Lumbee Enrollment??

Question

Hello..I hope to enroll in the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina when the rolls reopen next year. At the moment I'm trying to get my information and application together.

Just a few questions..

What exactly are the "SOURCE DOCUMENTS" the application refers to? The application is a .pdf on the www.lumbeetribe.com site.

Another question is about the lineage chart. A lot of my family members are Lumbee, but not enrolled into the tribe. Does the lineage chart have to point to enrolled family members only? Would the fact that pretty much none of my family members are enrolled hurt my chances of enrolling?

Thanks.

Answer 1

The Lumbee is an interesting tribe because their federal recognition was in limbo for so long.

The source documents you need are birth/baptismal, marriage and death records. Sometimes they'll also take military service records. You have to prove each link in your lineage back to the tribe.

Many Lumbee were not enrolled because of the politics of the situation. The best thing to do is fill in the entire chart and let the tribe do the verifying. What your "chances" will be are always a matter of interpretation by whomever verifies your documents. At this point, the tribe is really just happy that they're getting the recognition that they've fought so hard to obtain. Do your best and don't be afraid to call the tribal council for help and better explanation. They have a very strong desire to reunite their tribe, so don't be humbled by what you find. Be proud of who you are and show that you're a proud descendent of the Lumbee Nation.