Lumbee leaders

The winding black river that flows through Robeson County has carried the name Lumber River for nearly two centuries.

Lumbee leaders want to change that.

They want the river to return to its ancestral name - Lumbee River.

They say it's a matter of cultural history and reaffirming the river's importance to the Lumbees.

"The name change to Lumbee gives credence and recognition to the river and its ancestral inhabitants and the role it has played in the development of the region," said Lawrence Locklear, a former Tribal Council member. "Today, the river is not only home to the Lumbee Indians, but to non-Indians who have developed an identity based on a relationship derived from an existence along its banks."

The Tribal Council passed an ordinance June 18 calling for state legislation to change the river's name. Locklear crafted the ordinance.

Tribal leaders plan to refer to the river by its ancestral name in all correspondence and tribal publications, according to the ordinance.

Tribal Council member Audrey Hunt, chairman of the tribe's Education and Cultural Committee, supports the name change.

"The river is a root system for our people and our existence in this area," Hunt said. "It has been a part of our past, a part of our present and will continue to be a part of our future."

In 1809, the state General Assembly designated the stretch of waterway from Hoke and Scotland counties to the North Carolina and South Carolina border as the Lumber River. It was also known as Drowning Creek.

American Indians in the area referred to the river as Lumbee River before the legislation. Lumbee is an Indian term referring to the river's dark water.

Even today, a majority of Lumbees still call the river by its ancestral name.

In the 1809 legislation, the state established the Lumber River Navigation Co. to open the river as a public highway, Locklear said. Lumber was moved from Lumberton down the river to the Pee Dee River in South Carolina to be used at naval shipyards.

"The name seems to have been changed solely for the business purposes," said Locklear, who researched the use of the river's name prior to 1952.
Tribal identity issue

Stan Knick, director of the Native American Resource Center at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, said it seems appropriate the river returns to its original name.

"The river is very important to the tribe," he said. "It has been kind of a spiritual connection for the Lumbee people over the years. One of the most significant landmarks of the Lumbee identity is the river."

Knick and Locklear are optimistic that the General Assembly will approve the tribe's request.

"I think there is a reasonably good chance," Knick said. " Ron Sutton is a state representative, and he is Lumbee. I think he is fairly well situated in the House to gain quite a bit of support for it. I think it would be historically appropriate to see it happen. We will have to wait and see."

Tribal officials plan to talk to state legislators about submitting a bill calling for the name change.

The tribe adopted the name Lumbee in 1952 because of its proximity to the Lumbee River.

"We followed the same model of the Santee, Pee Dee and Wateree Indian tribes in South Carolina," Locklear said. "Some folks thought that the term Lumbee was made up and didn't exist. By the time the tribe adopted the name Lumbee, it was already well known throughout the county."

For the name to be changed at a federal level, the tribe must make a request before the U.S. Board of Geographic Names within the U.S. Geological Survey.

"State legislation would only pertain to the state," said Lou Yost, executive sectary of the Board of Geographic Names.

According to the board's Web site, there must be a compelling reason to change the name of a natural feature such as the Lumber River. "Changing a name merely to correct or re-establish historical usage is not in and of itself a reason to change a name," the Web site states.
Accepting change

Hunt and Locklear hope those outside the Lumbee community will be receptive to the name change.

"We are not doing something new," Hunt said. "We are asking to revert back to the name the river used to be."

Locklear said his research shows that at the turn of the 20th century, the non-Indian residents of Robeson County readily accepted Lumbee as the name of the river.

"I think they still recognized that Lumbee is still what the Indians call the river," he said. "I would be willing to present the information to all of the local municipalities and county commissioners. I think the non-Indian community will be surprised how much it was embraced at the turn of the century.''