Digital Scholarship and Initiatives

As guest columnist, Woods (a long-time educator and a member of the UNC System's Board of Governors) comments indirectly on the current issues involving the Lumbee tribal government. She begins, “If some of the original Board members of LRDA would talk, they would readily admit that what we have become is not what we envisioned as an agency for the people.” She reminds readers in 1968, a local Indian-developed process was devised for choosing Board members for LRDA. Because certain individuals were trying to get themselves seated on the Board, LRDA had the process reviewed by the Attorney General's office, which stated the process was electoral. Woods adds, “When the issue of tribal government was placed in the courts, this action said that we didn't have the ability to self-govern... It is a typical example of an old adage--if you don't make the decision, someone will make it for you....Giving our authority to the courts rather than exercising our own self-government is a sad legacy to our future generations.”