Nyękwarihwá·yę̀·ʔ

From as early as the 1520’s, the Tuscarora had contact with the Spanish, who were eventually given permission to establish an outpost in Tuscarora territory. The 1630 Johannes Cloppenburg map above places “Medano Hispanis” (“Hispanic Dunes”) due east of the Tuscarora ("Mongoack").

1142    August 22, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy is founded near present day Victor, NY under a total solar eclipse. 

1585     On August 17, Sir Richard Grenville, Ralph Lane, Thomas Harriot, John White, et al., arrive at Roanoke Island with with the intention of establishing the first of Sir Walter Raleigh’s colonies. These colonists proceeded to seek passage to Asia via the Albemarle Sound and local rivers, such as the Moratoc (Roanoke) and Chowan. This is the first known contact between the Tuscarora and the English.

1586     This fledgling colony was abandoned on June 19, 1586, the English having been retrieved by Sir Francis Drake. A total of 15 men were left behind on the island.  After finding only bones, Chief Manteo informed John White that these 15 men were killed by Secotan, Aquascogok & Dasamongueponke warriors.

1587     On 8 August 1587, White led a dawn attack on the Dasamongueponkes that went disastrously wrong. White and his soldiers entered the Dasamongueponke village in the morning "so early that it was yet dark," but mistakenly attacked a group of friendly Indians, killing one and wounding many.  "We were deceaved," wrote White in his journal, "for the savages were our friendes." Henceforth, relations with the local tribes would steadily deteriorate.
             *Sir Richard Grenville and Sir Walter Raleigh establish what has come to be known as “The Lost Colony” on Roanoke Island. On August 13, Sir Walter Raleigh bestowed the title “Lord of Roanoke and Dasamonguepeuk” to Manteo. The village of Dasamonguepeuk is located in present day Bertie County. In Thomas Parramore’s “Lost Colony in Fact and Legend,” he suggests that the Spanish had incited the Tuscarora to capture and destroy the English colony.

1590     John White returned home to find England at war with Spain, which delayed his return to Roanoke Island.  His voyage back to Roanoke was defined by so much bad luck that White wrote that he was "born under an unlucky star."  He arrived on Roanoke Island on August 18 and after so much bad luck and bad weather, he left on October 24 for England and never returned to Turtle Island.  

1660     The Welsh clergyman, Morgan Jones was captured in Tuscarora territory by the Doegs, a band of Tuscarora who incidentally also spoke Welsh, having learned the language from Welsh explorers & travelers. This band of Tuscarora were described as settled on the “Pontigo River, near Cape Atross” (present day “Pungo River, near Cape Hatteras”). The day after his capture, the Doegs held council and condemned Jones and his five companions to death. When an interpreter informed the Welshmen of their fate, Jones dejectedly remarked, in Welsh, “Ydw i wedi dianc rhag cymaint o beryglon yr anialwch a rhaid i mi nawr gael fy nghuro yn y pen fel ci” (“Have I escaped so many dangers of the wilderness and must I now be knocked in the head like a dog?”). Upon hearing the remark, the Doeg who appeared to be the War Chief, took Jones by the waist and told him in Welsh that he should not die. Jones and his companions remained among the Tuscarora for four months.

1670     July 14th, the German explorer John Lederer visits the village of Kateras (present day Raleigh, NC), which he described as “A place of great Indian trade and commerce and chief seat of the haughty emperor of the Taskiroras, called Kaskusara, vulgarly called Kaskous. His grim majesty, upon my first appearance, demanded my gun and shot. He was the most proud, imperious barbarian that I met within all my marches.”

1672     The French explorer Jacques Marquette met a party of Indians on the upper Mississippi, who were believed to be Tuscaroras, based on their language and clothing. The Indians informed Marquette that they obtained their guns and other European wares from white men in the east, who “had rosaries and pictures”; a possible reference to the Spanish who frequented Tuscarora territory.

1706     March 5, Pennsylvania officially bans importation of Indian slaves from North Carolina as the Five Nations threatened to get involved in the matter.

1707     After a smallpox outbreak kills off Indians of many nations, North Carolina Governor John Archdale said: “The hand of God was eminently seen in thinning the Indians to make room for the English.”

1710     On July 8, a Tuscarora delegation arrived in Conestoga, Pennsylvania to present eight wampum belts to the Pennsylvania government in hopes of dismantling the Indian slave trade by imploring them to influence the North Carolina government against enslaving and murdering Indians.

1711     In early September, John Lawson and Christopher DeGraffenreid are captured while scouting for new lands to squat on. Lawson had assisted DeGraffenreid in claiming Tuscarora land near the village of Chattoka, for the purpose of establishing his Swiss Colony, present day New Bern. For this crime, Lawson was sentenced to death, while DeGraffenreid was freed.
            *Four days later on September 22, 1711, Machapunga, Bear River, Pamplico, Coree, Neusiok, Woccon and warriors from the Tuscarora southern villages attacked the English town of Bath, effectively starting the Tuscarora War. NC requested assistance from both Virginia and South Carolina. Governor Spotswood of VA felt that NC had created their own Indian problems, but allocated 1,000 pounds in assistance. Colonel John Barnwell of SC led troops and fighting men from various Indian nations to make war with the Tuscarora. The northern villages, led by Chief Tom Blount, remained neutral and refused to fight against the southern villages, despite ongoing pressure from the NC government.
              *In Barnwell’s first engagement at the village of Torhunta, he was surprised to find that most of the fiercest Tuscarora warriors were women. He wrote: “The enemy were so desperate, the very women shooting arrows, yet they did not yield until most of them were put to the sword.”
             *Governor Alexander Spotswood of Virginia recognized the Tuscarora of the northern villages under Chief Tom Blount in the treaty of 1711.
             *Tuscarora captives of Colonel Barnwell said the beginning of the war was influenced by visiting warriors of the Five Nations, who had taunted the Tuscarora for not avenging the drunken mistreatment of a Tuscarora by the whites.

1712     In April, Barnwell's force was joined by 250 North Carolina militiamen and attacked the Tuscarora stronghold of Fort Hancock on Catechna Creek a.k.a Katéhnu·ʔ. After 10 days of battle, the aggressors were not able to overcome the Tuscarora and the Tuscarora signed a truce, agreeing to end the war.
             *This Summer, the NY governor learns that the French have persuaded the Five Nations to send warriors to assist the Tuscarora in NC. By Autumn, the NY government had convinced the Five Nations to not send warriors south, but rather go to war against the “French Indians.”
             *On November 25, a treaty is signed between the state of North Carolina and the northern villages, represented by Chief Tom Blount, Saroona, Heuhanohnoh, Cheutharuthoa and Neowoonttotsery, on behalf of the nine northern Tuscarora villages. A condition of the arrangement was that the state of North Carolina required Chief Blount “to deliver up six chiefest women and children by the next full moon as hostages from each of the towns of Tostehant, Rauroota, Tarhunta, Keuta, Toherooka, Juninits and Caurookehoe.”
            *In November, Chief Hancock (headman of the southern villages) is captured and executed by the colonists in present day Craven County. Along with Chief Hancock, James Coharie is also hanged. Surely the settlers chose this method of execution as it was the most abhorrent form of execution to Indians.

