RALEIGH — Legislation that would open more funding doors for the Lumbee Tribe is awaiting action in a North Carolina Senate committee.
The legislation titled “Clarify State Recognition — Lumbee Indians” is sponsored by Sen. Danny Britt, a Republican from Lumberton, and fellow Republicans Sen. Dan Bishop, of Mecklenburg County, and Sen. Tom McInnis, of Ellerbe. It was introduced in to the Senate in March and has been referred to the Committee on Rules and Operations of the Senate.
“It gives them eligibility to get grants,” Britt said.
The legislation is a simple change that would allow access to funding sources previously unavailable, he said.
“Any grant you could think of,” Britt said.
The idea was developed during a conversation he and Bishop had that touched on the need to address poverty and the lack of adequate health care among the Lumbee people and residents of Southeastern North Carolina, Britt said. Access to more funding would support tribal programs and initiatives targeting these and other needs.
Language for Senate Bill 218 was drafted to read like that in the recognition statute regarding the Haliwa-Saponi tribe, Bishop said. If approved by the full General Assembly, the Lumbee Tribe’s governing body would be given the recognition status granted municipal governments.
As a recognized governing body, the Lumbee Tribe would have access to sources of federal grants and funding, the money from which could be used to address poverty, health care, infrastructure, education and more, Bishop said.
“It will put us on a more even keel with towns and municipalities as far as getting funding and things like that,” said Danielle McLean, the Lumbee Tribe’s legal and compliance officer.
The legislation is an attempt to give the tribe more access to grants and state programs that previously were unavailable to the tribe because of the way it was defined as a governing body, she said. In the past the tribe has tried to apply for certain funding and grants only to be told the tribe’s government did not meet the definition of a municipal governing body.
The relevant portion of the Haliwa-Saponi recognition law reads in part: “They shall continue to enjoy all their rights, privileges and immunities as an American Indian Tribe with a recognized tribal governing body carrying out and exercising substantial governmental duties and powers similar to the State, being recognized as eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians.”
The proposed Lumbee recognition amendment contains language that is identical.
The Haliwa-Saponi is an American Indian people recognized as a tribe by the state of North Carolina. They are located in the Northeastern Piedmont area.
The Lumbee Tribe gets most of its funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which is primarily earmarked for housing.
