Hawai'i Pamaomao: My Visit to the Lumbee People of North Carolina

I was honored this year to be invited to attend a Hawai'i Pamaomao trip to North Carolina, an experience of Hawai'i in a distant place. We visited the Lumbee tribe to share knowledge and history and learn from one another. We were welcomed to take part in a number of cultural, social, and intellectual activities, which allowed us to build relationships (with the Lumbee and amongst our group) and to look at our educational community through a different lens. It was profoundly meaningful!

Town Creek Indian Mound State Park, Mount Gilead, NC

In preparation for our visit to meet the Lumbee people, I researched the role of oral history in their culture. One of the sources I read prior to leaving for North Carolina stated that the federal government doesn’t recognize the Lumbee because they don’t speak a native language nor live in a traditional way; therefore, they are not Native American (Hutcheson, 2015). 

This lack of recognition hasn’t stopped the Lumbee from developing and holding fast to their tribal identity. In fact, my experience showed me that many Lumbee people do live in a traditional way, and they are actively working to rebuild their native language(s) – just the same as people from other Indian tribes. I was impressed with what a strong cultural identity the tribe possessed even though they had few historical records and had virtually lost their original language. 

Town Creek Indian Mound State Park, Mount Gilead, NC

Oral traditions seemed to play a strong role in building and strengthening the Lumbee identity. One large-scale and several smaller-scale oral history recording projects have been conducted over the last 40 years to gather memories and cultural information from elders. What I learned is that while projects like these are very important, they may not be the most important way that oral history is passed on. 

Lumbee Dancers at Brave Nation Powwow, Pembroke, NC

We met some very memorable and kind Lumbee people, and what stood out to me was how much they talk about and share their culture with each other, especially their children. I witnessed intentional efforts to perpetuate cultural knowledge for future generations. This experience sent a message to me that I need to communicate my culture more both personally and professionally. I need to share more intentionally with my children the cultures and languages the come from. I also need to share with the faculty and staff at Hawai'iCC what I am doing to promote Hawai'i Papa O Ke Ao. Thus, the creation of this blog!

Here I will be sharing not only topics of interest from my work, but also how my personal and professional activities support the essential work of the HPOKA initiative to build and strengthen our indigenous serving institution.

I'd like to thank the other members of my traveling group from Hawai'iCC and UHHilo who made this trip rich and memorable: Taupōuri Tangarō, Gail Makuakāne-Lundin, Ākeamakamae Kiyuna, Mary Ann Kalei Baricuatro, Yolisa Duley, Kekoa Harmon, Sheena Lopes, and Kalena Spinola.