The Lumbee Tribe in North Carolina could significantly impact the state’s November Senate race between Democrat U.S. Senator Kay Hagan and Republican North Carolina House Speaker Thom Tillis. Hagan especially is depending on voter turnout–including the 58,000 Lumbees who reside in North Carolina and are seeking federal recognition.
The tribe received state recognition in 1885 and sought federal recognition in 1888. Although Congress passed the Lumbee Act in 1956, the legislation denied Lumbees benefits other federally recognized tribes receive. The law also mandated the tribe only be recognized through an act of Congress. Lumbee Tribal Chairman Paul Brooks said, “As with so many other tribes, the United States made promises, but did not provide the tools to secure an economic future. Federal recognition would give us a better educational system, more economic development opportunities, a better health system, in effect, a better way to enhance the lives of our people.”
Brooks noted although the tribe typically votes Democratic, members are following both Hagan and Tillis “very closely, for we do not believe in words anymore, but in what a senator does or does not do.”
Last year Hagan and Republican U.S. Senator Richard Burr reintroduced the Lumbee Recognition Act. Similar legislation passed the House in 2007 and 2009. In a statement, Hagan said, “Full federal recognition is critical to the heritage and cultural identity of more than 55,000 North Carolinians and the economic vitality of the entire Lumbee community. This is an issue of fairness, and I am committed to fighting in the Senate to give the Lumbee Tribe the full recognition they deserve.” However, Hagan stopped short of promising a vote on the Senate floor this year.
Brooks said Senate passage of the measure would “absolutely” mobilize the tribe in support of Hagan. “A Senate vote is very important. It’s never had to go to the floor, only committee,” Brooks said, adding, “I haven’t had quite the one-on-one relationship with Hagan since she’s been in D.C.”
Asked about the tribe’s support of Tillis, Brooks said, “As Speaker of the House, yes we’ve had a relationship with Tillis.” Jordan Shaw, Tillis’s campaign manager, said Tillis supports Lumbee recognition. “Obviously, we’re trying to build as broad of a coalition as we can. We believe Speaker Tillis’s message will resonate with people in North Carolina from all walks of life. We’ll campaign across the state to reach everyone.”
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is the only fully recognized tribe in the state. The Lumbees supported them when they sought recognition, but the Eastern Band has actively opposed Lumbee legislation, possibly to keep its monopoly on the state’s gaming industry. In fact the Eastern Band hosted the North Carolina State Republican convention at its Harrah’s Cherokee Casino, where the tribe announced its support of Tillis. A 2013 report by OpenSecrets.org indicated the Eastern Band spent a total of $180,000 on casino and gaming lobbying efforts.
The Eastern Band’s casino arm, Tribal Casino Gaming Enterprises, also recently removed Sneed, Robertson and Associates as construction manager at the $110 million Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River Casino and Hotel in Murphy, North Carolina. TCGE Chairman Ray Rose said that “overall budget pressures” caused TCGE to make the cut. The move “was done for a very good reason, and that’s to take pressure off the budget,” Rose said.
Eliminating the construction management position and bringing it in-house will save TCGE about 2 percent of the total budget. The position has been assigned to TCGE member Lumpy Lambert, who will become general manager at the casino-resort when it opens, Rose said. “Our comfort level was high in terms of our ability to bring it internal,” he noted.
Sneed, Robertson and Associates President and co-owner Eric Sneed said he thinks politics, not budget pressures, were the reason behind TCGE’s actions. “Whenever there’s concern with budgets or a budget or project becomes financially strapped or challenged, typically that introduces even more challenge into a project, and that manager role becomes even more important. You’ve got to have someone there who is living and breathing the details of that project. If we were still there, we would be fulltime engaged on that project,” Sneed said.
Rose said despite the shake-up the project is on time and on budget.