1713    January:  The original Meherrin kidnap two of Chief Blount's children, of the northern Tuscarora villages. The state of NC threatens the original Meherrin and commands the children to be returned to the Tuscarora, which came to pass.   
          *March 20–23: Another force from South Carolina, consisting of 900 Indians and 33 whites, begins a three day siege on the Tuscarora stronghold of Fort Neyuherú·kęʔ. Approximately 950 Tuscarora men, women and children are burned alive inside the fort and their remains cast into a common grave. Another 400 are captured and taken to SC as slaves, effectively breaking the treaties and another 170 were killed outside the fort. Some of the survivors from the southern villages migrate north to New York to become the sixth nation of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy.             *Tuscarora ancestor John Braveboy was born in the vicinity of or at Katéhnu·ʔ and fought in the war. He was 13-15 years old at the time the war began and for performing a meritorious act in battle against the colonists, he was given the name Brave Boy. When the name was translated into English, the Tuscarora tend to elide the “v” sound, as we do not have this sound in our language, hence “Brayboy.”
            *Approximately 1,500 of the Tuscarora nation of the northern villages relocate to Virginia in the territory of Monacan allies. The Tuscarora and Monacan are so close that Governor Spotswood assumed they had become one nation. These Tuscarora would eventually rejoin the main body of Tuscarora in NC when Indian Woods Reservation is established in 1727.
            *The colonial states of Virginia and North Carolina recognize the Tuscarora through the treaties of 1711, 1712 and 1713. Thomas Pollock, the Governor of NC recognize the Tuscarora in the 1712 Treaty signed by Chief Tom Blount of the northern Tuscarora villages and in the 1714 “Sun and Moon” Treaty which was unsigned by the Tuscarora Nation. The April, 1713 treaty acknowledges that the Tuscarora Nation which remained in NC under Chief Tom Blount were the only Tuscarora to hold a government to government relationship with the state.
          

1715     Articles of Peace with the Tuscarora is signed and they are confined to a reservation at Lake Mattamuskeet, along with the allied Coree and Machapunga survivors of the war.
            *The Tuscarora who migrated north arrive in New York after a two year journey.

1717     On June 7, through terms of treaty, Governor Charles Eden provides a 10 mile long, 40,000 acre reservation to “King” Tom Blount of the northern village Tuscarora, which by 1722, was known as “Indian Woods.”

1720     A remnant of the Saponi are granted permission to be adopted into the Tuscarora Nation.

1722     The Tuscarora who migrated to New York are formally adopted as the sixth nation of the Haudenosauee. For seven years, the Tuscarora resisted pressure to be adopted into one of the other larger nations, such as the Oneida, Onondaga and Seneca. The terms of adoption include the adoptees surrendering their language and customs in favor of their adopting nation’s.
            *In April, the NC Tuscarora presented a plea for protection to the council at Edenton, declaring that the encroaching white people did not observe the boundaries of the reservation.

1725     In October, the colony of North Carolina issues a proclamation that any Tuscaroras who did not align with and respect the authority of Chief Tom Blount would be considered enemies. 

1727     After the establishing of Tuscarora Indian Woods reservation, those at the Lake Mattamuskeet reservation relocate to Indian Woods, however, only the Tuscarora are noted as leaving Mattamuskeet, indicating that the Coree and Machapunga had been absorbed into the Tuscarora by that time.
            *During this time frame, core Tuscarora surnames such as Locklear, Lowry, Braveboy/Brayboy, Cumbo, Hammond(s), Revels, Chavis, Kearsey, Jones, Brooks, Jacobs, Smith, Blount and Maynor appear on numerous tax lists, land grants and estate wills in Tuscarora territory, primarily Indian Woods reservation and Bertie County.

1732     In May, the Saponi who had been taken in by the Catawba (at their reservation near present day Rock Hill, SC) in 1728 visit Lieutenant Governor Gooch of VA with a few Cheraw to request permission to relocate back to VA. Permission is granted and immediately after relocating, raids by the Nottoway and “Iroquois” cause the Saponi to break into factions; some migrating north to join the Haudenosaunee (adopted in 1740, Cheraw included) and some requesting to be taken in by the Tuscarora Nation. The Eastern Dakota Tutelo (related to the Saponi) were adopted into the Wolf Clan of the Cayuga Nation in 1753. The Buck family among the Cayuga descend from these Tutelo. (Tutelo Rituals on the Six Nations Reserve, Ontario by Gertrude Prokosch Kurath. The Society of Ethnomusicology, Inc. Special Series No. 5, 1981)
            *The first known land grants secured by Tuscaroras were granted by King George II to Henry Berry and James Lowrie, two headmen of the nation, in present day Robeson County. This land was on Lowrie Swamp on the east side of the Lumber River.

1735     The Tuscarora again make formal complaints of the whites refusing to observe the reservation boundaries. To prevent a Tuscarora uprising, Governor Gabriel Johnston visited the reserveration and in his investigation, he learned that the local white settlers were selling rum to the Tuscarora, which had negative consequences for the nation. He also was told that the ferry keepers overcharged them and sometimes refused to transport Tuscaroras altogether.

1738     A second land grant was issued to James Lowrie in present day Robeson County. As it was the chiefs and other headmen of the nation who were awarded majority of the land grants, many Tuscaroras who arrived without land purchased land from these large land patent holders.

1739     Chief Tom Blount dies on the third Tuesday in June. James Blount was chosen to be the new Chief at the village of Rahsutáʔkye. Chief Blount knew little English and always traveled with a translator.

1744    In Lancaster, PA, a treaty was signed in which the Six Nations relinquished their lands south of NY to the Americans.

1748     The North Carolina General Assembly reaffirms that the Tuscarora who remained in NC are the sole owners of Tuscarora reservation lands and also reaffirmed the government to government relationship between the Tuscarora and the colony of NC.  At this time, the NC General Assembly also stated that only the Tuscarora had claim to these lands and that all previous and future land sales or leases would be considered null and void without the consent of the Tuscarora Nation of NC and the NC General Assembly.  

1750     By the 1750’s the core families of the Tuscarora Nation of NC had been establishing a new, intentional community in the old hunting grounds of present day Robeson County. Many Locklears and Lowrys are buried at the Long Swamp burial grounds, which is the oldest cemetery in Robeson County (established circa 1750) in present Prospect community.
            *Thousands of campsites laid between Little Raft and Big Raft Swamp, which corroborates the Tuscarora assertion that this was our old hunting grounds. These campsites were arranged in straight lines and crossed each other at right angles.

1753     On May 9, Chief William “Billy” Pugh is issued a land grant for 250 acres at Saddletree Swamp on the south side of Drowning Creek and another 500 acres on the east side of Drowning Creek in present day Robeson County.

             *From the diary of August Gottlieb Spangenberg during his journey to North Carolina, he wrote, “We paid a visit to the Tuscarora Indians who live on the Roanoke. They live upon a tract of very good land secured to them by act of Assembly.” He was accompanied by trader Thomas Whitemeal, who served as translator. He noted that the Tuscarora have no “king,” but have chiefs. He also wrote that the Tuscarora sided with the Six Nations against the Catawba, “but suffer from this relationship very much. They are very poor and are oppressed by the whites."  He acknowledged that “No efforts have as yet been made to Christianize them.”

             *Spanenberg further wrote that the Tuscarora asked him to carry a threat to the Catawba (unaware that peace had been made with them) that if they troubled Tuscarora hunters, there were enough young Tuscarora men who could go to the Catawba town and back in 20 days.

              *From Spanenberg’s diary: “’Tis worthy to remark that the conduct of the Tuscarora Indians here is quite different from that in Pennsylvania. There the Indians are not feared at all unless they are drunk. Here they conduct themselves in such a way that the whites are afraid of them.”

              *The settler Andrew Lambert complained of Seneca Indians robbing his corn and that they had killed and eaten some of his cattle.

1755     On March 31, Chief William Pugh is issued two 50 acre land grants at Cross Creek (in adjacent Cumberland County, Tuscarora territory).

1756     A company of Tuscarora went to Virginia to fight in the French and Indian War. Governor Dinwiddie eventually sent the Tuscarora home as he found them too difficult to discipline.

1757     In September, Chief James Blount petitions the state for better protections of Indian Woods reservation after settlers tell him the Tuscarora having title to the reservation means nothing as the settlers felled reservation timber, drive cattle and squat on reservation lands.
             *September 25, Chief James Blount is issued a land grant in present day Robeson County for 150 acres on Back Swamp. 

