All about the ancient tribes
For their part, the Lumbee have a complex racial history, and according to Mark Miller, a history professor at Southern Utah University, many view the Lumbee as a “mixed race, mainly African group.”
The Lumbee Tribe is the largest tribe in North Carolina, the largest tribe east of the Mississippi River and the ninth largest in the nation. The Lumbee take their name from the Lumbee River which winds its way through Robeson County. Pembroke, North Carolina is the economic, cultural and political center of the tribe.
Lumbee Indians are recognized as the largest-known Native American tribe in North Carolina, the largest tribe east of the Mississippi River and the ninth-largest tribe in the nation. The Lumbee take their name from the Lumber River, which winds its way through Robeson County.
The Lumbee are descended from several Carolina tribes, including the Cheraw, who intermarried with whites and free African Americans in the 18th and 19th centuries. Nakai, 38, can trace her family tree back to at least 1900, when her great-grandfather was listed as Indian on the federal census.
These include the Chowanoke, Croatoan, Hatteras, Moratoc, Secotan, Weapemeoc, Machapunga, Pamlico, Coree, Neuse River, Tuscarora, Meherrin, Cherokee, Cape Fear, Catawba, Shakori, Sissipahaw, Sugeree, Waccamaw, Waxhaw, Woccon, Cheraw, Eno, Keyauwee, Occaneechi, Saponi, and Tutelo Indians.
Some of the most prominent surnames that have been claimed as potentially associated with a Melungeon identity include Bowling (Bolin), Bunch, Chavis (Chavez), Collins, Epps, Evans, Fields, Francisco, Gibson, Gill, Goins, Goodman, Minor, Mise, Moore, Mullins, Osborn(e), Phipps, Reeves (Rives, Rieves, Reeves, Reaves),
The State of North Carolina recognizes eight tribes: Eastern Band of Cherokee (tribal reservation in the Mountains) Coharie (Sampson and Harnett counties) Lumbee (Robeson and surrounding counties) Haliwa-Saponi (Halifax and Warren counties) Sappony (Person County) Meherrin (Hertford and surrounding counties)
This surname originated in England. It was taken from the workers who farmed Oxen there. Although some argue Lumbee indians may have brought it to North Carolina.
Toward century’s end, the town was renamed for railroad official Pembroke Jones.
CROATOAN was the sole complete word found on Roanoke Island by John White on 18 Aug. Ethnologists and anthropologists believe that the word ” Croatoan ” may have been a combination of two Algonquian words meaning “talk town” or “council town.” References: David B. Quinn, The Roanoke Voyages, 1584-1590 (2 vols., 1955).
Yes, they do have facial and body hair but very little, and they tend to pluck it from their faces as often as it grows. Concerning hair, American Indian anthropologist Julianne Jennings of Eastern Connecticut State University says natives grew hair on their heads to varying degrees, depending on the tribe.
For a person to be considered Native American by the United States government, they must either have a CDIB card or be enrolled in a tribe. A Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood (CDIB) is issued by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) an agency under the United States Department of Interior.
Lumbee English bears the imprint of British English, Highland Scots, and Scots-Irish. This dialect of North Carolina native Americans is distinctly different from their Anglo-American and African American neighbors. Walt Wolfram explains in this reprint from the 1998 Archives of North Carolina State University News.
There are eight (8) state-recognized tribes located in North Carolina: the Coharie, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, the Haliwa-Saponi, the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, the Meherrin, the Sappony, the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation and the Waccamaw Siouan.
www.bia.gov/bia/ois/tgs/genealogy Publishes a downloadable Guide to Tracing Your Indian Ancestry. Has a vast online library, Tracing Native American Family Roots. www.ncai.org/ tribal -directory Provides the online tribal directory where contact information for specific tribes can be found.