Trump promised federal recognition for the Lumbee Tribe. Will he follow through?

OKLAHOMA CITY — When Kamala Harris and Donald Trump campaigned in North Carolina, both candidates courted a state-recognized tribe there whose 55,000 members could have helped tip the swing state. There are questions about Trump’s next move Several tribes, including the only one that is federally recognized in North Carolina, argue that if the Lumbee Tribe wants federal acknowledgment, it should go through the formal process in the Department of the Interior. One person familiar with Trump’s thinking said the president-elect will require the Lumbee Tribe to do just that, and he won’t sign a Lumbee recognition bill. The Lumbee Tribe has applied for federal recognition, but that petition was denied in 1985 because it “could not establish the group’s descendency either culturally, politically, or genealogically from any tribe which existed historically in the area.” In 2016, the Interior reversed a decision barring the Lumbee Tribe from reapplying, but the Lumbee have opted for the congressional route. “But you need to know that your leadership is playing a game that will ultimately force me to take a position.” Tillis suggested it was a “casino cartel” in part driven by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and an Osage attorney named Wilson Pipestem working for the tribe, that is trying to keep the Lumbee from gaining recognition, which could one day lead to the Lumbee opening their own casinos.