I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 31 

To provide for the recognition of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 6, 2009 

Mr. MCINTYRE (for himself, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. KISSELL, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. 

CLYBURN, Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida, Mr. MARIO DIAZBALART of Florida, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. MILLER of 

North Carolina, Mr. ETHERIDGE, Mr. PETERSON, Mr. BECERRA, Mr. 

RYAN of Ohio, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. RAHALL, Ms. 

LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. 

HASTINGS of Florida, Ms. SUTTON, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. 

PASTOR of Arizona, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. HONDA, Mr. WU, 

and Mr. CUMMINGS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To provide for the recognition of the Lumbee Tribe of North 

Carolina, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Lumbee Recognition 

5 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PREAMBLE. 

2 The preamble to the Act of June 7, 1956 (70 Stat. 

3 254), is amended as follows: 

4 (1) By striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of each clause. 

5 (2) By striking ‘‘: Now, therefore,’’ at the end 

6 of the last clause and inserting a semicolon. 

7 (3) By adding at the end the following new 

8 clauses: 

‘‘Whereas the Lumbee Indians of Robeson and adjoining 

counties in North Carolina are descendants of coastal 

North Carolina Indian tribes, principally Cheraw, and 

have remained a distinct Indian community since the 

time of contact with white settlers; 

‘‘Whereas since 1885 the State of North Carolina has recognized the Lumbee Indians as an Indian tribe; 

‘‘Whereas in 1956 the Congress of the United States acknowledged the Lumbee Indians as an Indian tribe, but 

withheld from the Lumbee Tribe the benefits, privileges 

and immunities to which the Tribe and its members otherwise would have been entitled by virtue of the Tribe’s 

status as a federally recognized tribe; and 

‘‘Whereas the Congress finds that the Lumbee Indians should 

now be entitled to full Federal recognition of their status 

as an Indian tribe and that the benefits, privileges and 

immunities that accompany such status should be accorded to the Lumbee Tribe: Now, therefore,’’. 

9 SEC. 3. FEDERAL RECOGNITION. 

10 The Act of June 7, 1956 (70 Stat. 254), is amended 

11 as follows: 


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1 (1) By striking the last sentence of the first 

2 section. 

3 (2) By striking section 2 and inserting the fol4 lowing new sections: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 2. (a) Federal recognition is hereby extended 

6 to the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, as designated as 

7 petitioner number 65 by the Office of Federal Acknowl8 edgement. All laws and regulations of the United States 

9 of general application to Indians and Indian tribes shall 

10 apply to the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina and its 

11 members. 

12 ‘‘(b) Notwithstanding the first section, any group of 

13 Indians in Robeson and adjoining counties, North Caro14 lina, whose members are not enrolled in the Lumbee Tribe 

15 of North Carolina as determined under section 3(c), may 

16 petition under part 83 of title 25 of the Code of Federal 

17 Regulations for acknowledgement of tribal existence. 

18 ‘‘SEC. 3. (a) The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina 

19 and its members shall be eligible for all services and bene20 fits provided to Indians because of their status as mem21 bers of a federally recognized tribe. For the purposes of 

22 the delivery of such services, those members of the Tribe 

23 residing in Robeson, Cumberland, Hoke, and Scotland 

24 counties in North Carolina shall be deemed to be residing 

25 on or near an Indian reservation. 


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1 ‘‘(b) Upon verification by the Secretary of the Inte2 rior of a tribal roll under subsection (c), the Secretary of 

3 the Interior and the Secretary of Health and Human Serv4 ices shall develop, in consultation with the Lumbee Tribe 

5 of North Carolina, a determination of needs and budget 

6 to provide the services to which members of the Tribe are 

7 eligible. The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary 

8 of Health and Human Services shall each submit a written 

9 statement of such needs and budget to Congress after the 

10 tribal roll is verified. 

11 ‘‘(c) For purposes of the delivery of Federal services, 

12 the tribal roll in effect on the date of the enactment of 

13 this section shall, subject to verification by the Secretary 

14 of the Interior, define the service population of the Tribe. 

15 The Secretary’s verification shall be limited to confirming 

16 compliance with the membership criteria set out in the 

17 Tribe’s constitution adopted on November 16, 2001, which 

18 verification shall be completed within 2 years after the 

19 date of the enactment of this section. 

20 ‘‘SEC. 4. (a) Fee lands which the Tribe seeks to con21 vey to the United States to be held in trust shall be treated 

22 by the Secretary of the Interior as ‘on-reservation’ trust 

23 acquisitions under part 151 of title 25 of the Code of Fed24 eral Regulations (or a successor regulation) if such lands 

25 are located within Robeson County, North Carolina. 


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1 ‘‘(b) The tribe may not conduct gaming activities as 

2 a matter of claimed inherent authority or under the au3 thority of any Federal law, including the Indian Gaming 

4 Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.) or under any reg5 ulations thereunder promulgated by the Secretary or the 

6 National Indian Gaming Commission. 

7 ‘‘SEC. 5. (a) The State of North Carolina shall exer8 cise jurisdiction over— 

9 ‘‘(1) all criminal offenses that are committed 

10 on; and 

11 ‘‘(2) all civil actions that arise on, lands located 

12 within the State of North Carolina that are owned 

13 by, or held in trust by the United States for, the 

14 Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, or any dependent 

15 Indian community of the Lumbee Tribe of North 

16 Carolina. 

17 ‘‘(b) The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to 

18 accept on behalf of the United States, after consulting 

19 with the Attorney General of the United States any trans20 fer by the State of North Carolina to the United States 

21 of any portion of the jurisdiction of the State of North 

22 Carolina described in paragraph (1) pursuant to an agree23 ment between the Lumbee Tribe and the State of North 

24 Carolina. Such transfer of jurisdiction may not take effect 

25 until 2 years after the effective date of the agreement. 


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1 ‘‘(c) The provisions of this subsection shall not affect 

2 the application of section 109 of the Indian Child Welfare 

3 Act of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 1919). 

4 ‘‘SEC. 6. There are authorized to be appropriated 

5 such sums as are necessary to carry out this Act.’’. 

Æ 


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