PEMBROKE — Young members of the Lumbee Tribe presented its governing body a drum with red hand prints Thursday, symbolizing their opposition to the use of children as soldiers in some countries.

Promoting awareness of the fact that children are still used as soldiers in some parts of the world is a project this year of the tribe’s Boys and Girls Club. The project is being conducted as part of the Boys & Girls Club of America’s national Keystone initiative, which this year focuses on military veterans.

Although by United Nations protocol the use of children as soldiers has been illegal since February 2002, the U.N. estimates there are still 250,000 child soldiers worldwide.

The drum presented to the council Thursday includes the handprints of Tribal Chairman Purnell Swett, Tribal Speaker Ricky Burnett, and John Lock, cultural coordinator for the tribe’s Pembroke Boys & Girls Club. It also includes the prints of members of the Young Society drum group.

According to the Red Hand Organization, it is hoped the red hand effort will result in pressuring governments, and non-government entities still using children in warfare to cease such actions.

“It is overwhelming seeing our youth work together like this, representing the Lumbee people,” Burnett said. “We need to encourage our youth to get involved. One day they will be sitting up here where we are today because we instilled in them what it means to be Lumbee.”

In other business:

— Council members, saying they still need more information, put off acting on an ordinance that would establish a Tribal Designated Housing Entity to oversee the administration of the housing program.

In December, council members appeared on the verge of moving toward establishing the TDHE as proposed by former Councilman Welford Clark. As proposed by Clark, the TDHE would be overseen by a board of directors made up of all 21 Tribal Council members, the tribal chairman, and two tribe members appointed by the council. Employees in the tribe’s housing department would be under the direction of the board of directors rather than the tribe’s executive branch.

— The council approved a rural health and wellness partnership between the tribe and The University of North Carolina at Pembroke. According to tribal spokesman Alex Baker, the university will be working with the tribe to conduct surveys and collect “raw” health data relating specifically to the Lumbee people.



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