1760     Thomas Kearsey makes a public claim for wounds received during the French and Indian War. He was one of 50 Tuscarora men under the command of Captain Hugh Waddell. In the same year, John Rogers makes a claim for services performed with Waddell. Chief John Rogers was found on Indian Woods reservation as late as 1778.

1761     The Braveboy and Blount family remain close and migrate to present day Robeson County together.

1763     David Braveboy and family are listed on the Bladen tax list, Chief James Blount is staying with them.

1766     In July, Tyakawé·kę (recorded as “Diagawegee”), a Tuscarora Sachem from NY arrived in Brunswick County before Governor Tryon and requested to remove any Tuscaroras who wished to migrate north.
             *On July 12, a land lease was made and ratified in December before the NC General Assembly in New Bern. Wealthy white settlers had been trying to acquire the fertile Roanoke bottomlands for years. Knowing the Tuscarora’s frustration with white encroachment, three settlers (Robert Jones, William Williams, Thomas Pugh) offered $1,500 for an 8,000 acre lease to run for 150 years. This was enough to enable some to migrate to Haudenosaunee Country. The settler called Alexander McCulloch influenced the General Assembly to ratify the lease and for this, he was given 100 acres that he was promised by Jones, Williams and Pugh. This land lease at Indian Woods reservation causes unrest among Tuscaroras, resulting in a second migration to NY of 155.
             *The majority of Tuscarora who remain in NC begin migrating en masse to present day Robeson County, where the chiefs secured land grants for the purpose of relocating the Tuscarora Nation Council Fire. It is believed that the chiefs who signed this land lease did so, in part, because as more settlers encroached upon reservation lands without consequence, they feared the white men would again take Tuscarora lands and at least a land lease would ensure they would be designated as the legal owners. The Tuscarora Council Fire was relocated to present day Robeson County by the chiefs.
             *After 1766, Chief James Blount is no longer a signer of Tuscarora documents.
             *Robert Locklear and Thomas Green had been sharing adjoined land at Fishing Creek, Edgecombe County. In the 1766 migration, Thomas Green went north and is from who the Green/Greene family still at Lewiston, NY descend. Robert Locklear remained in NC and is from who all Locklears descend among the Tuscarora Nation of NC.

1767     A midwinter blizzard forces the migrating Tuscarora, ill-prepared for a northern winter and settled on the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania, to seek shelter at a Moravian mission. A Moravian diarist recorded that 75 Tuscaroras stopped at their Mission on their migration to NY and that the Tuscarora “refused to hear religion.”

1769     On May 4, Chief James Blount is issued a land grant of 500 acres on Flowers Swamp (west of Drowning Creek), present day Robeson County.
             *On May 4, Chief John Blount is also issued a land grant for 290 acres on Five Mile Swamp in Saddletree.
1773     On October 5th, A “rogue’s list” is circulated, which names Tuscarora ancestors as being “a curse to the area and who don’t hold patent on the lands in which they live.” A surveyor is shot for attempting to survey the lands of Ester Kersey, et al. Major Locklear appears on this list and is the one who fired the shot.

1775     At this time, approximately 80 Tuscaroras remain on Indian Woods Reservation.

1778     The state of NC passed legislation entitled “An Act to Quieten the Claims of the Tuscarora Nation.” This act both recognized the Tuscarora as such, but also provided NC State with a measure to manipulate the resources, rights and land base. By this time, most of our Tuscarora ancestors had migrated to present day Robeson County. However, nothing in this act diminished our ancestor’s rights and claims to the colonial treaties or negotiations with the state of NC.

1779     On November 12, Robert Jones was issued a land grant at Hailey’s Mill. He had recently lost his land lease at Indian Woods and joined other Tuscaroras at present day Robeson County. He moved along with the families of Ishmael Chavis, Basel Hunt and his brother, Richard Jones, who each received their land grants one day before Robert.
             *On November 11, Chief Samuel Bridgers is issued a 400 acre land grant on the west side of Drowning Creek and Poley Bridge Branch. Chief Bridgers was previously issued two land grants in Edgecombe County, prior to migrating to present day Robeson County.

1784     On November 11, Chief Sampson Bridgers is issued a 100 acre land grant on Ashpole Swamp, present day Robeson County.

1787      Robeson County is officially formed from Bladen County, previous called Bladen Precinct.

1790     On the first US Census, North Carolina decides to enumerate Indians as “Free Persons of Color,” as the state’s agenda was to eliminate Indians and complicate any Indian land claims.

1791     On December 20, Chief Samuel Bridgers is issued a 100 acre land grant east of Ashpole, Robeson County.

1795     On September 18, Chief Samuel Bridgers is issued a 200 acre land grant on the west side of Aaron Swamp, Robeson County.

1796     On December 20, Chief Samuel Bridgers is issued a 100 acre land grant east of Aaron Swamp in Robeson County.

1797     On August 19, Chief Samuel Bridgers is issued another 100 acre land grant between Aaron Swamp and Horse Swamp.

1799     A collection of six statutes passed by Congress, called the Indian Nonintercourse Act, forbids the sale of reservation lands without permission from the federal government.  The statutes are individually passed in 1790, 1793, 1796, 1799, 1802 and 1834.        

1800     The state classifies non-reservation Indians as “Other Free Persons” on the census.

1802     The last migration north for those who chose to leave NC. A delegation from NY removes about 50 Tuscaroras remaining at Indian Woods. By this time, the chiefs of the Tuscarora Nation had carried our Council Fire to our new home in present day Robeson County. Those few who remain at Indian Woods either die off or fade into the non-Native population.
             *An unratified treaty is initiated between the United States (on behalf of NC) and the Tuscarora, pertaining to land at Indian Woods. These leases are now set to expire in 1916.

1803-1840     The state of NC, intent on removing any threat of Indian land claims, sells Tuscarora reservation lands at Indian Woods and removes the Cherokee to Oklahoma. Being consistent with other east coast states priding themselves on eliminating their entire Indian population, NC now can boast that they’ve taken all Indian land within their borders.

1835     On June 4, 1835, a convention called to modify the NC Constitution of 1776 opened at the First Presbyterian Church in downtown Raleigh. The passage of this amendment to the state constitution effectively disenfranchised Indians. The agenda behind being previously enumerated as “Free Persons of Color” and “Other Free Persons” was obvious and the state now acknowledged Indians only as “Mulatto.”
             *Specific tribal affiliations are not proclaimed due to the Indian Removal Act and although Tuscaroras had already been assimilated into the European standard of deeded land, that was not a guarantee Tuscarora lands would not be stolen again and being removed west.
              *The terms of disenfranchisement dictated that no Indian would be allowed to own firearms, vote, bear witness against a white person in court, etc.

1840     On November 28, thirty-six white Robeson County citizens write the General Assembly of NC in regards to the alcohol consumption and origins of Robeson County Tuscaroras: “The county is cursed with a free-colored person population that migrated originally from the districts ‘round about the Roanoke and Neuse Rivers.”

1860s     Satiating his whimsical curiosities, Representative Hamilton McMillan excavated and destroyed many Tuscarora burial mounds in Robeson, Cumberland and Sampson Counties.

1862-1863     A yellow fever outbreak kills many African slaves sent to build Fort Fisher, at Wilmington. Slave owners across the state are reluctant to send more slaves, so the Confederate Home Guard intensifies efforts to conscript Indians/”other free persons” to build the fort.

1864     Three Tuscaroras who were conscripted to help build Fort Fisher (Wilmington, NC) are murdered by Brantley Harris of the Confederate Home Guard en route back to Robeson County. The oral history of George Lowry’s family, as told by descendant Rahθęʔnyéha·ʔ Chris Lowry, states that the Lowry family had requested leave for the three for Christmas. Along the way home, Brantley Harris tied the three up outdoors to go in a tavern and have a drink. After getting drunk, he went back outside and beat the three to death. Their father, George Lowry spoke at their funeral: “We were a free people long before the white man came to our land. When the English came to this land, we treated them kindly. Now we get no justice and that in a land where we were always free.”
             *Some Tuscarora men operated as guerrillas for the Union Army by sabotaging the Confederate cause and robbing local whites.

