I am Southern Tuscarora, I am increasingly frustrated with Lumbee presence.
I know discussions about Lumbee are probably done to death but I really wanted to insert my perspective as a descendant of one of the tribes the Lumbee claim to be an admixture of:
The Lumbee actively erased us and our culture over the years. The reason they cannot be federally recognized is the same reason they are state recognized—in claiming to be the descendants of my, and many other NC tribes, they signed an agreement with the NC government stating they would be the only valid Indians of Robeson County and would in exchange for preventing us from being recognized, they could not receive federal recognition and benefits.
It's painful to attend indigenous events in my state knowing I'm going to be surrounded by the very people helping kill my culture. They are NOT related to us—they cannot trace lineages back to us, they are not related to us according to DNA tests they've taken.
My tribe's langauge was just officially declared extinct recently and it just furthers my anger towards the Lumbee.
Their recognition as a tribe at all feels more and more like some kind of psyop every day.
And when you call them out on being culture vultures, on erasing cultures, on stealing land and resources—they will whine and cry that that only reason we don't claim them is because 90% of them are mixed Black.
Like, I don't believe in blood quantum but I also don't like a group of people with >2% OVERALL native DNA claiming to be my tribe when we're not related. My culture is DYING and they're complaining because the harm they did to us is no longer beneficial anymore.
The Lumbee have no place in indigenous spaces or having a voice on indigenous matters.
