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- By Levi Rickert
Opinion. Just two days after CNN reported that the North Carolina GOP gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson called himself a “black NAZI” and said “slavery is not bad” in comments on an online pornographic website, former President Donald Trump campaigned on Saturday, September 21, in the state without mentioning Robinson’s name.
Just months before, in March, Trump praised Robinson as being Martin Luther King on steroids.
Yet as Trump campaigned in the state, Robinson was not even at Trump’s campaign rally. Instead Trump came to promise the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, headquartered in Pembroke, North Carolina, that if he is elected in November he would see the tribe, now a state of North Carolina tribe, receive federal recognition.
It was basically the same one he made four years ago in Lumberton, North Carolina at a rally during the 2020 presidential campaign.
While running for re-election for president October 24, 2020, Trump said at a campaign stop in Lumberton, North Carolina, he would support the Lumbee Recognition Act, a U.S. Senate bill that would grant the Lumbee Tribe full federal recognition.
"When I’m re-elected I will proudly sign the Lumbee Recognition Act, which should have been signed a long time ago,” Trump said in 2020. "And the people of North Carolina want that."
Of course, Trump was defeated by Biden in the November 2020 election, but he did not even come close to trying to make his offer come to fruition during his lame duck presidency.
Yet, he was in North Carolina telling the Lumbee Tribe it will be taken care of at the beginning of his presidency in early 2025 if he is elected.
"The Lumbee Tribe has been wrongfully denied federal recognition for more than a century," Trump declared. "But now we're going to take care of it. We'll take care of it right at the beginning."
“Today, I’m officially announcing that if I am elected in November, I will sign legislation granting the great Lumbee Tribe the federal recognition that it deserves,” he added.
It should be noted that presidents of the United States cannot grant federal recognition to tribes. There are two paths for state tribes to gain federal recognition–through a congressional act or through a rigorous process with the Department of the Interior.
The Lumbee Tribe, with a rich history dating back hundreds of years, has long sought federal recognition, according to its official website. In 1956, the U.S. Congress enacted a law that acknowledged the Lumbee Tribe as a Native American tribe, but provided no federal funding that usually goes with federal recognition.
The story of federal recognition for the Lumbee Tribe has been painstaking for its leadership for over a century. The tribe gained state recognition from the state of North Carolina almost 140 years ago in 1885. Through multiple decades, the tribe attempted to gain federal recognition.
In the 1980’s the Lumbee sought to gain federal recognition through the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Office of Federal Acknowledgement lengthy process. The agency determined, however, that since the Lumbee had already been recognized by Congress in 1956, they were ineligible to participate in the process. They would need to return to Congress for full recognition.
Thus began the years of submitting bills to Congress for recognition.
In 2016, however, the Solicitor of the Interior Department determined that the Lumbee are eligible to petition the Office of Federal Acknowledgement for recognition.
So far, the Lumbee have chosen instead to pursue recognition through Congress.
During the 2020 presidential election, Joe Biden promised to assist the Lumbees receive federal recognition two weeks before Trump stated his support.
In March 2023, the two North Carolina senators: Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC) introduced the Lumbee Fairness Act, legislation to grant federal benefits to the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina that every other federally-recognized tribe receives.
So far, it has lingered in the Senate with little progress.
After Trump announced his support for federal recognition for the Lumbee Tribe on September 21, Native News Online reached out to the Harris for President campaign.
“Vice President Kamala Harris has long believed the Lumbee Tribe deserves the federal recognition that they have fought for and she will continue to push Congress as she stands with them in that fight. She will always advocate for Tribal Nations and Native communities, honor Tribal sovereignty, respect Tribal self-determination, and fight for a future where every Native person can realize their aspirations,” campaign spokesperson Jaidan Idarraga said in a statement.
So, in essence, the Lumbee citizens should not base their decision on who to support for president based on the candidate's support of federal recognition for their tribe. In that regard, they are tied.
There is much more to base their decisions beyond that single issue.
Thayék gde nwéndëmen - We are all related.
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