Lastly, it’s incorrect to include Sampson, Bladen, & Columbus Counties in the description of Lumbee territory. These counties belong to Coharie and Waccamaw Siouan service areas, & their people (not Lumbee) largely live there. More Lumbees likely live in the Triangle than in those counties.
TL;DR - Instead of a referendum to authorize gambling, Lumbees (likely a small number of us) will vote about who has the power to authorize gambling, a vote
that raises other questions related to constitutionalism and government transparency.
Hanging over it all, we tend not to vote in large numbers, especially in tribal government elections & referenda. So it is possible that a very small number of Lumbee people will decide the question for all 60k of us.
In any case people won’t actually vote to authorize casinos or gambling as the headline reads. That the vote is described as such (by proponents of the constitutional changes and by the media) adds to the controversy.
The vote includes other proposed changes to our Constitution, which makes it more controversial than a clean referendum on whether or not to pursue gambling.
Lumbees will instead vote whether to preserve the right to decide on gambling by a referendum of tribal citizens (listed among several fundamental rights in our 2001 Constitution), or whether we cede that right to tribal government.
Article by @murphsturph.bsky.social gets most details right, but the headline is wrong. Under the proposed action, Lumbee citizens will *not* actually vote to allow casinos or gambling. www.wral.com/news/local/l...
Microsoft “clippy” meme reading “It looks like you’re trying to shirk your professional responsibilities. Can I help?”
😬
Side note: Attend Duke University’s powwow this Saturday, April 18, and find me for a chance to win a free copy of ON THE SWAMP.
duke.campusgroups.com/CMA/rsvp_boo...
The Lumbee River in the larger story of colonialism, survival, and Indigenous environmental justice: (Not #OpenAccess, but available in many libraries.) uncpress.org/978146967832...
Impacts of climate change to Lumbee River & surrounding region: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... #OpenAccess
Environmental & cultural history of the Lumbee River:
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.... #OpenAccess
This year, @americanrivers.bsky.social placed the Lumbee River on its list of Most Endangered Rivers due to contamination from PFAS & other “forever chemicals.” See their write-up here 👇🏽. I’m also dropping links below to some of my research on river’s environment, history, & cultural significance.
The severity of the western US snow drought notwithstanding, it warmed my heart to hear Kelsey Jencso—Montana State Climatologist & a friend of 20+ years—on the radio yesterday. He says the segment was recorded 2 weeks ago, which makes the situation all the more dire.
www.npr.org/2026/04/08/n...
The Conrad Burns secret shuffle.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGOi...
Screenshot of Facebook post by James Locklear showing headshot of Ryan.
Screenshot showing text of Facebook post showing the following text: "Day 82 of 365 Days of Lumbee History: Dr. Ryan E. Emanuel Dr. Ryan Emanuel is a scientist and professor known for research and advocacy on topics related to the environment and education. Many people know about his research on the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, which in 2017 revealed unusually large American Indian populations living along the pipeline route. That work ultimately helped to stop the 600-mile, $8 billion fracked gas pipeline from being built. His research has helped to initiate statewide discussions about tribal consultation and environmental permitting, and it has influenced national policies on environmental permitting and safety regulations. Emanuel also studies the cultural and historical connections between American Indians and their traditional lands and waters, and he has partnered with tribal communities throughout North Carolina to address various issues around water and cultural heritage. His book, On the Swamp, examines these issues from his perspective as scientist and citizen of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. Emanuel has a background in hydrology (water science), which he first encountered while working for the US Geological Survey, a federal agency that collects and stewards most of the nation’s water data. He worked for the US Geological Survey before and during his undergraduate studies at Duke, and he assisted staff with projects that involved collecting water samples, measuring streamflow, mapping floodplains, and building a network of rainfall monitoring stations. Emanuel earned a Bachelor’s degree in geology from Duke, completing an honors thesis on streamflow in Duke Forest. After graduating from Duke, Emanuel worked for two years in manufacturing before enrolling in..."
I made James Locklear's "365 Days of Lumbee History" on Facebook! Locklear is a journalist & editor of Native Visions magazine, a monthly publication in and around Lumbee territory. Last fall, he began a year of daily posts featuring a tribal member, past or present.
www.facebook.com/share/p/1Axf...
It was transforming the biggest NFL stage in the world into a sugar cane plantation that did it for me.
Like, the multiple layers of turning an American icon into a plantation and highlighting the history of exploitation of Black and Brown bodies by the NFL and American colonialism simultaneously?
68 years ago today, Lumbee people & their allies routed the KKK at the Battle of Hayes Pond. Read a brief summary in my unrolled 2018 Twitter thread below or a detailed retelling in Malinda Lowery’s 2020 Scalawag piece: scalawagmagazine.org/2020/01/ambu....
#CivilRights
#Indigenous
#Lumbees
Tomorrow at 9am - Live diacussion on WFAE about Lumbee federal recogntition with Jesalyn Keziah, Mary Ann Jacobs, and myself.
www.wfae.org/show/charlot...
Today (1pm EST) on Native America Calling, “Lumbee Nation secures its sovereign status.”
I look forward to this discussion & call-in show with academics Malinda Lowery, (Emory), David Wilkins (Richmond), and Carrie Schuettpelz( Iowa).
It's official - the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) has renamed itself the Advancing Indigenous Science and Engineering Society (still AISES). Membership voted to change the name earlier this year to better reflect the organization's geographic scope.
aises.org
I am especially overjoyed for my friend Malinda Lowery, who has given so much of her creativity and intellect to telling the Lumbee story with the rigor of a historian and the soul of an artist. You should read her book.
Journalists & pundits from outside our community often flatten Lumbees into political caricatures & cultural stereotypes. But NoiseCat’s broad knowledge of Indian Country & time spent *with* us before writing *about* us translate into insightful reporting here and in his written work. 2/2
#Lumbee
Great interview with journalist, author, & filmmaker Julian Brave NoiseCat on Lumbee recognition. I highly recommend clicking through the NativeNews header below and watching the 20-min recorded interview. 1/2
Also. In celebration of the Lumbees finally receiving federal recognition, here's a taste of Dr Ashley Minner-Jones' EXTRAORDINARY work documenting and telling the stories of Lumbee Baltimore www.baltimorereservation.com
In other news... promoted to full professor at Duke!
nicholas.duke.edu/news/emanuel... #DukeEnvironment
The Lumbee Tribe has been in North Carolina since long before we became a state. The Lumbee were officially recognized by the State of North Carolina in 1885 and have fought for their fair share from the federal government for more than a century.
"A relationship with the Federal Government will enable us to build towards achieving justice, it will clarify our status as a people determined to preserve our identity as American Indians.”
(Robert Williams to Virginia Boylan, Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs, August 23, 1988)
"Perhaps, it might have made it worse. But as a people, we are concerned with the future, with guaranteeing justice for our children as Lumbee Indians...