North Carolina’s Lumbee Tribe secures full federal recognition after 137 years
After 137 years of effort, North Carolina’s Lumbee Tribe has finally achieved full federal recognition.
Tribal members celebrated the milestone in Washington, D.C., with tears and joy as Tribal Chairman John L. Lowery watched President Trump sign the legislation at the White House on Thursday. “I’m so thankful today for everyone who has helped us along this way — from our ancestors in the late 1800s to those fighting today,” Lowery said in a video shared on the tribe’s social media.
The recognition came through the Lumbee Fairness Act, included in the $900 billion military spending package. The Lumbee Tribe, which has 55,000 members and territory across Robeson, Hoke, Cumberland, and Scotland Counties, now qualifies for federal benefits. These include funding through the Bureau of Indian Affairs for housing, education, and health care. Lowery highlighted the Indian Health Services as a key benefit, allowing tribe members without insurance or with high costs to access health care. In 2022, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that nearly $250 million could be provided over four years in health benefits through the Indian Health Service.
Federal recognition also grants the tribe expanded self-governance and control over economic development, including the ability to place land into trust with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Lumbee first petitioned Congress for recognition in 1888 and received only partial acknowledgment in 1956.
North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein praised the milestone, noting it enables access to federal programs for health, education, housing, child care, and disaster relief, while also creating economic opportunities for the tribe and surrounding communities. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who sponsored the bipartisan Lumbee Fairness Act, called the recognition long overdue and said it corrected a historic injustice.
Trump had issued a memo in January directing the Interior Department to assist the tribe in obtaining full recognition. While the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians opposed the designation, claiming the Lumbee bypassed standard federal eligibility procedures, the Lumbee are now the 575th federally recognized tribe in the U.S.
Reflecting on the achievement, Lowery said, “I know with every fiber of my being that our ancestors are smiling down on us today. After decades of waiting, praying, and fighting, our Tribe has finally crossed a barrier that once seemed impossible to overcome.”
Federal recognition for tribes typically involves a lengthy process, requiring anthropological, genealogical, and historical evidence of a distinct community’s continuous existence. Decisions can take decades, and many petitions have been denied for failing to meet the seven-part criteria defining a federally recognized tribe.
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