Then-candidate Barack Obama, appearing here in Crow Agency, Mont., received overwhelming support from Indian Country. (AP photo)

Then-candidate Barack Obama, appearing here in Crow Agency, Mont., received overwhelming support from Indian Country. (AP photo)

This issue is fresh on our mind because of this week’s refusal by the Bureau of Indian Affairs to grant federal recognition to the Little Shell Band of Chippewa – even though the state of Montana recognized the tribe nearly a decade ago, and the state’s congressional delegation is pushing legislatively for recognition.

The Little Shell, of course, are not alone. They’ve got plenty of company in the Lumbee in North Carolina, the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape in New Jersey – the list goes on and on. Tribal people all – but they won’t be able to voice their concerns about Indian Country to President Barack Obama at Thursday’s meeting. That’s despite the fact that Obama received overwhelming support from Indian tribes – federally recognized and others – during his presidential bid.

“I don’t begrudge our federal brothers and sisters one iota. I know they deal with different issues in some respects and I think having an audience to deal with those types of issues is appropriate,” the Rev. John Norwood who heads the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape tells Indian Country Today. “But to be snubbed and not to be told that there will be a meeting for us state recognized down the road is surprising.”

The president’s invitation to the first-ever Tribal Nations Conference came during the National Congress of American Indians’ annual meeting in Palm Springs.

“This organization is the National Congress of American Indians. It’s not the National Congress of the Federally Recognized American Indians,” says Larry Townsend, the tribal veterans service officer for the Lumbee Tribe.

Norwood tells Indian Country Today that the state-recognized tribes are thinking about coordinating their efforts to deal with their collective issues. Sounds like a good idea – even if it won’t happen in time for Thursday’s meeting.

Gwen Florio

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This entry was posted on Saturday, October 31st, 2009 at 2:26 pm and is filed under Federal recognition, Little Shell Chippewa, Lumbee, Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

6 comments so far

 1 

November 4, 2009, Nationwide Protest to stop Amendments to 1934 IRA! At your local Federal District Court House. Please gather a group and go there. More instructions at WildFireProtest.org.

Stop the broken Carcieri fixes!

Immediately tell your congressman “NO” on HR 3742, HR 3697 and S 1703.
Demand a congressional investigation of the BIA cover-up.

These bills don’t protect Native Americans or the Tax Payers of US, they absolve the Secretary of the Interior and the Bureau of Indian affairs from 200 years of corruption and failure to protect and administer the congress’s treaties made with the Native American’s.

· Were you dis-enrolled?
· Was your tribal identity stolen by an imposter tribe?
· Have you been excluded from the entitlements you’ve been seeing your leaders get?
· Was your tribe rejected for recognition without explanation…even with thousands of pages documenting your ancestry?

November 1st, 2009 at 7:30 am
Paula
 2 

As an adopted member of a tribe, this federal recognition sucks!!

If you have Indian blood , YOUR INDIAN

November 1st, 2009 at 9:06 am
Rev. John Norwood
 3 

While the quote is basically accurate, I am not the ‘head’ of the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape, but am honored to serve as a councilman and the tribe’s NCAI delegate. Mark Gould is our chief. [Comment from Rev. John Norwood]

November 1st, 2009 at 6:28 pm
Monica Walker
 4 

Well, federally recognized tribes only? This is definitely a sad chain of events! What does recognition mean anyway or better yet what does it matter? Point is it doesn’t!!!!!! I am very disappointed in my suggestion to the White House regarding this.

November 7th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
Stan
 5 

Mr.Locklear no one has munipulated the facts so dont claim conspiracy! a fact is a fact the DNA dont lie this is a lumbee DNA run by Lumbees trying to verify their Dna but it has shown their true heritage Caucasian races and Portuguese/spanish and Africans which was one of the possible theory already ,have you heard the theory of Lumbees being descent of portuguese sailors that came to that area long ago so it makes sense with that part and would account for the Lumbees coming from the coast and not speaking Native language and having some latin names like Chavis or Chaves,z.It also would account for why their are no residual Indian words and the darker skin tones of southern europeans and arabians in their blood.I wish that the Lumbees were Indigenous too and that their claim was valid but the facts dont support them neither do historical documents.

March 16th, 2010 at 1:46 pm
Stan Gomes
 6 

No one has munipulated the facts

so dont claim conspiracy! a fact is a fact the DNA dont lie this is a lumbee DNA run by Lumbees trying to verify their Dna but it has shown their true heritage Caucasian races and Portuguese/spanish and Africans which was one of the possible theory already ,

have you heard the theory of Lumbees being descent of portuguese sailors that came to that area long ago so it makes sense with that part and would account for the Lumbees coming from the coast and not speaking Native language and having some latin names like Chavis or Chaves,z.It also would account for why their are no residual Indian words and the darker skin tones of southern europeans and arabians in their blood.I wish that the Lumbees were Indigenous too and that their claim was valid but the facts dont support them neither do historical documents.

the lengths people will go to twist history to get that casino or free stuff from the feds!!

March 25th, 2013 at 7:39 pm

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