Timeline of Lumbee history
Encyclopedia
The following is a timeline of the history of the Lumbee
tribe of North Carolina
, and some of their hypothesized ancestors.
, Pee Dee
, Waccamaw
, and Scavano Indians who continue to live on their traditional lands along the Pee Dee River
at what is now the border of North Carolina
and South Carolina
, and near its tributary Drowning Creek in Robeson County, North Carolina
.
disappear from the historical record. While some historians believe that they are absorbed by the Catawba
, others contend that they amalgamate with other remnant Southeastern Siouan Piedmont groups in the largely uncharted region of present-day Robeson, Scotland, Moore, Hoke, and Cumberland counties. To the south, with the acceleration of the slave trade and decline of the deerskin trade, the influence of the powerful Catawba
confederacy begins to wane. By the end of the 19th century, the Catawba
will have been reduced to inhabiting a one square-mile reservation in South Carolina
.
Governor Matthew Rowan proclaims Drowning Creek (now Lumbee, or Lumber River
) a "frontier
to the Indians", and states that there are "no Indians in the county."
Colonial records describe a "mix'd crew" of some fifty families living on Drowning Creek without official patent to the land. A surveyor is shot.
"We the Tuskarora Indians Petition Your Excely. and Council to Grant a Pattent,
or Some Better Title for Our Land for the White folks tells this is good for
nothing and they Come and Settle Without leave Sale our Timber and Drive Stocks
of all sorts: We hope Care will be Taken to protect us in Quiet Possession of Our
land and from the White People Abusing us
James Blount
for the Tuscarora Nation"
On May 4, 1769, a James Blount – probably the prominent land speculator – was issued a land grant of 500 acres (2 km²) on Flowers Swamp in what would later become Robeson County North Carolina.
.
, North Carolina
disenfranchises "Free People of Color" by passing laws that prevent them from voting as well as owning and using firearms.
"The County of Robeson is cursed with a free-colored population that migrated originally from the districts round
about the Roanoke and Neuse rivers…." (Sider's "Living Indian Histories" page 173")
's ban on firearms with the conviction of Noel Locklear in the State v. Locklear for the illegal possession of firearms.
, North Carolina
begins to forcibly conscript young Indian men from Robeson County through the auspices of the Robeson County's Home Guard
. After the murder of his father and brother, Henry Berry Lowrie
organizes a gang to fight the Confederate Home Guard.
and his band of banditti against those elites Lowrie War
in Robeson County, North Carolina
. The Lowrie gang, led by Henry Berry Lowrie
, engages in many robberies and murders, fighting against both the Confederate Home Guard
and the Ku Klux Klan
.
The exploits of the gang made many take notice of their people and it is because of them that the first accounts as to the Robeson County Indians true origins would come about.
"A century ago, a few members of the Tuscarora tribe of Indians lived upon the banks of the Roanoke river in Halifax County, N.C. and obtained a livelihood by hunting and fishing, but the encrouchments of the planters finally forced them to leave. They removed to Robeson County, and settled on the sandy patches of land situated amongst the slashes and swamps of the PeeDee and Lumber rivers, near the border line between the States of North and South Carolina……." (State archives “Gorman Papers”, and with the Gorman family, Durham N.C. circa 1917)
That same year Mary Normant's "The Lowrie History, as acted in part by Henry Berry Lowrie" (1st published in 1875, in Wilmington N.C.; third edition 1909 with Appendix) states that James Lowrie's (the grandfather of all the Lowries in Robeson) wife Sarah Kersey (nicknamed Sally Kersey.) was a half-breed Tuscarora Indian woman. Normant went on to state that this was "not current rumor, but a true statement as given by James Lowrie himself" she listed 8 witnesses who could attest to this before stating "and last, though not least, by the late John Gilchrist, Esq., long a practicing lawyer at the Lumberton Bar, whose father bought out James Lowrie in 1791, at the close of the Revolutionary War." Normant also went on to specifically address both a Locklear and Cumbo woman as being half breed Tuscaroras as well.
," and establishes a separate school system for the Indians. The theory of Lost Colony origins is first advanced by the Conservative Democrat, Hamilton McMillan, who represents Robeson County in the state legislature. McMillan's effort to curry favor with the Indians of Robeson County was part of a larger scheme to acrue gains for Democrats in Robeson County and regain political control in Post-Reconstruction North Carolina
.
