Digital Scholarship and Initiatives

This column, part of a series on the context of the Lumbee, presents salient facts about archaeological studies of Robeson County and what they substantiate about Lumbee prehistory.  Although less than one percent of the county's 607,104 acres has been surveyed, the work that has been done has found 430 sites in an area of less than 6,000 acres.  This suggests that (1) many sites await discovery and (2) the county was home to a large and steadily growing population of Native people during prehistoric times. 

Materials uncovered in the 430 sites show that Native people resided in the county during all periods and sub-periods of prehistory.  This evidence shows that people did not migrate into an empty region during colonial times.  Whoever migrated here would have come into contact with Indian inhabitants.  The significance of this information for the Lumbee pursuit of federal recognition is that it shows that the Lumbee have a long-standing record of existence in Robeson County, their homeland.