1865     On January 15, Brantley Harris, the white, notorious killer of Indian men (including George Lowry’s three sons) and rapist of Indian women, is killed by the Lowry Gang.
             *On March 3, the Confederate Home Guard go to the home of Allen Lowry after having been accused by their white neighbors of stealing their livestock; a method whites sometimes used to steal Indian land. Whites would let their livestock roam free and when the livestock would stray onto Indian people’s property, whites would lodge a complaint and the Indians would be required to forfeit their land as penalty. At the Lowry home, the Confederate Home Guard found guns. They forced Allen and William Lowry to dig their own graves, then executed both by gun. This began the Lowry War as Allen’s son and William’s brother, Henry Berry Lowry, vowed to take revenge on the Confederate Home Guard.
             *On December 7, 1865, Henry Berry Lowry married Rhoda Strong, where he was arrested. Lowry escaped from jail by filing his way through the jail's bars.
             *Pastor Coble of Center Church and L. McKinnin, Minister of the Gospel, author a letter to Lt. Birney, head of the Lumberton office of Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, regarding the murder of Allen and William Lowry, stating that “They are said to be descended from the Tuscarora Indians.”

1867     The United States War Department acknowledges William and Allen Lowry as Tuscarora Indians.

1868     Between September and October, the NC state Constitution is Amended to refranchise Indians.

1869     Governor Holden declares Henry Berry Lowry and his gang to be outlaws and offers $12,000 reward for them, dead or alive.

1872     “The Swamp Outlaws” is written by George A. Townsend, which also identifies the Lowry family as Tuscarora. Harper’s Weekly prints an article on March 30 about the Lowry Band and their leader’s Tuscarora origin.
             *In February, after robbing the sheriff’s safe of the $20,000 that was to be offered as reward for his capture, Henry Berry Lowry disappeared. Without his leadership, most of his gang were hunted and killed.

1874     February 23, Steven Lowry, Henry Berry Lowry’s brother and gang member, is killed by a white bounty hunter.

1875     General Johnathan C. Gorman writes of the Tuscarora: “A century ago, a few members of the Tuscarora tribe of Indians lived upon the banks of the Roanoke River in Halifax County, NC and obtained a livelihood by hunting and fishing, but the encroachment of the planters forced them to leave. They removed to Robeson County.” In his writings, Gorman acknowledges that Robeson County is home to the Tuscarora and that the Lowry War was a fight between the Indians and the corruption of the confederate Home Guard.
             *Author Mary Norment, a descendant of Chief Samuel Bridgers and whose husband was killed by the Lowry Gang, writes that Sara Kearsey, Bettie Locklear and “a Cumbo woman” were Tuscarora. Norment also wrote “They married and intermarried with each other so often the distinctive features of one was representative of all; straight black hair, high cheek bones, straight backs and great muscular power characterized the whole race. As a race, they are remarkably superstitious; they believe in fairies, elfs, spirits, ghosts and goblins and in conjuration. They as a race are very prolific. It is no uncommon occurrence to find women among them who have born a dozen of children and some few as many as fifteen or sixteen.”
             *Indian males, 21 years or older, are now allowed to vote in NC.

1885     This year marks the beginning of the revisionism period. Hamilton McMillan, a Robeson County State Representative, interviews many Indians in Robeson County and inquires about their origin. He wrote a Fayetteville Observer article with the results: “The people we call the Croatan Indians (though they do not recognize that name as that of a tribe, but only a village and that they were Tuscarora).”
             *The information gathered by McMillan spread quickly and even two days before the feature was published, the Tuscarora are quickly recognized by the state under the non-treaty “Croatan” name. The article was also ran in an Asheville, NC newspaper prior to the Fayetteville Observer. The federal government had no knowledge of a tribe called “Croatan.”
             *A quote from the State Commissioner: “Up until 1885, the state seems to have been determined to group her Indians with the Negro population. It insisted on their attending Negro schools and churches and being subject to all the discrimination which it had set up against the Negro race. It speaks strongly to the racial identity which these Indians have never lost cognizance of that they refused to associate with the Negroes in church and in school.” When the Tuscarora were disenfranchised by the state in 1835, rather than send their children to mixed schools, they refused to have them attend school at all, until 1885, when a separate school system was implemented. Tuscaroras refer to this as “The fifty years of ignorance.”

1887     The Croatan Normal School was established for the training of future Indian teachers. The students of the school are now forced by the state to learn a revisionist history of their people. The Croatan Normal School is the predecessor of the current Pembroke State University. In the General Assembly act that enabled the school, the wording was used “Whereas, the Indians now living in Robeson County claim to be descendants of a friendly tribe who once resided in eastern North Carolina on the Roanoke River, known as the Croatan Indians.” “Descendants of a friendly tribe” and “Croatan Indians” are examples of deliberate duplicity to erase the Tuscarora.

1889     On January 7, a report on these “Croatan” Indians was sent to the Director of the Bureau of Ethnology, with the statement that there was no record in the Indian Office (pre-BIA) of any such Indians called “Croatan.” On January 29, the Bureau of Ethnology wrote Representative Hamilton McMillan to request information about the “Croatan Indians” he had recognized as such, to which he never responded. On July 14, 1890, the Department of the Interior, Office of Indian Affairs wrote McMillan to request the same information.

1890     This is the first census in which NC Indians are correctly enumerated as Indians. However, this census burned.

1900     This is the first available NC census that enumerates Indians by their rightful race, no longer designated as “Mulatto,” “Free Persons of Color” or “Other Free Persons.” A special Indian Census is conducted.

1909     After years of protests by Tuscaroras over being recognized as “Croatan,” Hamilton McMillan was required to appear in Superior Court, where he testified that “I gave them the designation of Croatan Indians in the act. I wanted to give them some designation. There was a tribe known as Croatan tribe on Croatan Island. It was an honorable name and it was a complete designation.”
             McMillan was then asked: Question: “Were they never called Croatans until this act was introduced in here?”
             McMillan: “No sir.”
             McMillan attempted to justify his knowingly incorrect name of Croatan by claiming it was “honorable,” but it was an attempt to deflect culpability in a conspiracy to erase the Tuscarora from NC history. His testimony also contradicted his written word.
             *In McMillan’s revised pamphlet published in this year, he writes that in 1607, Captain John Smith sent two other men to the “Mangoaks” (Tuscarora/”Mingo-ok”) on the River Nottoway to learn about the fate of the “Lost Colony,” but they returned as the others had done, without any information except that “The white people were all dead."

1910     A second Indian Census is conducted. The 1900 and 1910 Indian Censuses are the basis for some tribe’s enrollment criteria.

1912     In this year, Charles A. Pierce, a special Indian Agent, interviewed several elders of the Tuscarora Nation, who told him that they and their ancestors are Tuscarora, despite being legally recognized as “Croatan,” a non-treaty name, by the state. This Indian Agent was also tasked with making inquiries to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians as well.

1913     State Senator and future Governor of NC, Angus McLean, believes Robeson County Indians’ phenotype is so similar to the Cherokee that he assumes they are the same people. He and his political protégé, Reverend Dwight Fuller Lowry, are successful in changing the tribal name to Cherokee Indians of Robeson County on March 11. McLean references others within the white establishment who also express their opinions assuming a Cherokee origin for the local Indians. This erroneous naming was advanced by McLean, but this name change had the support of D.F. Lowry, an Indian who was employed within the white establishment, was derisive of traditional Indians and saw an opportunity for federal recognition by appropriating the Cherokee name. This would be the first schism between the Tuscarora and the group that would become known as Lumbee, who embraced the “Cherokee” name and attempted six times to be federally recognized as such.
             *Some have written of a Colonel John Lowry, who signed a treaty on behalf of the real Cherokee as being kin to the Robeson County Lowry family. This is not true.
             *With the land lease in Bertie County at Indian Woods scheduled to expire in 1916, legally changing the recognized tribal name to anything but “Tuscarora” was advantageous to the state as the land would have reverted back to the Tuscarora still staying in NC.

