Getting full federal recognition for the Lumbee tribe is an exercise in frustration, and a reminder that persistence has always been a key ingredient in any struggle for rights or fairness.

That's what this Lumbee quest is about. Technically, Congress conferred federal recognition on the tribe 57 years ago, with the Lumbee Act of 1956. But the act denied the tribe the federal financial benefits given to other tribes. Getting the benefits will require another congressional act, which the tribe has sought and failed to win for more than two decades.