On February 12, of that same year (just two days after the tribe was recognized under the Croatan name) the following was printed in the Fayetteville Observer (the full article can be found on microfilm in their files):
"In one of his letters from Raleigh to his paper, the Asheville Citizen, Col. Jno. C. Cameron gives an interesting account of the information obtained from our friend, Mr. Hamilton McMillan, who represents Robeson county in the senate concerning his bill for separate schools for the Croatan Indians in that county-- as follows:"
in the third paragraph down it reads:
"They say that their traditions say that the people we call the Croatan Indians (though they do not recognize that name as that of a tribe, but only a village, and that they were Tuscaroras), were always friendly to the whites; and finding them destitute and despairing of ever receiving aid from England, persuaded them to leave the Island, and go to the mainland.…They gradually drifted away from their original seats, and at length settled in Robeson, about the center of the county"
(now The University of North Carolina at Pembroke
) with oversight from the state.
changes the name of the tribe to "Indians of Robeson County."
.
anthropologist, John R. Swanton
, studies the tribe, and speculates that based on the evidence available (which included no genealogical research or exposure to any writings older than McMillan’s official testimony to the state) the Lumbee were probably primarily descended from the Cheraw and other closely related Siouan speaking tribes. Swanton also stated that the Keyauwee had probably contributed more blood than the rest, but that the Cheraw name would be more appropriate because they have been mentioned more often throughout history.
.
.
members led by Wizard James W. "Catfish" Cole in a confrontation near Maxton, North Carolina
. The incident receives national attention. One headline read, "Indians Rout The Klan." The event is remembered as the "Battle of Hayes Pond
" and ends Klan
intimidation of the Lumbee.
, the Lumbee Bank, is established in Pembroke, North Carolina
.
to serve in the North Carolina House of Representatives.
, opens in Pembroke, North Carolina
.
The University of North Carolina at Pembroke
celebrates 100th anniversary.
, Lumbee John Oxendine
is elected statewide as Commissioner of Insurance.
Lumbee Tribal Council elections are held.
Lumbee
The Lumbee belong to a state recognized Native American tribe in North Carolina. The Lumbee are concentrated in Robeson County and named for the primary waterway traversing the county...
tribe of North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, and some of their hypothesized ancestors.
1725
John Herbert, Commissioner of Indian Trade for the Wineau Factory publishes a map in 1725 and identifies enclaves of CherawCheraw (tribe)
The Cheraw , were a tribe of Siouan-speaking Amerindians first encountered by Hernando De Soto in 1540. The name they called themselves is lost to history but the Cherokee called them Ani-suwa'ii and the Catawba Sara...
, Pee Dee
Pee Dee
The Pee Dee region of South Carolina is the northeastern corner of the state. It is the area of the lower watershed of the Pee Dee River, named after the Pee Dee Native American tribe. Its center is Florence...
, Waccamaw
Waccamaw
The Waccamaw Indians of South Carolina, distinct from the Waccamaw Siouan Indians of North Carolina, are the first state-recognized tribe of Native Americans in South Carolina...
, and Scavano Indians who continue to live on their traditional lands along the Pee Dee River
Pee Dee River
The Pee Dee River, also known as the Great Pee Dee River, is a river in North Carolina and South Carolina. It originates in the Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina, where its upper course above the mouth of the Uwharrie River is known as the Yadkin River. It is extensively dammed for flood...
at what is now the border of North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
and South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
, and near its tributary Drowning Creek in Robeson County, North Carolina
Robeson County, North Carolina
Robeson County is a county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of 2010 it had a population of 134,168. Since then, it has been one of the 10% of United States counties that were majority-minority; its combined population of American Indian, African American and Latino residents comprise over...
.
1726–1739
The CherawCheraw (tribe)
The Cheraw , were a tribe of Siouan-speaking Amerindians first encountered by Hernando De Soto in 1540. The name they called themselves is lost to history but the Cherokee called them Ani-suwa'ii and the Catawba Sara...
disappear from the historical record. While some historians believe that they are absorbed by the Catawba
Catawba
Catawba may refer to several things:*Catawba , a Native American tribe*Catawban languages-Botany:*Catalpa, a genus of trees, based on the name used by the Catawba and other Native American tribes*Catawba , a variety of grape...
