Tuscarora Nation works to advance its petition for state recognition, benefits

The Tuscarora Nation of North Carolina pushed forward its bid for state recognition Tuesday.

A successful petition would give members of the tribe centered in Robeson County access to scholarships, grants and other financial benefits they don’t qualify for now. The tribe has between 500 and 900 members, said its attorney Valerie Queen.

Members presented sometimes defiant testimony during an hours-long hearing before the Recognition Committee of the N.C. Commission of Indian Affairs. The tribe was responding to the committee’s preliminary findings, which were unfavorable to it.

In its initial review of the Tuscarora Nation’s 2012 application, the committee found that the petitioners were a “splinter group” from the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, also centered in Robeson County.

Unlike the Tuscarora, Lumbees do have state recognition, though full federal recognition has eluded them. The Tuscarora Nation of New York, which has ancestral roots in North and South Carolina, is federally recognized.

The North Carolina recognition committee found the petitioners “failed to provide sufficient evidence of lineal descent from the historic Tuscarora, or to an unrecognized historical American Indian tribe that was indigenous to North Carolina prior to 1790,” according to a letter summarizing the findings.

North Carolina recognizes eight American Indian tribes, only one of which, the Eastern Band of the Cherokee, has federal recognition.

The Tuscarora Nation’s effort to get legal recognition in North Carolina dates to the 1970s, and the records associated with the case are more than 4,000 pages long.

At Tuesday’s hearing, members of both the petitioning tribe and the commission showed signs of exasperation.

Tamra Lowry, the Tuscarora spokeswoman, questioned the commission’s integrity.

She accused the Lumbee Tribe of trying to block the Tuscarora Nation from getting recognition and noted that Lumbee leaders are among those considering their petition.

Lowry noted that she had compiled dozens of new exhibits to satisfy the state’s requirements yet there were few questions about the new evidence.

“There is only one right decision to make here today and that is to render a decision in favor of the Tuscarora Nation of North Carolina being state recognized,” Lowry said. “If you do not do so, then we’ll see you in court.”

The acting chairwoman, Shirley Freeman, took exception, noting that “this committee has sat around this table for months and months and months.”

“This committee, when they come together, they come together in their hearts and minds doing everything we can for every Native American in the state of North Carolina,” she said over scoffing from the audience.

When commissioners repeatedly asked people who testified about the history of their tribal enrollment and the confederacy that unites several Tuscarora bands, Lowry pushed back, saying the questions were irrelevant because the commission did not allow the Tuscarora to apply as a confederacy.

Commissioners said they didn’t understand the arrangement and needed to ensure that they would not be flooded later with applications from other groups representing themselves as Tuscarora.

When the commission decided to put off its decision until its next meeting, the audience sighed in disappointment.

“This is a farce,” Jennifer Locklear, a Tuscarora council member, said after the meeting.

“I know what’s going to happen,” she said. “They’re going to deny us again, like they always do, but we’ll just take it to court this time. We’re not going to mess with them this time.”

This story was originally published April 30, 2019 at 7:44 PM.