January 18, 1958 was when the Battle of Hayes Pond took place between a crowd of Lumbees and a few Ku Klux Klan members.
The 56,000+ members of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina reside primarily in Robeson, Hoke and Scotland counties. 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 Lumber River which winds its way through Robeson County. Pembroke, North Carolina is the economic, cultural and political center of the tribe.
The first and most widely believed origins hypothesis, developed in 1885 by Hamilton McMillan and furthered by lumbee historian, Lew Barton holds that the tribe includes descendants of the Lost Colony who intermarried with the local Native Americans. Other popular theories today speculate that the ancestors of the Lumbee were either Tuscaroras or Cheraw and related Siouan-speaking Indians who have lived in the area of what is now Robeson County since the 1700s. However, there is no conclusive documentary evidence to support any of these theories. In pre-Civil War documents, Lumbee ancestors are consistently identified as white, black, mulatto, or colored. In Robeson County they are never identified as Indian until after the Civil War.
The Lumbee people have been recognized by the state of North Carolina since 1885, and at the same time established a separate school system that would benefit tribal members. In 1887, the state established the Croatan Normal Indian School, which is today The University of North Carolina at Pembroke. In 1956 a bill was passed by the United States Congress which recognized the Lumbee as Indian, but denied the tribe the welfare benefits accorded a federally recognized Indian tribe. Full federal recognition that would bring full access to federal Indian money is currently being sought.
In 1754, it was reported that there was an settlement consisting of 50 families located on Drowning Creek, although there is no racial identification in that document. In fact, it states that there are no Indians in the county.
In 1771, a convicted felon by the name of Winsler Driggers was captured "near Drowning Creek, in the Charraw settlement" (South Carolina Gazette October 3, 1771). For people who believe the Cheraw hypothesis, this mention confirms that the settlement on Drowning Creek in 1754 was a Cheraw settlement. However, most historians familiar with the region in that time period would discount this reading of the Driggers article as out of context and incorrect. The "Charraw" reference is most likely used in that newspaper story as a place name, not a tribal name.
HISTORICAL TIMELINE OF THE LUMBEE
1700s | 1800s | 1900s | Present Day 1700s
1703 Cheraws leave Danville, Virginia area for Cheraw, South Carolina. 1703-1737 Cheraws are documented as living on the Pee Dee River in South Carolina. 1711-1712 Cheraws participate in intertribal warfare against Tuscarora in war in northeastern NC. 1715 Cheraws participate in Cofitachiqui Indian alliance in Yamassee War. 1737 Cheraws sell their land on the Great Pee Dee River in South Carolina. 1753 Drowning Creek (now Lumbee River) is proclaimed a "frontier to the Indians" by Carolina Governor Rowan. However, this document also states that there are no Indians in the county. 1754 Fifty squatter families are living on Drowning Creek without official deeds to the land. Surveyor shot in Bladen Creek, NC. Some people speculate that these famiies may have been ancestors of the Lumbees, but there is no evidence to prove this speculation. 1775-1783 Lumbees ancestors, including John Brooks, serve in Revolutionary War. 1790 United States Census lists prominent Lumbee family names, including Locklear, Oxendine, Chavis, Lowry, Hammonds, Brooks, Brayboy, Cumbo, Revels, Carter and Kersey, as "All other free persons." 1800s 1812 Several Lumbees, including Thomas "Big Tom" Locklear and Silas Strickland, muster during War of 1812. 1835 North Carolina passes laws preventing free people of color from voting, or owning or using firearms. 1861-1865 Lumbees serve in Civil War. 1865-1872 Henry Berry Lowrie war in Robeson County. The Lowry gang engaged in many robberies and murders, and fought Ku Klux Klan oppression against Unionists and people of color. 1885 The North Carolina General Assembly recognizes the Indians of Robeson County as Croatan and establishes a separate school system for the Indians. 1887 Lumbee people build Croatan Indian Normal School (now The University of North Carolina at Pembroke). 1888 North Carolina State Constitution changes, returning citizenship rights to Lumbee. 1890 North Carolina Supreme Court rules that Indian school committees have ultimate authority as to whether children are Indians and eligible for tribal schools. The Croatan school board set up blood committees to sit in judgment of childrens' right to attend school based on their blood purity.
1900s 1911 The North Carolina General Assembly changes the name of the tribe to "Indians of Robeson County." 1913 North Carolina legislature changes the tribe's name from Croatan to Cherokee Indians of Robeson County. 1914 Indian Agent O. M. McPherson concludes the Lumbee to be of Cheraw descent. 1917-1918 Lumbees serve in World War I. 1924 Tribe unsuccessfully petitions Federal Government for recognition as Siouan Indians. 1933 Smithsonian Institution anthropologist studies tribe, declares Lumbee to be of Cheraw Indian origin. 1934 Lumbee leaders join the National Congress of American Indians. 1941-1945 Lumbee serve in World War II. 1950-1953 Lumbee serve in Korean War. 1952 Tribe votes to adopt the name Lumbee. 1953 North Carolina changes name of tribe from Cherokee to Lumbee. 1956 U.S. Congress recognizes name change. Specific language in the Lumbee Act, however, denies the tribe the customary Indian financial benefits.
1957-1975 Lumbees serve in Vietnam War. 1958 A crowd of Lumbees use force to rout a handful of Ku Klux Klan members in a confrontation near Maxton, NC. The incident receives national attention. Indians Rout The Klan (From the Native American Resource Center at UNC Pembroke) 1971 First Indian-owned bank in US - Lumbee Bank - opens in Pembroke, NC.
1973 Henry Ward Oxendine, Lumbee, is first North Carolina-born Indian to serve in NC House of Representatives. 1976 Outdoor drama Strike At The Wind, story of Henry Berry Lowrie, opens in Pembroke, NC. 1987 Lumbee petition U.S. Department of the Interior for federal acknowledgment and entry to tribal rolls. Petition is denied due to language in the Lumbee Act of 1956. The University of North Carolina at Pembroke celebrates 100th anniversary. 1991 Lumbees serve in Gulf War. 1994 Glen Maynor was elected sheriff of Robeson County and Joanne Locklear was elected Clerk of Court for Robeson County, the first Lumbees to hold these positions. PRESENT DAY
2001 Lumbee Tribal Government sworn in. 2003 Bills introduced in the House of Representatives (H.R. 898) and the Senate (S.420) to extend full federal recognition to the tribe. Lumbee Tribal Council elected. Lumbees serve in Afghanistan and Iraq. 2004 Lumbee Tribal Government sworn in.
Heather Locklear, of the TV series, "Melrose Place," also claims Lumbee descent. (/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/secret/famous/locklear.html)
Charly Lowry, who appeared on TV series "American Idol" in 2004
Henry Berrie Lowry who is remembered as "Indian Robin Hood" and a local folk hero from the 1860s, commemorated in outdoor drama "Strike at the Wind".
Chris Chavis, who wrestled for the World Wrestling Federation as Tatanka, is of Lumbee descent.