To the Editor,
Whether First Americans/Native Americans/American Indians were natives who stayed in one place (agrarian) or moved about (nomadic), the most important element of the tribe was “the people.” Most First American tribal names translate into the word “people” for the native tongue.
The Lumbee keep trying to find a person or a drum or a dance or a festival or a craft or a wardrobe or a food or a religion to make us more “Indian.” We are Indian because of the “people” not because of bolos, vests, gourds, beads, feathers and regalias. If we are to remain Indian or First American we have to care for the people. We can’t dance around circles or issues. We can’t be silent or simply depend on prayer.
“Heal” is not the four-letter word that is most important to our Lumbee people. The most important four-letter word to Lumbee is “home.. We need to be concentrating on who can lead us to best provide homes for our people. We need to stop channeling HUD money to salaries and start using it as cement and cinder blocks to provide foundations for needy families to have a “home.”
In this tribal chairman campaign a lot of folks are going “green.” They will put on their “Indian-ness” and parade it around for a dollar. That is one of the single most detrimental actions to our people. Accept our identity for who we are. Care for the people we rise from. Don’t be a painted cigar-shop Indian folks. Don’t fall for pretty on a white horse cause that horse is just gonna dump on your shoe.
Put every family in a safe home and then you begin to heal. Then you can be silent or discuss anything you want while my children and elders sleep warmly and safely at home.
The Lumbee have to accept responsibility for creating our own problems and solve our own housing issues. We have to elect a chairman with relevant tribal governance experience who will be using HUD dollars for housing and not for political payback or payoff. We have to put tribal members to work building homes for tribal members. This will all be a change for the Lumbee.
Vote on Nov. 17 for safe Lumbee homes and remember — it’s time for a change.
Eric R. Locklear
Fayetteville
