The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina is worried about losing its federal funds in response to a recent Government Accountability Office report.

The tribe lacks federal recognition but received $78.8 million in federal funds between 2007 and 2010. Most of that money came from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

"It identified sources of funding and exactly how we qualified for them," Ed Brooks, the tribe's attorney, told The Fayettevile Observer. "The danger in that is it made a roadmap so that those who oppose funding to state-recognized tribes can cut off those sources."

The HUD money represents about 90 percent of the tribe's budget, the paper reported. That funding source might be affected if the Obama administration changes the definition of "Indian" in federal regulations.

Get the Story:
Lumbees say Government Accountability Office report aims to defund tribe (The Fayetteville Observer 8/27)

Government Accountability Office Report:
Federal Funding for Non-Federally Recognized Tribes GAO-12-348 (April 12, 2012)

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