Cherokee calls on Senate to reject Lumbee recognition

 

CHEROKEE,  NC – Richard Sneed, the Principal Chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, released the following statement regarding the House passage of the Lumbee Recognition Act:

“The group calling themselves the ‘Lumbee Indians’ has changed their story many times claiming affiliation with multiple unrelated tribes but have refused to allow proper examination of any of their claims. Instead, they’ve played politics. If this bill becomes law, it will create a pathway for dozens of other illegitimate groups to successfully follow suit. We join over 40 other tribal nations in urging the Senate to reject this assault on sovereignty.”

Background Info

• The Lumbee’s have claimed to be Cherokee, Croatan, Siouan, Cheraw, Tuscarora, and other unrelated tribes. Still, they have never been able to demonstrate any historical or genealogical tie to any historical tribe.

• Ancestral experts and over 40 other tribes have raised serious questions about the legitimacy of this group, which has never had a reservation, treaty relations with the United States, or spoken an Indigenous language.

• The Lumbee are eligible but have refused to submit to the Office of Federal Acknowledgment review process at the Department of Interior, where experts, historians, and genealogists can review documentation and records to determine the truth about the group’s status as a historical Indian tribe or an amalgam of historical tribes.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has not scored this bill since 2011 when it issued a score of $847 million. Today, the cost of this bill likely exceeds $1 billion, which would have devastating impacts on Tribal Nations reliant upon federal health care, education, and other services provided through the Indian Health Service (IHS) and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).

The post Cherokee calls on Senate to reject Lumbee recognition first appeared on Native Sun News Today.

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