The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina and the Catawba Nation of South Carolina have signed an historic agreement to work together in the future. On June 21, 2024, the Lumbee Tribe hosted the Catawba, for a ceremony to sign the Government-to-Government Agreement.
The Agreement establishes a government-to-government partnership between the Lumbees and the Catawbas. They will work together on several issues, such as health, education and securing federal recognition for the much larger Lumbee Tribe.
The signing ceremony also included a traditional Summer Solstice Fire Ceremony.
Catawba Chief Brian Harris said in remarks at the event, that the pact will “not repeat mistakes of the past.”
Lumbee Chairman John Lowery also spoke, saying that as Siouan peoples, the Eastern relatives of the Western Sioux, (Lakota, Nakota and Dakota), both the Catawba and the Lumbee should “walk together.”
Lowery contrasted this with the Eastern Band Cherokee, who he said have “isolated themselves” in the mountains and refuse to form partnerships with the Lumbee Tribe.
Chairman Lowery said it was Catawba Chief Harris who reached out to him with the idea of a modern-day treaty between the two nations.
In the pre-colonial past, the Lumbee and Catawba frequently shared territory along what is not the North and South Carolina border. In colonial records, the Lumbee’s ancestors were known as Cheraw. They later took their name from the Lumbee River in Robeson County, NC, where they still reside in large numbers, owning a bank, a university, other businesses, and several churches.
The Lumbee Tribe are also known as the People of the Dark Water. Likewise, the Catawba’s original name is Ye Iswa, meaning, People of the River.
Sources:
Tomika Jackson, “Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, Catawba Nation Sign Historic Agreement,” June 21, 2024, wbtw.com
Lumbee Tribe YouTube channel, “Catawba Nation and the Lumbee Tribe Celebrate Historic Signing of Government-to-Government Agreement,”
Tomeka Sinclair, editor, “Lumbee, Catawba Nation Heads Sign Historic Principals of Agreement Partnering the 2 Tribes,” June 21, 2024, Laurinburgexchange.com
