Yesterday, history was made. The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina finally received full federal recognition — something our people have fought for, believed in, and carried in our hearts for generations. This isn’t just a political win… it’s validation, dignity, and long-overdue respect for a people who never stopped knowing who we are. Proud to be Lumbee. Today and always. 🔴🟡⚫️⚪️🪶 | Rob Cole Music

Why the Lumbee Were Neither Classified as White nor Negroes: Paper Trail, Genetics, and History The Lumbee people of southeastern North Carolina emerged in early America as a distinct, place-based community shaped more by law, records, and social strategy than by DNA alone. From the late 1600s through the early 1800s, the ancestors of today’s Lumbee consistently appear in colonial Virginia and North Carolina records as free people of color—often labeled “free mulatto,” “free colored,” or similar