Opinion | Recognition

Editorial: Overdue recognition for Lumbee Tribe

Friday, May 2, 2008

"North Carolina's Lumbee tribe moved a precious step closer to full federal recognition last week when the Senate Indian Affairs Committee voted to give the tribe that status. The full Senate should now follow suit.

Sens. Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr deserve credit for working for that recognition. "We will keep pushing for the Lumbee to be fully and fairly recognized, once and for all," Dole said in a prepared statement.

The tribe has fought since the last years of the 19th century for that recognition. Congress passed legislation acknowledging the tribe in 1956. But an unfair caveat in that legislation denied the Lumbees the benefits that other federally recognized tribes receive, including substantial education and health-care benefits.

Last year, the House finally voted to give the tribe full recognition. That bill bans the Lumbees from operating a casino, as other tribes are allowed to do. We've said in this space that, while we're against gambling in general, it would be hypocritical to ban the Lumbees from operating a casino in a state where the Cherokees are already allowed to do just that.

But the Lumbees, obviously wanting to finally get the full federal recognition they've fought so long and hard for, didn't hold out for the right to operate casinos in the House bill."

Get the Story:
Editorial: Overdue recognition (The Winston-Salem Journal 5/2)

Get the Bill:
Lumbee Recognition Act (H.R.65)