Lumbees push for legislation

By: Venita Jenkins

WASHINGTON — Lumbee Tribal Chairman Jimmy Goins on Wednesday tried to convince a congressional committee that the administrative path to federal recognition is broken and that legislation is the only way his tribe will obtain that status.

The tribe has a long, unhappy history with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which oversees the recognition process, Goins said. He said the bureau has an institutional bias against nonrecognized tribes and should not be in charge of processing the petitions of groups seeking federal status.

“The mission of the BIA is to serve and protect the interest of federally recognized tribes,” he said. “This being so, it is not fair to either the BIA or non-federally recognized tribes to expect the BIA to also pass on the status of other Indian groups.”

Goins made his comments to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. He suggested that an independent commission determine whether tribes receive recognition.

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