President Donald Trump’s move towards the federal recognition of the Lombi tribe in North Carolina, fulfills a repeated promise he made on the campaign’s path, but it raised the concern of the other original American tribes about the precedent that the various process used in this case.
During the first days of his second term in office, Trump signed Executive order Urging the Ministry of Interior to create a plan that determines a path for federal recognition of Lumbees.
To be federally recognized, the tribes must meet specific A set of criteriaIncluding: Proof that their nation was present before the establishment of the United States, that the tribe had been recognized as citizenship or before 1900, that the tribe worked as a “independent entity” and that members have genealogies that show both the original heritage and the distinguished origin of the previously recognized tribes.
Lumbee tribe Claims To be “combining the various tribes Siouan, Algonquian and IROQUOIAN” and the existence recorded since 1725. Lumbees boasts more than 55,000 members spread through multiple provinces in their hometown in North Carolina. Although the state has been recognized more than a century ago, the United States has not been recognized by the Lumbe tribe as a sovereign tribe.
“The fact that we are still here after centuries of colonial expansion, after centuries of war and disease … JilbabLocal newspaper. Lori refused to request an interview from NBC News, but said in a statement that he was looking forward to “the White House to give the official character to the document and send it to the leadership of Congress.”
The symbols have been deprived of the full benefits of recognition before Lumbee Law From 1956, a law that prevents the United States from having a federal relationship with the group. This prevents the tribe’s recognition directly in addition to reaching government financing to meet needs such as health care, education and economic development.
Senator Ted Bodh, RN.C, said in a 2023 Press statement. “They deserve the same rights, privileges and respect granted to other original American tribes throughout our country.”
In the past, Lumbees looked at other means of confession, including several bills in Congress, most of which have never left the room hall because of backlash Of the well -known original tribes. Now, the Ministry of Interior at Trump is looking for another path forward – and these methods revolve around the traditional process that he created in 1978 by the Office of the Federal Confessions (Offa), which granted recognition to more than 500 tribes throughout the country.
By circumventing this evaluation, many original groups and tribal leaders fear that this may put a wrong precedent for the future tribal recognition. President Michelle Hicks of the eastern band of Cherokee Indians says that a “diligent operation” must be in place, and it worries about how this demand is eroded on the current way of confession.
“We have always known who we were and from where we came, and the difficulty of the Lumbe collection is that they tried to attach a number of tribal and non -tribal names, in an attempt to get to know themselves,” Hex told NBC News. “I think part of that is just clarity about who they are and are they a really sovereign nation or are it the remains of something else, and not necessarily original?”
For some presidents, such as Brad, who are killed by the Dilayer tribe of the Indians, this system undermines the efforts made by other original groups towards their recognition.
“There is a process that has been placed in its place, and a process that we all passed through and each of 574 [recognized] “Do not try to take a back door and not to do what everyone has, and then they get a federal confession,” said Kelko.
Wider effects
For Killscrow, the Lumbe tribe is not a single problem. The president says it has interacted with multiple groups that claim that Dilayer is its ancestors, but this has not proven their historical roots. It is worried that if Lumbe is able to successfully overcome the Offa standards, then other organizations that did not meet these guidelines will be able to do the same in the future.
Killscrow also sheds light on some possible financial repercussions on Lumbe recognition. the Congress Budget Office It is estimated that the cost of more than $ 350 million to get to know the Lumbe tribe and provide it with the assigned benefits. As a leader of a small tribe, he worries that this will lead to the abstraction of money from his budget.
Hicks and Killscrow believes that this payment for recognition by the executive branch is rooted in politicizing the original issues. Several times while the campaign was stopped in North Carolina, Trump promised a Lumbe tribe that he would be recognized under his administration. In Robson Province, North Carolina, where the Lumbee tribe, 63.3 % of the population is located Republican voice Last November. Previously, Trump carry The boycott of 51 % in 2016 and 59 % in 2020.
However, the tribal recognition made the issue of voting risks the original votes that no one heard according to the election winners, Killscrow and Hicks argued.
“I would like to recommend President Trump, let this go through the OFA process,” he said. “Let experts do their job. Whatever this answer is, it is.”
