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Lumbee Tribe’s Recognition Effort Jeopardized By Gambling Dispute

Posted on May 20th, 2010

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The Lumbee Indians of North Carolina, comprising 55,000 members, reside mostly in the counties of Robeson, Hoke, Scotland and Cumberland. The tribe was recognized by the state of North Carolina in 1880, but not by the federal government.

In 1956, the U.S. Congress passed a law acknowledging the Lumbee as Indians, but not recognizing them as a tribe, causing it to lose out on hundreds of millions of dollars in benefits to improve education, housing and health care and to create better job opportunities. The law also forbids the Bureau of Indian Affairs to confer recognition to the tribe, so the tribe has to file a petition in Congress.

Since then, and after not less than 12 congressional studies and numerous pieces of legislation in the past 120 years, the tribe’s recognition bid has advanced considerably. The bill has been approved in the House of Representatives and passed the Indian Affairs Committee in the Senate. It has also gained the support of no less than the President of the United States and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

North Carolina Senators Republican Richard Burr and Democrat Kay Hagan also say the measure has their solid support. In other words, the legislation has a very good chance of passing the Senate. This is the closest the tribe has ever come to a federal recognition, and yet all the efforts may be at risk of being seriously delayed or worse, come to naught.

A recent development has caused a dispute over the issue of gambling and lobbying that stirred the indignation of many of its members. On March 12, the Lumbee Tribal Council, at a conference in Raleigh, signed a contract making Lewin International, a consulting firm with expertise on the gambling industry that has headquarters in Nevada, the tribe’s representative and crusader in Washington for its recognition bid.

The unexpected move, in effect, dropped Lumbee lawyer Arlinda Locklear who had worked as the tribe’s attorney and lobbyist for the past twenty years without charge. Not a few tribe members were shocked and upset since they are aware that their bill, now in the Senate and whose passing is almost a cinch, prohibits the tribe from involving itself in any gambling operation, but the Tribal Council hiring an expert in casino affairs to replace Locklear makes it appear that the tribe indeed has plans of getting into the gambling business.

Stipulations in the contract, though, do not concentrate mainly on gambling as the motivation in lobbying for recognition, but it states in the contract that Lewin will push for legislation that has “preferably without any language” that forbids the Lumbees from entering into the casino business. The contract has a stipulation to pay Lewin $35 million in penalties if the Lumbees chose not to operate a casino should Congress pass a bill permitting the Lumbees to go into the gambling business. In the event of a penalty, the $35 million could involve most of the tribe’s assets, including housing and public buildings.

The contract also says that if the bill passes without gambling, Lewin would try to turn tribal property into a tourist destination, but the area inhabited by Lumbees does not make it feasible for tourism unless it has a casino for a come-on.

Lumbees say that right from the outset they have always said it’s recognition they want, not gaming, and the contract had made them appear like liars. The tribe’s former lawyer, Arlinda Locklear said Congress will not back a bill giving full tribal status to the Lumbees that has a gambling inclusion attached to it. Laws passed in the past twenty years recognizing new tribes have in general prohibited tribes from venturing into the gambling business. Robeson County, where most of the Lumbees live, is the poorest county in North Carolina. The tribe badly needs funding that would be tied in with recognition.