1915     On March 13, a 76 year old Tuscarora citizen, Amanda Chavis, swears an affidavit attesting to she and her family’s Tuscarora (not Cherokee) heritage before the Robeson County Justice of the Peace.

1916     On July 12th, the land leases at Indian Woods Tuscarora Reservation expire and the land illegally reverts to the state, as there are no “recognized” Tuscarora in NC.
             *Tribal leaders Preston Locklear and William Deese pass away and both of their headstones are emblazoned with “TOTE,” being an acronym for “Tuscaroras of the East.”  Preston Locklear was buried in his ceremonial Tuscarora clothing.


1928     A delegation of Akwesasne Mohawks arrive from St. Regis, New York, led by Chief Snow. Their purpose is to help Tuscaroras reestablish Longhouse culture and build a Longhouse. This Longhouse, located in the Brooks Settlement, thrived until 1951, when pressure from local churches shuttered the doors and effectively hacked traditional culture into decline.
             *Reverend D.F. Lowry buys the land where the Longhouse stood on behalf of the Prospect Methodist Church. Oral tradition from the Brayboy, Revels and Locklear families claim that the Tuscarora language was spoken in the Longhouse.

1933     The American anthropologist and folklorist, John R. Swanton, reports on his theory that the Indians in Robeson County descend from the extinct Cheraw tribe. Hailing a virtue from lack of research, he never proved a single Cheraw connection to the Tuscarora in Robeson County. However, the faction of Indians who had been splintering since 1913 saw another opportunity for federal recognition and began identifying as “Siouan,” despite the fact that Siouan is a linguistic stock and not an Indian tribe or nation.

1934     On June 18, the Indian Reorganization Act a.k.a the Wheeler-Howard Act, reverses the U.S. policy favoring Indian Assimilation and now favors Indian self-determination.

1935     On April 8, Felix Cohen, author of “Federal Indian Law,” responds to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs regarding eligibility of local Indians receiving recognition and services under the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, in which he states that the people would be eligible to assert sections 5, 10, 11, 12, 15, 17 and 19.
             *The federal government then begins to purchase over 9,000 acres of land to create an “Indian resettlement” called Pembroke Farms, which was to become reservation land, however, eventually the government unilaterally changed the agreements and direction of, transferring control from the Interior Department to the Agricultural Department.
             *Kermit Lowry, great nephew of Henry Berry Lowry, states on his claim that he and his wife are Tuscarora.
              *The Hatteras Tuscarora in Robeson County are the second Indian nation in the U.S. to petition for federal recognition. It is important to note that in this time frame, while the Tuscarora were seeking recognition as Tuscarora, the splinter group eventually known as “Lumbee” were attempting to be recognized as “Cherokee,” “Siouan” and “Cheraw.” When one of their bills failed to pass, another bill with a new identity was adopted.

1938     On October 22, the federal government initiates a 99 year lease with the Red Banks Mutual Association, an offshoot of Pembroke Farms, for 1713 acres of land. This lease is supposedly filed in the Robeson County courthouse, Book 8z, page 466, although on this page, only the deed from a Jesse Fletcher, from whom the government bought the land in 1937.
               *The federal government begins selling the land at Pembroke Farms under the guise of “mineral rights.”

1939     The Indians who were rightfully acknowledged in 1934 are sent letters from the BIA acknowledging their status, but also denies them “tribal recognition,” claiming that they had no treaties with the United States. In these letters, it is stated that reservation land would not be able to be bought, yet 9,000 acres had already been bought.
             *Despite self identifying as Tuscarora and holding our treaties, the government used this as an excuse to deny the Tuscarora, as they had strategically officially recognized the Tuscarora as “Croatan” in 1885 and the splinter group under various non-treaty names.

1945     On October 25, William Zimmerman, Jr. (Assistant Commissioner of Indian Affairs), writes an internal memorandum to C. Scott Noble (Assistant Administrator of Farm Security Administration), in regard to the sale of approximately 3,000 acres of the reservation land: “I came away nevertheless with the definite conviction that the recent sale of approximately 3,000 acres of alleged surplus lands was a mistake. I believe that these lands should have been held for the future use of the present project clients or of new clients to come.”

1951     In February, the Robesonian Historical Edition features a full page spread (page 4G) dedicated to the origins of “Robeson Indians.” In reference to locales on “Ancient Maps,” “These very locations are those claimed by the Indian traditions as their former homes. Going up the Neuse river, they would reach the Sampson County settlement near the Coharie rivers. Not only the rivers, but old Indian trails would make travel from there to Robeson County very easy. Governor A.W. McLean said that the principle one of these roads was the Old Lowrie Road (part of which is present day I-95), still to be found near Pembroke and that on this road ‘they had settlements on the Neuse river, on the Cape Fear, Lumber and as far as the Santee in South Carolina; their principle settlement was along the Lumber.’” Being historically renowned as efficient path makers, the Lowrie Road extended as far south as Marlboro County, SC through Robeson, Cumberland, Sampson, Duplin, Jones and Craven Counties to the Neuse and Roanoke Rivers.

1953     On April 20, the splinter group who previously pursued formal recognition under various names petition the state to now recognize them as “Lumbee,” a name created by a local Scots-American literary, John Charles McNeill, having taken poetic license with the name of the Lumber River in 1906 for his poem “The Sunburnt Boys.” This name afterwards was adopted by the local white establishment for social groups such as kennel and boating clubs, etc. Of an Indian population of over 20,000, only 10% voted for the Lumbee name.

1955     The Tuscarora Nation of New York files a suit with the newly established Indian Claims Commission for lands and monies in NC.

1956     Senator Carlyle, Reverend D.F. Lowry, et al, successfully secure the “Lumbee” name before Congress with the passage of The Lumbee Act. This federal legislation dictates that all Indians in Robeson and surrounding counties shall be recognized as “Lumbee.” This unprecedented act is the only time in American history that Congress created a tribe and also served as a legal attempt to forever bar Tuscarora recognition in NC. Chief Leon Locklear of Maxton Longhouse stated “We had never heard the word ‘Lumbee’ before. We all went to school one day and they told us that we were going to be called ‘Lumbee’ now. It confused us kids.’”

1957     The Indian Claims Commission deny the New York Tuscarora’s claims in NC, stating that “Only friendly recognized Tuscarora” still in North Carolina have claim (Indian Claims Commission docket #321). North Carolina welcomes this ruling, confident that The Lumbee Act would ensure that no “friendly recognized Tuscarora” would present a threat of land claims in NC.

1958     On January 18, the KKK, under the leadership of Catfish Cole, called for a Klan rally at Hayes Pond in Maxton. The KKK burned a cross on an Indian woman’s lawn in protest of her dating a white man. At the rally, approximately 500 Indian men arrived with guns, fought with and chased the KKK across the border into South Carolina. Tuscarora leader Carnell Locklear spoke of the Tuscarora influence at Hayes Pond and Tuscaroras today have male relatives who were there.

1959     On April 2, several Haudenosaunee from New York, including the Tuscarora Medicine Man, Wallace Mad Bear Anderson, visit Robeson County to speak with leaders of the newly created “Lumbee Tribe.” Mad Bear sought to speak with Reverend D.F. Lowry particularly, but Lowry “was unable to be contacted.” Mad Bear frequently visited Robeson County Tuscarora after this time.

