North Carolina’s Lumbee Tribe could soon receive federal recognition.
The recognition was added to the defense-spending bill that lawmakers are expected to debate and possibly alter.
Prior proposals to give federal recognition to the Lumbee have failed to win enough support to pass, even with the backing of presidents Joe Biden and Donald Trump.
Supporters, though, believe the latest attempt is more likely to succeed.
U.S. Rep. Mark Harris, a Republican who represents Robeson County, said the Lumbee people have sought full federal recognition for decades and now the federal government is closer than ever to making it a reality.
Other Native American tribes have been opposed, and said the Lumbee isn’t a true indigenous tribe but rather a relatively new group formed by the intermingling of natives, escaped slaves and others.
