Lumbee Tribal Chairman John L. Lowery addresses tribal leaders from around the nation at the 80th National Congress of American Indians Annual (NCAI) Convention.
Courtesy photo
New Orleans, La. — On Tuesday, Lumbee Tribal Chairman John L. Lowery addressed tribal leaders from around the nation at the 80th National Congress of American Indians Annual (NCAI) Convention.
Lowery gave the following speech on behalf of Lumbee and fellow tribe:
“Good morning. I am John Lowery, chairman of the Lumbee Tribe of N.C. In 1956. The United States Congress passed the Lumbee Act which recognized my people, the Lumbee People, and at the same time, they put a clause in the bill to prohibit us from receiving any services that are designated for federally recognized tribes. This language was inserted, as this was in the middle of the era of Indian termination. So, the United States government recognized us and at the same time said that we could not receive any services and the Lumbee are still stuck in this legal limbo today. Other tribes faced similar legislation and fortunately, to my knowledge, those tribes have had their termination era legislation rectified.
“Two years later in 1958, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) decided they were going to have a rally in Lumbee Country. The Klan picked out a field and they were going to burn a cross. They brought their message of white supremacy, blood purism, and their superiority complex with them and they thought they were going to teach the Lumbee a lesson. Well, a lot of our men, mostly WWII Veterans, grabbed their shotguns, rifles, and pistols, and went down to meet the KKK on that cold January night. Their hate mongering and racism did not scare my people. During the Civil War, the Lumbee people dealt with the Confederate home guard as my great-grandfather’s great-grandfather was murdered, execution style, for being an Indian. We dealt with the Jim Crow South, where we drank from the “Indian only” water fountains and got our food from the back door of eateries because we could not go through the front door, and we fought to beat Nazism and to defeat the Japanese empire during WWII. So, going to face the KKK was just another step in our Native people standing up to those who thought they were superior to us. For those that don’t know, we shot out the lights and fought the KKK and they ran away that night and have never been back.
“Today, I stand on the floor of NCAI, as we now have some pushing amendments that reek of Native supremacy, along with blood purism ideology, and a superiority complex, which is slowly creeping into NCAI.
“NCAI, an organization that was created for unity, an organization created to bring tribal people together amid termination, an organization to protect tribal sovereignty, is now, once again, battling what I call internal termination. This purism ideology and superiority complex should have no home here at NCAI. It is time that we, as the great body that we are, vote overwhelmingly to defeat these amendments and truly protect our sovereignty. It is time that we vote against internal termination. It is time that the adults in the room, the elders in this room, the leaders in this room, stand up and tell those who feel they are superior to others, and those who feel they have purer blood than others, those who feel that they sit on high and look down on others, it is time we tell them to sit down and we must talk with them and help them to see the error of their ways.
“These amendments are the beginning of a slippery slope. If you remove the state tribes, who will be next, tribes without treaties? Tribes without a land base? Tribes that were recognized by Congress? Tribes that can’t take land into trust? Do we kill the federal recognition process altogether? When will we have done enough to remove the other imperfect tribes within NCAI in order to appease the tribes who apparently have it all.
“These are not bad people; they are our brothers and sisters and we must find a way to heal these wounds and to stand together as one. We have to heal and we have to work together moving forward and not against one another. I am calling on the NCAI executive team, you must help us heal as this is truly a hurtful and harmful time here at NCAI. Too much time and resources have been wasted on these divisive amendments. This is a time for UNITY and not division. We must stand up for UNITY and stand against DIVISION and I urge you all to vote NO on these two amendments. Thank you!”
Founded in 1944, the National Congress of American Indians is the oldest, largest, and most representative American Indian and Alaska Native organization serving the broad interests of tribal governments and communities.