1960’s After the Brooks Longhouse was dismantled, traditional Tuscaroras began holding ceremonies at each other’s homes and even at Clyde’s, a shuttered grocery store.

1966     On March 17, the KKK announce their intentions to hold another rally in Maxton. A judge issues a restraining order to prevent this from happening. A month later, on April 22, the restraining order was dissolved, but the KKK never held that rally.

1968     Congress amends Public Law 280, pertaining to civil and criminal jurisdiction over tribes and their lands. This Amendment also provided authority for states that had previously assumed jurisdiction over any Indian lands to retrocede that jurisdiction to the tribes (82 U.S. Stat. 73). As a result, the Red Banks Mutual Association, which was still under federal lease, is dissolved.
             *The Regional Development Association, which would later change its name to the Lumbee Regional Development Association (LRDA), is founded and assumes the role of the Lumbee Government.
             *The LRDA, from its conception, is under North Carolina laws and jurisdiction and is a willing operative of the state to lead a revisionist narrative.

1969     A Longhouse that had been established on highway 74 near the AG Center continued to be used for ceremonies.
             *Mad Bear began building a home beside the place where Prospect Longhouse now stands, but decided to remain in New York. This building became the Longhouse museum.                                                *About this time, the Haudenosaunee organize two Unity Conferences; one at Tonawanda and one at Akwesasne. Mad Bear invites the NC Tuscarora to attend. Chief Elisha Locklear acknowledged a meeting with Mad Bear, who extended invitations to attend ceremonies and socials in NY.

1970     The Eastern Carolina Indian Organization is formed in Prospect. The name is subsequently changed to Eastern Carolina Tuscarora Organization. Those still living from the group recognized in 1934 are all part of this organization.
             *Preston Locklear was influential in the development and maintenance of the Indian only school system that was shut down in the 1970s due to desegregation laws. The Tuscarora protested in strong numbers to oppose desegregation as they wanted control over the Indian school system and to keep an Indian only policy.
             *On September 10, approximately 250 Tuscarora and other Indian students stage sit-ins at the previously all-Indian schools they attended in protest of desegregation. This received national coverage.

1971     North Carolina names the “Croatans” staying in neighboring Harnett and Sampson Counties “Coharie.” An exception to The Lumbee Act of 1956 was permitted to recognize the Coharie. The law reads: “The Indians now living in Harnett and Sampson and adjoining counties of North Carolina, claiming descent from certain tribes of Indians originally inhabiting the coastal regions of North Carolina, shall, from and after July 20, 1971, be designated and officially recognized as the Coharie Tribe of North Carolina” (1977, second session, c. 1193, S1).
             *The Eastern Carolina Tuscarora Indian Organization officially petitions the Secretary of the Interior for a reservation to be established for the NC Tuscarora.
             *In July, the state of NC and the Tuscarora Chiefs of New York establish a “good will” relationship. This consisted of a peace pipe and a “friendship scroll” presented to Governor Scott of NC. These can be seen at https://collections.ncdcr.gov/mDetail.aspx?rID=1971.79.1&db=objects&dir=MOH MUSEUMOFHISTORY and https://collections.ncdcr.gov/mDetail.aspx?rID=1971.79.2&db=objects&dir=MOH MUSEUMOFHISTORY.
             On July 10, Chief Elton Green, on behalf of the NY Tuscarora Nation, extend an invitation to a white man called Wade Lucas to become an honorary Chieftain of the Tuscarora Nation at ceremonies. Ratified on July 16, 1971. NC General Assembly 1971 Session. Resolution 102. House Joint Resolution 1528.
             *With the participation and influence of Chief Keever Locklear of Prospect Longhouse, the North Carolina Commission of Indian Affairs is founded for the purpose of serving the Indian population within the state on July 20.
             *A founding document concerning recognition which the Executive Director of the NCCIA, Bruce Jones, issued to the North Carolina Department of Administration states: “The non-federally recognized Indian groups of North Carolina: The Coharie, Haliwa, Lumbee, Person County (this group would eventually adopt the name “Sappony”), Tuscarora and the Waccamaw-Siouan, have maintained Indian tribal relations since aboriginal times. They have maintained relationships with state government. They have continued to maintain their Indian identity. Recently revised state legislation fully recognize their Indian heritage dating back to aboriginal times.”

1972     On October 15, 1972, The Robesonian published the feature, “Robeson Indian Group’s Hopes High For Control Of Own Schools.” The article describes the meeting which was held between the National Coalition of Indian-Controlled School Boards and the Tuscarora. Dennis Banks of A.I.M. would attend the October 31 vigil for this endeavor of the Tuscarora to control our own school system. The vigil took place at the Robeson County Board of Education, lasted 28 hours and was attended by 200 Tuscaroras.
             *In November, several dozen Tuscarora from Robeson County participate in the BIA building takeover in Washington, DC, during what was called The Trail of Broken Treaties. President Nixon arranges for the takeover to end just before the election and two trucks loaded with 7,200 pounds of documents from the BIA were taken to Robeson County. Under the cover of night, this caravan took boxes of documents and official paperwork. Newspapers continued to follow the Tuscarora leaders, but over time, more and more negative articles were published that attempted to portray the Tuscarora as criminal or in some cases violent. Leaders such as Chief Howard Brooks, Carnell Locklear, Doc Locklear, Chief Keever Locklear and their kin were described as Tuscarora Indians from Robeson County in these features. These Tuscarora leaders were supported by other Indian leaders of the American Indian Movement such as Dennis Banks and Russell Means. These movements of resistance and activism influenced the rise of multiple Tuscarora political groups that all sought reconciliation for the injustices against the Tuscarora Nation.
             *Two weeks later, after the election, the FBI raid the home of Pap Locklear, in which a gun fight ensued. In the end, the FBI arrest Pap Locklear, Chief Keever Locklear and Elias Rogers and report that they recovered over two thousand pounds of BIA documents.

1973     Vestie Locklear and Lawrence Maynor sue in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for a declaratory judgment against the BIA for denying their rights under the Indian Reorganization Act. This case is quickly dismissed in favor of the government, which is subsequently appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond, VA. Their attorney is Tom Tureen, working through the Native American Rights Fund (NARF).
             *On January 24, a suit was filed in the U.S. Court of Claims by Lawson Brooks and the Tuscarora Indians vs. The United States. The Tuscarora claim that there is not, nor ever has been a tribe known as the Lumbee Tribe. They asked the court to repeal the Lumbee Act of 1956 in both Congress and at the state level, to be recognized as Tuscarora and issue an order requesting the Secretary of the Interior to conduct an investigation of the events leading to the passage of the Lumbee Act.
             *In early April, 50 Tuscaroras from all bands in Robeson County march to Raleigh to protest the treatment by the federal government (not honoring the Maynor Decision, federal recognition, the right to exercise control over our own schools and improved education, etc.). Chief Leon Locklear and Chief Cecil Hunt participate in this event. On April 7th, they are all arrested in Smithfield en route to Raleigh for marching through the town without a permit and released the following day. A repeated theme at the rally was “The land belongs to the Tuscaroras and they are here in Raleigh to collect the rent.” Chief Brooks stated, “Our people are suffering because of the white power structure and it’s time this human punishment ended. We’ve come to demand and to receive.”

1974     A hearing before the subcommittee on Indian Affairs was also held and included information about the Coalition of Eastern Native Americans (CENA) which was a unanimous union made by 160 leaders among the Eastern United States Indians. These leaders came from 18 states, represented 53 different tribes and organizations, which carried the goal of assisting the economic, cultural and social advancement of Native American people in the eastern half of the United States. Under the CENA Official Voting Membership list, five tribes are included under North Carolina including the Tuscarora Nation of NC. This was the precursor of The Nation Congress of American Indians.

