Posted on 06/17/2004 12:38:04 PM PDT by Constitution Day
Men seek to establish Tuscarora nation in N.C.
The Associated Press
June 17, 2004 1:43 pm
ELM CITY, N.C. -- Three Tuscarora Indians have settled in tents in eastern North Carolina and decided to seek land, artifacts and self-governance they say are due to them under treaties made with their ancestors.
Timothy Jacobs, Harless E. Smith Jr. and Billy Mac Locklear, bought about 10 acres near Elm City for their self-declared nation.
"This is something we didn't start yesterday," Smith said. "We've been working on this all our lives."
They plan to add permanent buildings, such as a cookhouse and sweat lodge, and would also like to build houses on the land.
More Tuscaroras, maybe up to several hundred, are coming to Wilson County from Robeson County over time, Jacobs said. An estimated 6,000-plus Tuscarora live in Robeson County.
"This land is crying for us to come back and save a little piece of it," Locklear said. "The Tuscarora are moving back to Wilson County because this is where our home is."
The Lumbee Act of 1956 requires all American Indians in Robeson and neighboring counties to be designated Lumbee Indians. Lumbees are still lobbying for full federal recognition and benefits.
These Tuscarora maintain they have a rich history in North Carolina with a language, ancestral lands, religion and government and are not Lumbees.
The Tuscarora plan to set up on native lands under the Native American Graves and Repatriation Act, Jacobs said. The act allows the Tuscarora to return to their native lands to survive, he said.
They will seek to recover their lost lands or seek monetary reparations, the rights to govern themselves, and the right to sovereignty, Jacobs said. They also want to reclaim Indian artifacts, remains and graves.
The group would like to eventually open businesses, he said, but not necessarily offer gaming. They threaten a lawsuit if negotiations fail.
The Tuscaroras have already met one roadblock. The Elm City Town Board turned down their request Tuesday to put an office rental trailer and temporary power pole on the land. Board members said they wanted more information and asked Jacobs to attend their July 13 meeting.
In October, representatives of the Tuscarora Nation plan to hold a large Native American spiritual gathering at the Elm City land, Jacobs said.
The main topic will be their status in Wilson County and how other tribes can help the Tuscarora re-establish themselves here.
Jacobs has a history of activism. He was 19 years old when he helped Eddie Hatcher take over the newsroom of The Robesonian newspaper in Lumberton on Feb. 1, 1989.
Using sawed-off shotguns, they held the newsroom hostage until Gov. Jim Martin agreed to investigate alleged local government corruption in Robeson County.
Jacobs was found not guilty after a federal trial, but the state indicted him on kidnapping charges. Jacobs fled to New York, where he was given political asylum on the Onondaga Reservation. He later accepted a plea bargain.
------ URL for this article: http://www.heraldsun.com/state/6-491955.html
Most of the Lumbees I've known were mulatto, is this common there?
Isn't Lumbee sort of a generic name?
Anyhow, guess eastern NC needs some casinos...long way to Atlantic City.
Think I'll go cook some chicken for supper (white meat, of course).
LOL... I just put on Hall and Oates "Maneater"...
Tuscarora Indians are to america what palestinians are to Israel.
Mexicans are to America what palestinians are to Israel.
Sorry. This is OUR COUNTRY. We Won. You cant have it. Sue all you want.
PS. stay out of the liquor too.
They had adopted MOST of the TUSCARORA by the time the American Revolution rolled around.
The ONEIDA were American allies. Their losses were tremendous. In fact, there were so many people killed in direct combat or by British depredations conducted against civilian ONEIDA that the ancient link of family lineage was broken.
Most ONEIDA descendants today have absolutely no idea that they have any ONEIDA ancestors. (Our own seems to be a BROTHERTON woman adopted into the ONEIDA some time after the plagues in the late 1840s)
Compounding the problem the State of New York, in violation of the Non Intercourse Act, decided about 1815 that the ONEIDA were actually white people. Following that decision they then confiscated their lands.
So, next time you get that feeling that "Hey, it's ours, we won", remember that after "we won", "you stole"!
I live a few miles from the group trying to establish Bridgeport as the new gaming mecca in CT. From my understanding, they had gained State recognition but had not gotten it at the Federal level. I do know that they held a small unbuildable plot (under the zoning minimum size) in Trumbull as "tribal Land" and were threatening to try to establish ownership over some 20% of the state's land unless they were granted about 20 acres of Bridgeport Waterfront to build a complex to rival Mohegan Sun or Foxwoods. Last I heard, they had signed an agreement with the mayor of Bridgeport. Not much news other than that which I know of.
