The U.S. Capitol pictured on Nov. 26, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Shauneen Miranda/States Newsroom)
Congress will again consider granting federal tribal recognition to the Lumbee of North Carolina under the second Trump administration after a bipartisan group of lawmakers from the state introduced a bill to do so Thursday.
The bill, put forward by Republican lead sponsors Sen. Thom Tillis and Sen. Ted Budd as well as Rep. David Rouzer and Rep. Mark Harris, would provide federal rights to the group of more than 55,000, granting them access to benefits received by other recognized tribes, such as financial, housing, and health care assistance. The lead sponsors were joined by four other Republicans and three Democrats from North Carolina in introducing the bill.
“I am dedicated to ensuring that Congress fulfills its six-decade-old promise to grant full federal recognition to the Lumbee people. We are now closer than ever to finally fulfilling that promise,” Tillis said in a press release. “There is clearly strong bipartisan support for this effort in Congress, and both President Biden and President-elect Trump firmly back recognition. This bill has passed the House with overwhelming bipartisan support over the past three Congresses. I will continue to pursue all options to finally achieve full federal recognition for the Lumbee Tribe.”
Near the end of the previous Congress, a bill for Lumbee recognition passed the House of Representatives in a 311 to 96 vote, but was not taken up by the Senate. President Donald Trump promised on the campaign trail to sign recognition for the Lumbee into law should a bill reach his desk.
“The Lumbee tribe has been wrongfully denied federal recognition for more than a century,” Trump said in a Wilmington rally last September. “If I am elected in November, I will sign legislation granting the great Lumbee Tribe the federal recognition that it deserves.”
While the North Carolina General Assembly recognized the Lumbee in 1885, they have been unable to gain federal recognition as a tribe in the 140 years since. Despite pledges for tribal recognition by both Trump and President Joe Biden during the 2020 campaign, Lumbee recognition did not become law in the four years that followed. Both candidates in the 2024 race backed recognition as well.
In 1956, Congress recognized Native Americans living in Robeson County and its neighboring counties as the “Lumbee Indians of North Carolina,” but prevented them from receiving the rights and benefits afforded to federally recognized tribes — consistent with other efforts to curtail tribal self-governance under the Eisenhower administration.
“It is long past time that the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina receives full federal recognition,” said Rep. Deborah Ross, a Democrat. “I am proud to join my North Carolina colleagues on both sides of the aisle in reintroducing the Lumbee Fairness Act, which would give the Lumbee Tribe the recognition they deserve. This critical, bipartisan legislation passed the House last Congress, and I am hopeful we can get it done this Congress.”
Recognition for the Lumbee has long been opposed by North Carolina’s Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians as well as other Cherokee tribes across the U.S., who contend that the historical record does not support the claims of the Lumbee. They note that the group identified as the Cherokee Indians of Robeson County in the early 20th century prior to seeking recognition as the Lumbee Tribe.
“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,” said Principal Chief Michell Hicks in December after the House approved. Lumbee recognition. “Congress must not ignore recent expert analysis that reveals serious questions about the Lumbee’s claims.”
Opponents of a bill recognizing the Lumbee have said they should instead press their claim through the Bureau of Indian Affairs, whose Office of Federal Acknowledgment vets tribal claims using anthropological, genealogical, and historical evidence. A Lumbee petition for recognition was previously rejected by that office in 1985. Until 2016, the Department of the Interior interpreted the Lumbee Act of 1956 as preventing the Lumbee from seeking recognition through this route.