who did not yet have state recognition.

Question 4: "Impact of Lewin Contract on Recognition?"

Locklear says that she is restricted on what she can say on this matter as she is the former representative for the Lumbee Tribe. "All I can say is I pray that our bill makes it," she answers. She says that the tribes association with gaming "undermines the tribes credibility" because they have told Congress they are not interested in gaming. She finishes by saying that she has this worry over Lewin International but that she is hopeful.

First Appeared in 1994 Book?: 
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