Tuscarora Nation has long roots in Cumberland, deserves NC recognition, says tribe

According to archaeological studies conducted on cultural artifacts and remains found at Fort Liberty, Cumberland County was originally utilized as a hunting territory for both the Tuscarora Nation of North Carolina (TNNC) and the Catawba Nation.

According to many experts, the Tuscarora and other Iroquoian nations arrived in the region about 2,500 years ago. Prior to European contact, the Tuscarora and Catawba actively competed for access to the resources of the Cape Fear River region. However, only settlements occupied by the Tuscarora Nation have been documented within the land holdings that Fort Liberty Military Reserve encompasses.

As the Tuscarora Wars ended, Tuscarora communities continued to reside in areas previously under their influence. State and federal records, and experts have documented that Tuscarora communities migrated to what became Robeson County to escape settler encroachment. Despite officially acknowledging the Tuscarora Nation of North Carolina in direct communication with federal authorities, the NC Commission of Indian Affairs continues to oppose the self-determination of the Tuscarora People.

Clarifying the misconceptions and assumptions about Tuscarora history with documented facts helps the public to better understand the unique experience of the TNNC communities who continue to call Cumberland and adjoining counties home.

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While many Tuscarora migrated north, the ancestors of the TNNC chose to remain in their southern homelands. The migration route taken by ancestors of the Tuscarora Nation of North Carolina included the hunting ranges in Cumberland County.

Tracing the land deeds once held by core Tuscarora ancestors, Dr. Peter Wood examined the exact path which led these families to Drowning Creek. A half dozen families including the Locklear, Cumbo, Chavis, and Lowry, were confirmed to have meandered through Cumberland County before making a final exodus to what was then Bladen County. Some Tuscarora families had settled along the Drowning Creek as early as 1750, establishing the Long Swamp Indian Burial Grounds as the first Tuscarora family cemetery in the region.

Although most of the Tuscarora families participating in this journey continued until they reached what is today parts of Robeson County, few Tuscarora families decided to remain on lands in Cumberland. Before Indian Removal and disenfranchisement in the 1830s, Tuscarora communities enjoyed the right to purchase land, vote and hold other privileges as free people.

From Dr. Wood’s perspective, the Tuscarora exodus resembled the removal of the Five Civilized Tribes, including the Cherokee and Choctaw. Ironically, the removal of Tuscarora communities from the region was a precursor to the Federal Indian Removal Policy which further erased Indigenous connections to the land.

Investigations into the Indian groups that remained in Robeson, Cumberland, and adjoining counties in the late 1800s confirmed that Tuscarora communities resisted colonial notions of authority. Evidence regarding the life experiences of Tuscarora ancestor, Henry Berry Lowry, highlights that Tuscarora communities remained self-determined and active in defending the basic human rights of the Tuscarora People.

Statements from the Flora College and Adjutant General John Gorman verify that Tuscarora families were targets of retaliation by the Confederate Home Guard for evading the conscription camps at Fort Fisher. For decades following this more modern Tuscarora War, the State Assembly passed laws attempting to force the Tuscarora communities to assimilate into the dominant culture.

NC House Rep. Hamilton McMillan, who had an interest in Indian burial mounds in Cumberland and surrounding counties, desperately sought to influence the Tuscarora communities to attend the Croatan Indian Normal School. Even though a separate school system granted some form of basic education, the Tuscarora recognized the Croatan designation only as the name of a coastal Algonquin village. Therefore, the ancestors of the Tuscarora Nation communities did not recognize nor assume a Croatan identity.

Surviving Indian Removal and the Lowry War, the Tuscarora Nation communities in Robeson County continued to self-identify, organize, and make efforts for reaffirmation. In 1976, Director Bruce Jones of the NC Indian Commission confirmed that the Tuscarora Nation was a state-recognized tribe when discussing the history of Cumberland County.

Director Jones explained that Indian families that are part of the Cumberland County Association of Indian People (CCAIP) were descendants of either the Tuscarora or Cherokee. Jones identified the Tuscarora communities as distinct and separate from the CCAIP, Lumbee and other tribal groups, exemplifying that the Tuscarora Nation was tribes recognized by the Indian Commission.

Since the late 1970s, the Tuscarora communities of Robeson County have worked together toward reaffirming the tribal status, rights and privileges of the Tuscarora People that have been disenfranchised for far too long. House Bill 699, introduced in March of this year, and which would have established state recognition of the Tuscarora and laid the foundation for reconciliation of the historical trauma impacting the Nation.

By recognizing the Tuscarora Nation’s place in the development of Cumberland County, we respectfully honor the sacrifices of the Tuscarora communities and begin to dismantle the oppression afflicting the Tuscarora People.

Donnie Rahnàwakęw McDowell is the public relations officer for the Tuscarora Nation of North Carolina.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Tuscarora have long Cumberland roots, deserve NC recognition, says tribe