, others contend that they amalgamate with other remnant Southeastern Siouan Piedmont groups in the largely uncharted region of present-day Robeson, Scotland, Moore, Hoke, and Cumberland counties. To the south, with the acceleration of the slave trade and decline of the deerskin trade, the influence of the powerful Catawba
Catawba
Catawba may refer to several things:*Catawba , a Native American tribe*Catawban languages-Botany:*Catalpa, a genus of trees, based on the name used by the Catawba and other Native American tribes*Catawba , a variety of grape...
confederacy begins to wane. By the end of the 19th century, the Catawba
Catawba
Catawba may refer to several things:*Catawba , a Native American tribe*Catawban languages-Botany:*Catalpa, a genus of trees, based on the name used by the Catawba and other Native American tribes*Catawba , a variety of grape...
will have been reduced to inhabiting a one square-mile reservation in South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
.
1752
The southern Tuscarora living on the Bertie County reservation in North Carolina were said to number about 300 men. According to an estimate made two years later this indicates that there were probably about 600 women and children living there as well at this time. (http://www.carolana.com/native_americans_tuscarora.html).1753
North CarolinaNorth Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
Governor Matthew Rowan proclaims Drowning Creek (now Lumbee, or Lumber River
Lumber River
The Lumber River is a river in south-central North Carolina in the flat Coastal Plain. European settlers first called the river Drowning Creek, which still is the name of its headwater. The waterway known as the Lumber River extends downstream from the Scotland County-Hoke County border to the...
) a "frontier
Frontier
A frontier is a political and geographical term referring to areas near or beyond a boundary. 'Frontier' was absorbed into English from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"--the region of a country that fronts on another country .The use of "frontier" to mean "a region at the...
to the Indians", and states that there are "no Indians in the county."
1754
By this period the population of the Tuscarora Bertie county reservation had dropped by two thirds, there were now said to be only 100 men and 200 women and children.Colonial records describe a "mix'd crew" of some fifty families living on Drowning Creek without official patent to the land. A surveyor is shot.
1757
Bertie County Tuscarora chieftain James Blount writes:"We the Tuskarora Indians Petition Your Excely. and Council to Grant a Pattent,
or Some Better Title for Our Land for the White folks tells this is good for
nothing and they Come and Settle Without leave Sale our Timber and Drive Stocks
of all sorts: We hope Care will be Taken to protect us in Quiet Possession of Our
land and from the White People Abusing us
James Blount
for the Tuscarora Nation"
1766–1769
James Blount was last mentioned as being a Chieftain on the Tuscarora Reservation in Bertie County NC in 1766, according to the "Bladen County deeds Book 20 Page 424, and "The Tuscaroras" vol 2, by F.Roy Johnson (taken from the "LRDA" Settlement Pattern Study):On May 4, 1769, a James Blount – probably the prominent land speculator – was issued a land grant of 500 acres (2 km²) on Flowers Swamp in what would later become Robeson County North Carolina.
1790
United States Census lists common Lumbee surnames, including Locklear, Oxendine, Chavis, Jacobs, Lowery, Hammonds, Brooks, Brayboy, Cumbo, Ransom, Revels, Carter, Dial, Deese, and Kersey, without racial designation as "All other free persons." Indians were not enumerated in North Carolina in the census.1812
Thomas "Big Tom" Locklear and Silas Strickland, two Lumbee ancestors, muster during War of 1812War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
.
1835
Against the backdrop of Indian removalIndian Removal
Indian removal was a nineteenth century policy of the government of the United States to relocate Native American tribes living east of the Mississippi River to lands west of the river...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
disenfranchises "Free People of Color" by passing laws that prevent them from voting as well as owning and using firearms.
1840
On November 28, 36 White Robeson County citizens petition the General Assembly of North Carolina complaining that:"The County of Robeson is cursed with a free-colored population that migrated originally from the districts round
about the Roanoke and Neuse rivers…." (Sider's "Living Indian Histories" page 173")
1835–1852
Court dockets for Robeson County are replete with suits filed by Robeson County Indians who contest the ban on owning and using firearms.1853
The North Carolina Supreme Court upholds the constitutionality of North CarolinaNorth Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
's ban on firearms with the conviction of Noel Locklear in the State v. Locklear for the illegal possession of firearms.
