It may be an exaggeration to say that the United States has not always given the indigenous peoples of much of our territory a fair chance. That is history, and those people are long gone—but some members of the lesser-known indigenous groups are still fighting for recognition. One of them is North Carolina’s Lumbee Tribewhich is recognized by the state of North Carolina but not by the federal government.
At a rally in North Carolina on Saturday, former President Donald Trump promised: Signing of a law for federal recognition of the Lumbee Islands.
BREAKING NEWS: Trump just announced that he will sign a bill granting federal recognition to the Lumbee Tribe, a 55,000-member Native American tribe in North Carolina.
THIS IS HUGE!!
“We will deal with this right from the start. Biden and Obama have promised to remedy the situation… pic.twitter.com/ZvECCzg0Xn
— George (@BehizyTweets) 21 September 2024
The article ends with:
“We will deal with this right from the start. Biden and Obama promised to remedy the situation, they wanted to right the wrongs, but they never did. They broke their promise.”
This will activate tens of thousands of Lumbee voters in Robeson, Hoke, Cumberland and Scotland counties in North Carolina.
Presumably, the law to which former President Trump refers is a revision of the Lumbee Recognition Act; both Donald Trump And Joe Biden have claimed to support the bill during their respective presidencies. It should be emphasized that federal recognition would give the Lumbee the same benefits as other indigenous tribes.
Of course, this step also has a political component. North Carolina is a swing state in which Trump is 0.1 points ahead of Kamala Harris in the current poll. RealClearPolitics AverageThe Lumbee have historically voted Democrat, but that is changing. Trump’s promise to recognize the people could boost the Lumbee’s potential: 55,000 votes will go to him, perhaps enough to win this must-win state.
The Lumbee are a fairly conservative group and have been trending right in recent years, so if Trump can keep this promise, Congress must first pass the bill. then it could have legs.
Until a few years ago, Lumbees were reliable Democratic voters. But many are also socially conservative Christians, and Republican candidates who pursue a conservative platform have begun to attract their votes.
Robeson County surprised North Carolina political observers in 2016 when a majority of its voters voted for Trump, helping him win the state and its 15 electoral college votes.
Of course, consistency is a good thing, and if the Lumbee have a legitimate claim to being a distinct tribe, they should be given the same treatment as other distinct tribes.
See also: Trump speaks in North Carolina and is back in form
Of course, Donald Trump shouldn’t just make this a campaign promise. If he promises this, he should keep it, especially if Lumbee votes facilitate push this swing state into the Republican fold. He can, if he wants, push Congress to pass an updated Lumbee Recognition Act, and then sign it once it’s passed.
It’s an fascinating precedent. The various indigenous groups in the United States have generally voted Democrat, for a variety of reasons, not least of which is that Democrats are a little more liberal with funds. Even here in the Big Country, the areas of the state with high indigenous populations tend to lean Democrat; those areas are also very sparsely populated, mind you. But as with other minority votes, if Trump can get some of their votes on his side, it could make a large difference.