1975     On April 4, the Court of Appeals finds in favor of Maynor, reversing and remanding to the District Court to carry out declaratory ruling in favor of the plaintiffs.
            *On April 10, DC District Court Judge Pratt signs declaratory judgment ordered by the Appeals Court.
             *During August 27-29, six representatives from the BIA Eastern Area Office task force visit Robeson County to begin following through with the Court of Appeals decision. Still, only 18 houses were built.
             *“Hatteras Tuscarora” is the name adopted to be the NC Tuscarora’s recognized name.
             *The government rationalizes the selling of the planned reservation lands citing a federal statute in 1950, although prior to the statute, over 5,000 acres of land had already been sold.
             *Two final drafts of a constitution is submitted to the BIA for approval and land is offered by Lawrence Maynor to be the “initial reservation.” The BIA refuses both arbitrarily.
             *The attorney Tom Tureen has his life threatened, forcing him to leave the area forever, leaving the Tuscarora without legal representation.
             *Attorney Arlinda Locklear was given the responsibility of following through with the BIA on behalf of the Tuscarora. When she assumes responsibility, the Tuscarora’s case falls apart. Ms. Locklear should never have represented the Tuscarora, as she is Lumbee, which poses a grave conflict of interest. Ms. Locklear has since represented the Lumbee in the majority of their recognition hearings.
             *On October 10, the Fayetteville Observer prints an article about Chief Arnold Hewitt of the Tuscarora Nation of New York, which references the 1971 Doe Skin Treaty made with NC. In this article, Chief Hewitt denies any connection to the “Lumbee.”

1976     In an August LRDA letter documenting August activities, Tuscarora activist Carnell Locklear is recognized during these activities. He and other Tuscaroras participate to focus on self-determination.

1977     The surviving Tuscaroras of the 1934 decision write a new petition to ask that land in Prospect be taken into trust by the Secretary of the Interior and request that the BIA follow through with the Maynor Decision.

1978     The North Carolina Commission of Indian Affairs conduct a study of Indian children attending public schools across NC. On multiple maps, they list the Tuscarora as a recognized tribe.              *On March 8, a request for technical assistance of the Tuscarora, concerning the fulfillment of the Maynor Decision, is accepted by the North Carolina Commission of Indian Affairs by assigning a three person task force to investigate the status of the agreement and providing technical assistance to the Tuscarora.
             On March 9, the North Carolina Commission of Indian Affairs issues a document concerning state recognized tribes and Indian organizations, in which representatives from all state recognized tribes and organizations sign. Chief Leon Locklear signs as the Tuscarora representative.

1979-1982     Congress establishes new recognition procedures for determining recognition, giving the federal government another delaying tactic in their dealings with the Tuscarora.
             *The Hatteras Tuscarora petition is #15 on the petitioning groups listed within the Branch of Acknowledgement (BAR) after being submitted in 1980.
             *The petition writer named Wes White soon after the submission of the petition, quits working for the Tuscarora and began working for the LRDA, taking with him all research done for the Tuscarora.
             *The government subsequently employs yet another delaying tactic, in the form of a list of obvious deficiencies from the BIA.
             *Tuscarora leaders such as Vermon and Leola Locklear, Vashtie Locklear Lowery, Lawrence Maynor, Chief Keever Locklear, Chief Leon Locklear and many others worked tirelessly to ensure that the Tuscarora Nation continued to be associated as a distinct and separate Indian nation in Robeson County.

1981     A Cherokee elder, Jim Hornbuckle, co-authors the book, “The Cherokee Perspective: Written by Eastern Band Cherokees,” they claim “The Tuscarora were eastern North Carolina cousins to the Cherokees.” It is true that the Cherokee were once part of the Haudenosaunee and broke off in our ancient migrations east.
             *A letter from the NC Department of Administration, dated September 18 and addressed to Chief Leon Locklear, states that the Tuscarora recognition petition appears to meet the criteria for recognition.

1982     On or about July 14, Lawrence Maynor and other Tuscarora citizens are arrested for breaking and entering and criminal trespass for occupying the Red Banks property under the 1938 lease. At their trial, District Attorney Joe Freeman Britt, who is Lumbee, does not allow the lease to be presented in their defense. The defendants respond by preparing a federal lawsuit on this matter.
             *At the William Penn Treaty celebration, held in Philadelphia, PA, a meeting was held between NC and NY Tuscaroras. Chief Leon Locklear was identified as a leader of the Tuscarora Nation of NC and Chiefs Mt. Pleasant & Stuart Patterson both formally introduced themselves to Chief Leon. The Carolina Indian Voice newspaper wrote, “This is the first time the chiefs of all the Tuscarora People have gotten together and met since the year 1712.”

1983     As early as March, the state begins to buy back all of the 1,713 acres of the 1938 lease land and subsequently designate the land as the “North Carolina Indian Cultural Center.” Many feel that this occurred as a result of Lawrence Maynor, et al, preparing a lawsuit concerning this land and creating a cultural center was an attempt to minimize the backlash about this land.
             *The Tuscarora Nation of NC holds its first pow wow.
             *Bruce Jones, Executive Director of the North Carolina Commission of Indian Affairs, writes in a document “The Confederation of Tribes, Tribal Council’s Provisional Government will have a thirteen (13) member council: Six Lumbee representatives, six representatives from the Tuscarora Tribe and one representative to be selected by the Council.” Procedures in the 1984 Oversight Hearing on the Administration for the Native Americans before the House of Representatives spoke on the establishment of the Confederation of Tribes Tribal Council which stated that six representatives from the Tuscarora Nation were to be included among the 13 seats on the Council. However, the Tuscarora were never given seats on the Council or any other board created thereafter.

1984     On January 26, North Carolina charters The Tuscarora Tribe of North Carolina, which is comprised of the Hatteras Tuscarora, Drowning Creek Tuscarora and Eastern Carolina Tuscarora bands.

1985     The Lumbee leadership, which is still the LRDA, have begun to minimize and undermine the relevance and history of Tuscarora in Robeson County. For example, on November 27, the Chairman and Executive Director of LRDA writes the U.S. Department of Education, complaining that the Tuscarora were receiving grants from the U.S. government and as a result of this letter, the Tuscarora lost any further assistance.
             *On November 14, Chief Robert Brewington writes a letter to Governor Martin describing the lamentable conditions of the recognition hearing with the NCCIA: The meeting began an hour late, was disorganized, the staff had not reviewed the information which had been provided by the Tuscarora over 60 days prior and therefore were not distributed.

1986     On January 14, Chief Robert Brewington writes a letter to NCCIA Executive Director Bruce Jones to provide voluminous supplemental evidence to meet criteria.

1987     The Tuscarora Tribe of NC, along with citizen Lawrence Maynor, write Ross Swimmer, once again asking that the Maynor vs. Morton decision be carried out by acknowledging the Tuscarora. The Tuscarora are instructed to petition through the BIA petitioning process.

1988     TwoTuscaroras take over The Robesonian newspaper in Lumberton on February 1 “to call attention to corruption in Robeson County government and the Sheriff’s department in the treatment of Native Americans and to call attention to unsolved murders in the area."
             *In September, Wade Printup from Lewiston, NY, Chief Vince Johnson of the Onondaga and Tadodaho Leon Shenandoah visit the Tuscarora Nation of NC.  In the minutes from Propsect Longhouse, it was recorded “The Tadodaho spoke and he and another chief of the Onondaga, Chief Vince Johnson spoke and agreed that the people here are truly Tuscarora. They agreed that the people should go before the Grand Council of the Confederacy.” The Tadodaho also suggested that going before the Grand Council would put an end to the New York Tuscarora working against us. Afterwards, Tadodaho used his pipe so that all chiefs present could smoke in agreement. Chiefs Cecil Hunt, Leon Locklear, Keever Locklear and Cecil Lowry were present.                        
             *Prospect Longhouse is rebuilt.

