Presidential Documents

Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 20 / Friday, January 31, 2025 / Presidential Documents 8653 

Memorandum of January 23, 2025 

Federal Recognition of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina 

Memorandum for the Secretary of the Interior 

Section 1. Purpose and Policy. The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, known 

as the People of the Dark Water, have a long and storied history. The 

tribe’s members were descendants of several tribal nations from the 

Algonquian, Iroquoian, and Siouan language families, including the Hatteras, 

the Tuscarora, and the Cheraw. The waters of the Lumbee River and lands 

that surround it have protected and provided for the Lumbee people for 

centuries despite war, disease, and many other perils. 

In 1885, the State of North Carolina recognized the Lumbee people as 

an Indian tribe. 1885 N.C. Sess. Laws 92. In 1956, President Dwight D. 

Eisenhower signed the Lumbee Act (Public Law 84–570, 70 Stat. 254), which 

recognized the Lumbee as the Lumbee Indians of North Carolina but denied 

Lumbee Indians Federal benefits associated with such recognition. Today, 

according to the State of North Carolina, the Lumbee Tribe consists of 

more than 55,000 members, making it the largest tribe east of the Mississippi 

River and the ninth-largest tribe in the Nation. 

In 2024, the United States House of Representatives passed, by a vote of 

311–96, the Lumbee Fairness Act (H.R. 1101), which would grant the Lumbee 

Tribe full Federal recognition, but this legislation was not considered by 

the United States Senate before the end of the 118th Congress. Similar 

legislation has passed the House of Representatives several times. 

Considering the Lumbee Tribe’s historical and modern significance, it is 

the policy of the United States to support the full Federal recognition, 

including the authority to receive full Federal benefits, of the Lumbee Tribe 

of North Carolina. 

Sec. 2. Directive for Recognition Plan. (a) Within 90 days of the date of 

this memorandum, the Secretary of the Interior shall review all applicable 

authorities regarding the recognition or acknowledgement of Indian tribes 

and, in consultation with the leadership of the Lumbee Tribe of North 

Carolina, shall submit to the President a plan to assist the Lumbee Tribe 

in obtaining full Federal recognition through legislation or other available 

mechanisms, including the right to receive full Federal benefits. 

(b) The plan shall include consideration and analysis of each potential 

legal pathway to effectuate full Federal recognition of the Lumbee Tribe, 

including through an act of the Congress, judicial action, or the Procedures 

for Federal Acknowledgement of Indian Tribes set forth in 25 CFR part 

83. 


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8654 Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 20 / Friday, January 31, 2025 / Presidential Documents 

(c) The Secretary of the Interior is authorized and directed to publish 

this memorandum in the Federal Register. 

THE WHITE HOUSE, 

Washington, January 23, 2025 

[FR Doc. 2025–02124 

Filed 1–30–25; 8:45 am] 

Billing code 4310–10–P 


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