1861–1865
Well into the Civil WarAmerican Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
begins to forcibly conscript young Indian men from Robeson County through the auspices of the Robeson County's Home Guard
Confederate Home Guard
The Confederate Home Guard was a somewhat loosely organized militia that was under the direction and authority of the Confederate States of America, working in coordination with the Confederate Army, and was tasked with both the defense of the Confederate home front during the American Civil War,...
. After the murder of his father and brother, Henry Berry Lowrie
Henry Berry Lowrie
Henry Berry Lowrie or "Lowry" led an outlaw gang in North Carolina during and after the American Civil War. He is sometimes viewed as a Robin Hood type figure, especially by the Lumbee and Tuscarora people, who consider him one of their tribe and a pioneer in the fight for their civil rights and...
organizes a gang to fight the Confederate Home Guard.
1863–1872
The reprisals of Henry Berry LowrieHenry Berry Lowrie
Henry Berry Lowrie or "Lowry" led an outlaw gang in North Carolina during and after the American Civil War. He is sometimes viewed as a Robin Hood type figure, especially by the Lumbee and Tuscarora people, who consider him one of their tribe and a pioneer in the fight for their civil rights and...
and his band of banditti against those elites Lowrie War
Henry Berry Lowrie
Henry Berry Lowrie or "Lowry" led an outlaw gang in North Carolina during and after the American Civil War. He is sometimes viewed as a Robin Hood type figure, especially by the Lumbee and Tuscarora people, who consider him one of their tribe and a pioneer in the fight for their civil rights and...
in Robeson County, North Carolina
Robeson County, North Carolina
Robeson County is a county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of 2010 it had a population of 134,168. Since then, it has been one of the 10% of United States counties that were majority-minority; its combined population of American Indian, African American and Latino residents comprise over...
. The Lowrie gang, led by Henry Berry Lowrie
Henry Berry Lowrie
Henry Berry Lowrie or "Lowry" led an outlaw gang in North Carolina during and after the American Civil War. He is sometimes viewed as a Robin Hood type figure, especially by the Lumbee and Tuscarora people, who consider him one of their tribe and a pioneer in the fight for their civil rights and...
, engages in many robberies and murders, fighting against both the Confederate Home Guard
Confederate Home Guard
The Confederate Home Guard was a somewhat loosely organized militia that was under the direction and authority of the Confederate States of America, working in coordination with the Confederate Army, and was tasked with both the defense of the Confederate home front during the American Civil War,...
and the Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
.
The exploits of the gang made many take notice of their people and it is because of them that the first accounts as to the Robeson County Indians true origins would come about.
1872
George A Townsend's "The Swamp Outlaws," is published in which he states that the Lowries are of mixed Tuscarora Indian blood. Townsend also states in reference to Pop Oxendine that "Like the rest, he had the Tuscarora Indian blood in him" as well.1875
Circa 1875 General Jno C. Gorman (who was at one time in charge of capturing the Lowrie gang) writes in his memoirs in reference to his tour of duty in Robeson County:"A century ago, a few members of the Tuscarora tribe of Indians lived upon the banks of the Roanoke river in Halifax County, N.C. and obtained a livelihood by hunting and fishing, but the encrouchments of the planters finally forced them to leave. They removed to Robeson County, and settled on the sandy patches of land situated amongst the slashes and swamps of the PeeDee and Lumber rivers, near the border line between the States of North and South Carolina……." (State archives “Gorman Papers”, and with the Gorman family, Durham N.C. circa 1917)
That same year Mary Normant's "The Lowrie History, as acted in part by Henry Berry Lowrie" (1st published in 1875, in Wilmington N.C.; third edition 1909 with Appendix) states that James Lowrie's (the grandfather of all the Lowries in Robeson) wife Sarah Kersey (nicknamed Sally Kersey.) was a half-breed Tuscarora Indian woman. Normant went on to state that this was "not current rumor, but a true statement as given by James Lowrie himself" she listed 8 witnesses who could attest to this before stating "and last, though not least, by the late John Gilchrist, Esq., long a practicing lawyer at the Lumberton Bar, whose father bought out James Lowrie in 1791, at the close of the Revolutionary War." Normant also went on to specifically address both a Locklear and Cumbo woman as being half breed Tuscaroras as well.
