Intro to the Lumbee Life and History
Hi everyone,
My name is Alissa Jones and I am an active member of the Lumbee tribe of North Carolina. I have lived in Robeson County my whole life, and have very early memories of the first few pow-wows that I attended, and I can still remember spending one week in July attending Lumbee Homecoming activities every year of my childhood.
The Lumbee people are an amalgamation of people from various tribes such as the Sioun, Algonquian and Iroquois tribes. These tribes formed together around the Lumber River Basin as this was a great area for a sustainable lifestyle. Today, archeological data shows a continuous Native American presence dating back to 12,000 BC. According to the history portion of the tribal website, the Lumber River provided an ideal location for Indian peoples who sought to escape the ever-encroaching colonial forces in a post-contact world.
The endurance of the Lumbee people is fierce, as there were many obstacles along the way. Disease and epidemic such as small pox, wars such as the Tuscarora war, and oppression due to slavery and the loss of indigenous lands are among the things that make the Lumbee such a resilient group of people.
In this blog, I will share more history, the culturally significant things that we do, and some of the foods that we eat as well as the traditional art making that some of our people still partake in.
The Native American culture has always been an interest to me that I didn't have much knowledge about, but my home has neighbored Robeson County my whole life. I have heard many great things and traditions that Native Americans and even the Lumbee tribe do. I did not know that the tribe had been resided in the Robeson County area for that long (12,000 BC), but that is one of many things that I am interested to read about in your blog!
ReplyDeleteI love your blog and this post, I think it is very important to discuss culture and I love learning about the school I go to and the people who live here! The culture here and people are so unique this is an amazing place to live and little know. I think its great you made this blog and people can read about Lumbee history.
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