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Editorial: Finally the year for Lumbee recognition?
Monday, April 28, 2008
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"We’ve seen years of Lumbee bills moving from committee to the floor of one branch or the other of Congress. But we’ve never seen one pass. That’s a shame, because the Lumbee tribe qualifies for federal recognition. Its members — many living in North Carolina’s poorest county — could begin finding their way out of poverty with programs and support that are available to federally recognized tribes. Federal officials estimate the tribe would get as much as $400 million over five years.

The Senate Indian Affairs Committee sent this year’s recognition bill to the full Senate on Thursday. There is reason for optimism — a House version, submitted by Rep. Mike McIntyre, passed last year. The Senate bill was filed by Sen. Elizabeth Dole. A Dole spokesman likened the move to the Senate floor to getting through the playoffs and into the World Series. It’s tantalizingly close. But in the Lumbees’ 100-year quest for federal recognition, tantalizingly close has happened before, only to see the legislation die.

Technically, the tribe has already won federal recognition. Congress approved it in 1956 — but it was a Pyrrhic victory, because the bill also denied the tribe the federal aid that should come with recognition. Fifty-two years and countless congressional forays later, the Lumbees remain in the same, frustrating chase."

Get the Story:
Editorial: Recognition bill moves to Senate floor. Is this finally the year? (The Fayetteville Observer 4/28)

Related Stories:
Senate panel approves Lumbee recognition bill (4/25)
Indian Affairs business meeting, hearing (4/24)
Senate pushed to act on Lumbee recognition (10/26)
Editorial: Recognize the Lumbee Tribe (09/25)
Editorial: Lumbee recognition long overdue (9/24)
Lumbee Tribe presses for federal recognition (9/20)
Senate Indian Affairs hearing on federal recognition (09/19)
Witness lists for Senate and House hearings (09/18)
Senate Indian Affairs sets hearing on recognition (9/13)
Lumbee Tribe hails House action on recognition (06/08)
Lawmakers urge no vote on Lumbee recognition bill (6/7)
House vote expected on Lumbee recognition bill (6/6)

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