1885
The North Carolina General Assembly recognizes the Indians of Robeson County as "CroatanCroatan
The Croatan were a small Native American group living in the coastal areas of what is now North Carolina. They may have been a branch of the larger Roanoke people or allied with them....
," and establishes a separate school system for the Indians. The theory of Lost Colony origins is first advanced by the Conservative Democrat, Hamilton McMillan, who represents Robeson County in the state legislature. McMillan's effort to curry favor with the Indians of Robeson County was part of a larger scheme to acrue gains for Democrats in Robeson County and regain political control in Post-Reconstruction North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
.
On February 12, of that same year (just two days after the tribe was recognized under the Croatan name) the following was printed in the Fayetteville Observer (the full article can be found on microfilm in their files):
"In one of his letters from Raleigh to his paper, the Asheville Citizen, Col. Jno. C. Cameron gives an interesting account of the information obtained from our friend, Mr. Hamilton McMillan, who represents Robeson county in the senate concerning his bill for separate schools for the Croatan Indians in that county-- as follows:"
in the third paragraph down it reads:
"They say that their traditions say that the people we call the Croatan Indians (though they do not recognize that name as that of a tribe, but only a village, and that they were Tuscaroras), were always friendly to the whites; and finding them destitute and despairing of ever receiving aid from England, persuaded them to leave the Island, and go to the mainland.…They gradually drifted away from their original seats, and at length settled in Robeson, about the center of the county"
1887
The Indians of Robeson County build the Croatan Indian Normal SchoolNormal school
A normal school is a school created to train high school graduates to be teachers. Its purpose is to establish teaching standards or norms, hence its name...
(now The University of North Carolina at Pembroke
University of North Carolina at Pembroke
The University of North Carolina at Pembroke , also known as UNC Pembroke, is a public, co-educational, historically American Indian liberal arts university in the town of Pembroke in Robeson County, North Carolina....
) with oversight from the state.
1890
The North Carolina Supreme Court rules that Indian school committees have ultimate authority as to whether children are Indians and therefore eligible for tribal schools. The Croatan school board sets up "blood committees" to determine a child's right to attend the school based on his or her blood purity.1911
The North Carolina General AssemblyNorth Carolina General Assembly
The North Carolina General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of North Carolina. The General Assembly drafts and legislates the state laws of North Carolina, also known as the General Statutes...
changes the name of the tribe to "Indians of Robeson County."
1912
The Department of Interior sent Charles F. Pierce, the Supervisor of Indian Schools, to Robeson County to conduct a study of the tribe. Pierce reported that the state and county were providing funds to educate the 1,976 school-age Indian children. He also stated in his report that "…one would readily class a large majority [of the Lumbee] as being at least three-fourths Indian".1913
North Carolina legislature changes the tribe's name to the "Cherokee Indians of Robeson County" at the request of the group.1914
Indian Agent O. M. McPherson speculates that the Lumbee may descend in part from the CherawCheraw (tribe)
The Cheraw , were a tribe of Siouan-speaking Amerindians first encountered by Hernando De Soto in 1540. The name they called themselves is lost to history but the Cherokee called them Ani-suwa'ii and the Catawba Sara...
.
1924
The Lumbee Tribe unsuccessfully petitions the Federal Government for recognition as "Siouan Indians."1933
A Smithsonian InstitutionSmithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
anthropologist, John R. Swanton
John R. Swanton
John Reed Swanton was an American anthropologist and linguist who worked with Native American peoples throughout the United States. Swanton achieved recognition in the fields of ethnology and ethnohistory...
, studies the tribe, and speculates that based on the evidence available (which included no genealogical research or exposure to any writings older than McMillan’s official testimony to the state) the Lumbee were probably primarily descended from the Cheraw and other closely related Siouan speaking tribes. Swanton also stated that the Keyauwee had probably contributed more blood than the rest, but that the Cheraw name would be more appropriate because they have been mentioned more often throughout history.
1934
Tribal leaders, calling themselves The "Cherokee Indians of Robeson County" join the National Congress of American IndiansNational Congress of American Indians
The National Congress of American Indians is a American Indian and Alaska Native indigenous rights organization. It was founded in 1944 in response to termination and assimilation policies that the U.S. government forced upon the tribal governments in contradiction of their treaty rights and...
.
