Editorial: Missteps - Lumbee recognition effort off to a bumpy beginning.

Record Number: 
BLOG041
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Unknown Author. "Missteps-Lumbee recognition effort off to a bumpy beginning." Fayetteville Oberserver. January 9, 2011.

Annotation: 

It's not surprising that the Lumbee tribe will continue in its efforts to gain full federal recognition. The latest effort, in the 2010 Congressional sessions, did not get the bill passed.

Within hours of swearing in the new Congress, Representative Mike McIntyre re-filed his recognition bill. This did not go over well with Lumbee Chairman, Purnell Swett. The bill was re-filed without consulting the tribal leaders.

Swett may have had something different in mind instead of re-filing the bill right away. In 2010, the administration fired longtime advocate Arlinda Locklear and hired a gambling consultant. The gambling addition to the agenda is one reason why the bill did not pass.

Turning the recognition quest into a casino quest is guaranteed to create tribal and community dissension and possibly making it impossible to pass. The tribe already has more difficultly coming their way because the GOP lawmakers who opposed Lumbee recognition now head key committees.

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