Is there anything you have heard/seen besides that? I have not seen anything to suggest that their goals are/were anything other than erecting a casino.
Let me correct that - not 1840s, but 1640s. I'm not sure the Brotherton were called that at the time. This is a group in New York and Connecticut who consciously decided to adopt European ways of life.
So, next time you get that feeling that "Hey, it's ours, we won", remember that after "we won", "you stole"!
"you stole"!? What does that mean?
If I win a million dollars - I cant steal the same million.
We did not steal the United States from Indians. Indians just lived here, they were savage and barbaric (back then). We settled a wild territory, we did not steal a fully formed, working country. Indians who had made no improvements to the country now claim they "owned" the country? BS!
Your attitude toward treaty obligations suggests that the "uncivilized" people on this continent came from Europe (which isn't all that surprising is it).
I'm not in disagreement with anything you've said.
I don't normally hit abuse, but I am seriously considering it in this instance.
You need a serious attitude adjustment.
Well, I can see we are in agreement on most things LOL. (I'd still really love to what fruitcakes are out there re the whole ceremonial cannibalism thing, though ;0) )
Nevermind....answered my own question. I just didn't read the paper this past Tuesday. http://www.connpost.com/Stories/0,1413,96~3750~2214026,00.html
Seems back in the 1800's Goyens wanted to marry a widowed white woman and her brothers came from Georgia to make sure he wasn't black and they saw he wasn't so approved the marriage. There had been some hoopla earlier when a Louisiana slave owner tried to claim Goyens was his runaway slave (in reality he just wanted his $$$) but Goyens, a wealthy landowner and lawyer, took him to court and proved he was never a slave. In earlier life, Goyens was an Indian interpreter for Sam Houston but he wasn't Native American either.
The Melungeons were in old Virginia and the tidewater way back in the 1600's and later traveled to TN and points south and west. Theirs is a fascinating story. Seems the Melungeons may be Middle Easterners or Mediterranean. Besides Black or Native American, they've also been labelled Black Irish but aren't. They have an organization and are doing DNA testing to see where they actually come from.
LOL....old time logic and reason and common sense....
gone are the days....even here.
Don't you know? Indians were noble and my ancestors were brutish thugs.
But no worries, thanks to immigration and birth rates, the Indians will win in the end and we can revert back to the Garden of Eden.
</sarcasm>
You know better than that, wardaddy. However, saying that all indians were just savages who accomplished absolutely nothing, and had nothing good until whites came is also a big load of horsecrap...
Hell, my Iroquoian ancestors were brutish, aggressive, and warlike, but on the flipsde they also created a "constitutional republic" earlier than the United States did...
There were brutes on both sides, and there were noble people on both sides. Anyone who claims that only one side is all good, and one side is all bad - regardless of what side they represent - are also full of s**t... Ya know, like Iron Matron.
But what the hell would I know? I'm an indian so I must constantly be in the bottle, right "Iron Matron"?
John Lawson's book is a great read.
The correct spelling is of course"Goins" as in Goin, Tennessee. When very young I lived in Bunch's Hollow down the road a piece from Goin. I was astounded to learn of the Mellungeon connection of the people there. It is worthless ridges and hollows but the last redoubt of a people driven away from polite society. The Bunch Hollow was certainly nothing to be proud of. It took 20 years to find a buyer of our property there. My family has no Mellungeon connections, we were there to run the mine.
The Mellungeons, led by Brent Kennedy are having their annual meeting here in Kingsport Tennessee this week. Mr Kennedy has led the recent research effort to try to determine exactly who they are. Hundreds will show up to learn facts buried for generations.
I was unaware of the depth of Mullengeon involvement in East Tennessee until the recent interest. Goin or Goins and now Goyens, are all Mellungeon names. Goin is a now defunct village in CLaiborne County Tennessee, adjacent to Hancock County Tennessee, the acknowledged capital of their territory.
Regarding the Free Black status, this is the connection to which I referred in the earlier post. The North Carolina Indians, including the lumbee and the Cherokees intermarried with blacks and whites and who knows what else ie Portugeese Turks, resulting is an unidentifiable and complex racial mix. A small black segment resulted in the Free Negro status.
It was this Portugee/Turk genetic mix, carrier of rare genetic conditions/disease that caused Brent Kennedy to ask his relatives to come out of the closet and off the ridgetops to divulge family and community secrets never divulged to outsiders.
Oh yes.....one last remark......I always like to point out to Texans that if it weren't for Tennessee, there would be no Texas.
Tennessee volunteers, including Free Negros and Sam Houston founded Texas.
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