1937
The Robeson County "Original 22" Tuscarora are federally recognized under the Wheeler-Howard-Indian Reorganization Act, allowing them federal benefits, the ability to organize as a tribe on paper, and to have land taken into trust by the Federal government.1952
Dropping "Cherokee," following the leadership of D.F. Lowrie the tribe votes to adopt the name "Lumbee" after the Lumbee, or Lumber RiverLumber River
The Lumber River is a river in south-central North Carolina in the flat Coastal Plain. European settlers first called the river Drowning Creek, which still is the name of its headwater. The waterway known as the Lumber River extends downstream from the Scotland County-Hoke County border to the...
.
1956
The U.S. Congress recognizes name change and recognizes the Lumbee as American Indians. Lumbee use the Lumbee Bill to seek termination of the federal status of the "Original 22" Tuscarora, forcing them to fall under the Lumbee Bill without giving Tuscarora the right to testify. Specific language in the Lumbee Act, denies the tribe the customary Indian financial benefits.1958
Over five hundred armed Lumbees rout a group of protesting Ku Klux KlanKu Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
members led by Wizard James W. "Catfish" Cole in a confrontation near Maxton, North Carolina
Maxton, North Carolina
Maxton is a town in Robeson County and Scotland County Counties, North Carolina, in the United States. The population was 2,551 at the time of the 2000 U.S. Census.-History:...
. The incident receives national attention. One headline read, "Indians Rout The Klan." The event is remembered as the "Battle of Hayes Pond
Battle of Hayes Pond
The Battle of Hayes Pond refers to an armed confrontation between the Ku Klux Klan and Lumbee men near Maxton, North Carolina, on the night of January 18, 1958...
" and ends Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
intimidation of the Lumbee.
1959
April 2, 1959, several Iroquois from New York, including renowned Tuscarora, Wallace “Mad Bear” Anderson, visit Robeson County to talk with leaders of the newly created “Lumbee Tribe”. Secondly, was for Mad Bear to meet Rev. D. F. Lowry, who was known to be a Tuscarora himself. Lowry was supposedly unable to be contacted. (Robesonian Article and photographs, April 2, 1959)1971
The first Indian-owned bank in United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the Lumbee Bank, is established in Pembroke, North Carolina
Pembroke, North Carolina
Pembroke is a town in Robeson County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 2,399, at the 2000 census, 89% of which is Native American...
.
1973
Henry Ward Oxendine, a Lumbee Indian, is the first Indian born in North CarolinaNorth Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
to serve in the North Carolina House of Representatives.
1976
The outdoor drama Strike at the Wind, the story of Henry Berry LowrieHenry Berry Lowrie
Henry Berry Lowrie or "Lowry" led an outlaw gang in North Carolina during and after the American Civil War. He is sometimes viewed as a Robin Hood type figure, especially by the Lumbee and Tuscarora people, who consider him one of their tribe and a pioneer in the fight for their civil rights and...
, opens in Pembroke, North Carolina
Pembroke, North Carolina
Pembroke is a town in Robeson County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 2,399, at the 2000 census, 89% of which is Native American...
.
1987
The Lumbee Tribe petitions the United States Department of the Interior for federal acknowledgment. Their petition is denied due to language in the Lumbee Act of 1956.The University of North Carolina at Pembroke
University of North Carolina at Pembroke
The University of North Carolina at Pembroke , also known as UNC Pembroke, is a public, co-educational, historically American Indian liberal arts university in the town of Pembroke in Robeson County, North Carolina....
celebrates 100th anniversary.
1994
Glen Maynor is elected sheriff of Robeson County, and Joanne Locklear is elected Clerk of Court for Robeson County, the first Lumbees to hold these positions. In GeorgiaGeorgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, Lumbee John Oxendine
John Oxendine
John W. Oxendine is an American politician who served four terms as Insurance Commissioner of the U.S. state of Georgia. Oxendine is of Lumbee heritage, an Indian tribe from North Carolina. A member of the Republican party, he was first elected commissioner in 1994 and was reelected in 1998,...
is elected statewide as Commissioner of Insurance.
2001
A Lumbee Tribal Government is elected and sworn into office as the Lumbee resume their campaign to achieve full federal recognition as an Indian tribe.2003
Bills are introduced in the House of Representatives (H.R. 898) and the Senate (S.420) to extend full federal recognition to the Lumbee Tribe.Lumbee Tribal Council elections are held.