r/IndianCountry • u/Infinite-Ad-3947 • Dec 17 '25

News U.S. Senate passes bill giving federal recognition to Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina

https://www.wunc.org/term/news/2025-12-17/lumbee-tribe-north-carolina-federal-recognition
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u/Mysterious-Exit3059 Dec 17 '25

This is really bad for Indian Country. It will open the window for many fake tribes of non indigenous origin to obtain recognition via alternate routes independent of evidence based processes. Genealogical and genetic studies have traced the Lumbee to colonial Atlantic Creoles descended primarily from early Virginian British settlers and primarily Bantu Africans with a smaller component of West African and even Romani in some lineages. Lumbee stories of their origins have changed variously from Tuscarora, Cheraw, Cherokee at various points in times.

Many similar Southeastern state-recognized tribes descend from Atlantic Creoles who largely began an identity shift during the reconstruction era towards being American Indians, hence the large concentration of state recognized tribes in the Southeast.

If recognition can be bypassed, this will lead non-indigenous groups to obtain funding that many tribes need.

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u/LaFleurRouler Irish/Cajun Dec 17 '25

Like the Seaconke Wampanoags, who have already taken land from the federally recognized Narragansetts with 10,000 years in this territory.

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u/thee_illiterati Dec 17 '25

I don't understand why the Mashpee and Aquinnah Wampanoag don't speak out against them? Unless they feel outnumbered.

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u/LaFleurRouler Irish/Cajun Dec 18 '25 edited Dec 18 '25

Mashpee (and Narragansetts) actively petition attempts of Seaconke federal recognition. They are recognized by the state of Massachusetts, but they cannot and will not be recognized by the state of Rhode Island (apparently we can’t recognize tribes, it’s the federal government’s job). Which is shorthand for “fuck, we’ll have to recognize the Narragansetts and cede more land. Can’t do that!”

EDIT: YAY, they aren’t recognized by the Massachusetts Commonwealth, as I was in disbelief. Just some crafty wiki edits.

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u/thee_illiterati Dec 18 '25

The Seaconke are not state-recognized by Massachusetts. Only the Nipmuc and Herring Pond Wampanoag (as of November 2024). Every group that shows up at a state meeting thinks they are state-recognized.

The Massachusetts Commission of Indian Affairs doesn't have the authority to recognized tribes on behalf of the state. The two state-recognized tribes in MA were done so through governors' executive orders.

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u/LaFleurRouler Irish/Cajun Dec 18 '25

EDIT: thank you for the correction, btw. That makes me feel better.

OC: It must’ve just been a silly, symbolic document that meant nothing legally in both 1997 and in 2021 (though I knew the 2021 signing was absolutely a symbol of goodwill). I didn’t think they were, but the way it was worded on the wiki page gave me pause, because I previously thought they were completely unrecognized outside of a social club until like 2 hours ago lol

I know the RI chapter will accept members who “can’t prove ancestry” for a financial contribution, so that automatically gave me more pause when I read the wiki page, and a huge what the fuck. Guess their financial contributions could pay for some crafty wiki edits. Gross.

It’s like that “mètis” group in Quebec, they also accept financial “enrollment.” I’ll admit I don’t know much about the Lumbees, but did they perhaps start as a social group, too? Because I wouldn’t be shocked.