Lumbee recognition means eastern North Carolina could get a casino
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Lumbee regalia on display in 2011. Photo: Edwin Remsburg/VW Pics via Getty Images
Southern North Carolina's Lumbee tribe is now only a signature away from federal recognition, 137 years after they began seeking it.
Why it matters: A reservation can now be created in Robeson County, unlocking the potential for legal casinos and marijuana sales in the eastern part of the state.
- Federal recognition also unlocks millions of dollars in resources for the tribe's members, reportedly around 55,000 and 60,000 people.
Between the lines: Until now, in North Carolina, the feds had only granted that right to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and the Catawba Nation, who run casinos in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
- The Cherokee have for decades lobbied against Lumbee recognition, questioning their legitimacy and hiring a genealogist to investigate their past.
The other side: The Lumbee say they descend from multiple bands of Native American tribes, some of whom inhabited the swampy region for millennia.
- Others were pushed into the area by war and European settlers, the tribe says, and a shared identity coalesced by the Civil War, resulting in an 1888 petition for federal recognition.
What they're saying: Tribal chairman John Lowery couldn't help but smile in a video posted from the Capitol after Wednesday's vote.
- "I can proudly say that I'm the last chairman that's had to come to D.C. fighting, pushing, advocating for full federal recognition," Lowery said, adding that he was happy future generations could spend their time fighting for other things.
- Outgoing Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, who helped make the recognition happen, released a statement celebrating the end of "a decades-old legislative stalemate."
Driving the news: The tribe's recognition was written into a federal defense spending bill, the $901 billion National Defense Authorization Act.
- It passed the House last week and the Senate on Wednesday afternoon, as tribal members watched a livestream from a local basketball gym.
- President Donald Trump must still sign it into law, which he's expected to do.
Flashback: The Lumbee would have been allowed to open a casino under a state proposal that imploded in 2023 without passing.
- Republican lawmakers argued then that the state was losing revenue to Virginia, where casinos are beginning to pop up near the state line. The Caesar's in Danville — an hour from Durham — was built in partnership with the Eastern Band.
What's next: Full services will be extended three years after the bill is enacted, the legislation states.
Zoom in: After the tribal roll is verified, members of the Lumbee tribe can have land placed in a trust, but only if it's in Robeson, Cumberland, Hoke or Scotland counties.
- That includes Fayetteville, and areas to the south and east like Lumberton, Pembroke and Laurinburg.
Yes, but: Only land in Robeson County will be treated by the federal government as "on reservation," the legislation says.
- On reservations, tribes can operate legal casinos and marijuana dispensaries, like those in Cherokee and Kings Mountain.
- The Bureau of Indian Affairs says federal Indian reservations "are generally exempt from state jurisdiction, including taxation."