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Teen Miss Lumbee, Kerigahn Jacobs, poses for a portrait on July 7, 2018 in Pembroke, NC, USA.The Lumbee tribe of eastern North Carolina is comprised of a people who’s native identity—however culturally rich—has been fought over for more than a century by a federal government that doesn’t see them fitting neatly into any racial category. Though they have been officially recognized by the state since 1885, and were technically recognized as Native Americans federally by The Lumbee Act of 1956, the same act precludes them from receiving the benefits afforded other tribes. A new legal challenge may change that.
Lumbee

Teen Miss Lumbee, Kerigahn Jacobs, poses for a portrait on July 7, 2018 in Pembroke, NC, USA.

The Lumbee tribe of eastern North Carolina is comprised of a people who’s native identity—however culturally rich—has been fought over for more than a century by a federal government that doesn’t see them fitting neatly into any racial category.

Though they have been officially recognized by the state since 1885, and were technically recognized as Native Americans federally by The Lumbee Act of 1956, the same act precludes them from receiving the benefits afforded other tribes. A new legal challenge may change that.