Supporters maintain “Lumbees for Trump” indicators as President Donald Trump speaks throughout a marketing campaign rally on the Robeson County Fairgrounds in Lumberton, N.C.

Chris Seward/AP

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Chris Seward/AP

President Trump on Thursday signed a memorandum asking the Division of the Inside to maneuver in direction of totally recognizing the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina as Native American. It is a transfer that would present legitimacy and federal advantages to the tribe, whose identification has lengthy been scrutinized by different Native teams.

The Lumbee Tribe has greater than 55,000 members, making it one of many largest Native teams in america. Situated within the impoverished and various Robeson County, Trump had pledged throughout his 2024 marketing campaign to acknowledge the tribe and gained the county with 63% of the vote.

“I really like the Lumbee Tribe,” Trump mentioned to reporters earlier than signing the order. “They had been with me all the way in which.”

The tribe has lengthy sought recognition by the federal authorities to categorise them as Native American, which might grant them sources like federal funds in direction of housing and training.

In a press launch praising Trump for the order, Lumbee Tribal Chairman John Lowery mentioned the group was “thrilled” to be shifting nearer to federal recognition.

“The Tribal Administration expresses deep appreciation to President Trump as he strikes ahead with this govt motion,” Lowery mentioned. “This motion is a direct comply with via of the marketing campaign guarantees made by the President and reveals his dedication to the Lumbee individuals.”

Whereas the tribe has been acknowledged by the North Carolina authorities because the 1800s, they’ve confronted pushback, particularly from different Native American teams, who say that the group aren’t a professional Native individuals.

In keeping with their tribal history, the Lumbee persons are “survivors of tribal nations from the Algonquian, Iroquoian, and Siouan language households, together with the Hatteras, the Tuscarora, and the Cheraw.”

Whereas different tribes remained relatively isolated from surrounding communities, the Lumbee tribe assimilated to the encompassing tradition, talking English, working towards Christianity and intermarrying with their Black and white neighbors.

However teams just like the Jap Band of Cherokee Indians say that the Lumbee don’t have any proper to assert Native identification.

“We perceive President Trump’s want to conduct due diligence in exploring federal recognition for the Lumbee. That intuition is appropriate,” Principal Chief Michell Hicks mentioned in a statement.

However, he continued, “The Lumbees have a historical past of shifting claims, together with claiming Cherokee ancestry and different historic tribes, and consultants have repeatedly discovered that their claims can’t be verified via historic or genealogical proof.”

“Any course of for evaluating the Lumbee’s claims have to be rooted in goal requirements and an intensive, evidence-based overview. Self-identification and honest perception of Indian ancestry, whereas significant on a private stage, can’t imply tribal nationhood and sovereignty.”

However the Lumbee say they’ll proceed the struggle for recognition, as they’ve for the final 100 years.