1989     On October 23, yet another solicitor’s opinion determines that the Lumbee Act of 1956 prohibits the BIA Branch of Acknowledgement from making determinations on petitions from LRDA, Tuscarora Nation of NC and the Waccamaw-Siouan. This letter is received only a few months before the Tuscarora Tribe of NC petition is submitted on December 5. This new opinion effectively stops the Tuscarora petition from being considered. This is also in contradiction of the Maynor decision of 1975.
             *In October, Stanley Buck of the Cayuga Nation and Steve Gobot of the Mohawk Nation work with Chief Keever Locklear and the Kau-tah-noh Social Singers to strengthen our Longhouse tradition with songs and dances, which are still passed down today.

1991     In September, the Tuscarora, along with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, oppose the passage of the Lumbee Recognition Bill. The passage of this bill would prevent the Tuscarora from being formally recognized as the language of the bill would effectively subsume the Tuscarora under the Lumbee.
             *Reports from the House of Representatives in a Congressional meeting dated January 5 once again identify the Tuscarora as an “Indian Entity.”

1992     Dr. Peter Wood writes “Tuscarora Roots,” which identifies at least six core Tuscarora families which have proven migration patterns from Indian Woods Reservation to present day Robeson County.

1995     The splinter group with various past identities requests that the North Carolina Commission of Indian Affairs acknowledge “The Lumbee Band of Cheraw Indians” as the official tribal government of “The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina,” in an effort to replace the LRDA as the governing body. Chairman of the NCCIA, Greg Richardson, writes Michael Easley, Attorney General, to request his opinion on the matter, to which he responded “We find no authority in law for the Commission to serve as a quasi-judicial forum for the determination of the present dispute between the new tribal council and LRDA.”
             *Doug Anderson of the Tuscarora Nation of NY wrote a letter to the Haudenosaunee Six Nations Confederacy, in which it expressed appreciation for Robert Locklear’s participation and utilization of the Tuscarora language, knowledge and representation of culture and geography of NC Tuscarora.

1997     The autonomous Tuscarora bands in Robeson County form the Tuscarora Nation of the Kautanoh and have the first Tuscarora recognition bill introduced (105th Congress, H.R. 4693). This bill eventually dies due to the time taken for the impeachment hearings of President Clinton.

1998     Kendall Locklear is cited for hunting a bear, igniting an ongoing battle over Tuscarora hunting rights.
             *Tuscarora women’s acapella drum group, Ulali (Jennifer Kreisberg, Pura Fe & Soni Moreno), are featured on the motion picture soundtrack for groundbreaking Native American movie, Smoke Signals.

2000     The movie, “Through Native Eyes,” is filmed in Robeson County, which showcases the story of the legendary Tuscarora folk hero Henry Berry Lowry. The Cast includes direct descendants of HBL, as well as other Tuscaroras. The Library of Congress accepts the movie into its collection as being historically accurate. Congressman Mike McIntyre chooses the film to represent the 7th District in the Library of Congress’s Local Legacy Program.

2002     The United Nations of Turtle Island is established, in part by Tuscarora citizens for the purpose of correcting the wrongs committed against them for so long.
             *In Sherman Alexie’s (Spokane/Coeur d' Alene) movie “The Business of Fancydancing,” Jennifer Kreisberg (Deer Clan) plays the role of Salmon Girl. She also contributed her song “Deer Song” to the movie.
             *At the commencement of an artist residency between September 15-22, Ulali are presented with the Key to the City of Greensboro, NC.

2003     Skaroreh Katehnuaka Nation files suit in Washington, DC against the United States of America and the state of NC, in an attempt to force them to uphold the Maynor Decision and have recognition reaffirmed after almost 125 years. The case is file pro se, because an attorney is not able to be obtained for almost two years.
             *The Maynor family lands that have been transferred into the nation are hijacked by certain individuals outside of Pembroke, with the assistance of all levels the Robeson County and state of NC governments. This includes collusion between the local Sheriff’s department, Robeson County justice system, the NC EPA office and attorney Ed Bullard, who acted in a conflict of interest, as he was a Justice of the Lumbee Supreme Court.
             *Ulali are invited to perform at the Sacred Music Festival in Fes, Morocco in June, 2003. Oren Lyons, Faithkeeper among the Haudenosaunee, was scheduled to attend, but after security concerns were raised, he called on Jennifer Kreisberg to give his speech at the festival.

2005     Again, citizens of the Tuscarora Nation oppose the Lumbee Recognition Bill and complained about the Lumbee attempting to appropriate the culture and history of the Tuscarora people. Various newspapers continue to identify the opposition and resistance of the Tuscarora Nation to the Lumbee Act and its effects.

2006     On January 21, a Fayetteville Observer article titled “Post Officials Consult With Tribes,” is published. This feature tells of how Fort Bragg is regarding recognized tribes and quoted Chief Stuart Patterson of the NY Tuscarora. The Tuscarora Nation of NC was not invited to this meeting, though the Tuscarora are only 25 miles south of Ft. Bragg. However, this article acknowledges that Ft. Bragg was built on Tuscarora ancestral lands.
             *On February 9, the Maynor vs. Morton lawsuit filed in 2005 with the Court of Appeals is summarily dismissed, in favor of the U.S. and state of NC. After 70 years of fighting and struggling for justice, numerous lawsuits and thousands of pages of evidence in favor of the Tuscarora, is reduced to a single page dismissal by the U.S. government.
             *On March 31, another suit is filed in U.S. District Court, the District of Columbia, similar to the one filed in 2003, but this time with two of Lawrence Maynor’s sisters as lead plaintiffs.
             *On October 30, several dozen Tuscarora citizens from all RobCo bands, occupy the site of Fort Neyuherú·kęʔ (“Neoheroka”) in an attempt to stop the farming on the property where the 950 Tuscarora were cast into a common grave.

2007     In May, Tuscaroras protest outside Senator Elizabeth Dole’s Salisbury office over her support of the Lumbee Recognition Bill. Ruth Jones carried a sign that read “TUSCARORAS ARE NOT LUMBEE.”
             *On October 6, Jennifer Kreisberg of Ulali wins a Nammy (Native American Music Award) for her song “Have Hope,” which was recorded for the motion picture “Unnatural and Accidental.” This song also earned her a Genie Award (Canadian Oscar). Jennifer was also awarded the Native Women’s Recognition Award from Ganondagon, NY.

2009     The Winter edition of a NCCIA magazine wrote of the Tuscarora Nation youth receiving a grant to study the Tuscarora language and make language kits for families to study together. These revitalization efforts help carry on our ancestral language. Like Wolf Clan Runner, Robert Locklear, these Tuscarora youth were identified as Indian in this publication by the NCCIA.

2011     Kendall Locklear is cited for hunting without a license. Kendall argues that he has the right to hunt unlimited on Tuscarora lands.

2013     The state of NC declares Ft. Neyuherú·kęʔ to be a historic site. The 300th anniversary of the massacre at Fort Neyuherú·kęʔ brings Tuscaroras from North Carolina and New York to mourn our common loss and acknowledge those who migrated north afterwards with a monument near where the fort once stood.  

2015     As the Atlantic Coast Pipeline was conducting their study on the potential effects of the pipeline, the Lumbee provided the information to Dominion/ACP: “The Lumbee Tribe, descendants of the Siouan Cheraw who fought against the Tuscarora, is also centered in Robeson County.” The study also states “The present day Tuscarora members residing in North Carolina are centered primarily in Robeson County.”

2016     In July, two NC Tuscaroras attend the first Tuscarora language camp in Lewiston, NY, to revive the Tuscarora language among the Tuscarora Nation of NC.
             *In a Robesonian feature, Dennis Banks, co-founder of A.I.M. thanks the Tuscarora leaders for their hospitality.

2017     In October, an event held in Bertie County honoring Tuscarora history at Hope Plantation. Tuscaroras from North Carolina and New York attend.
             *The Atlantic Coast Pipeline study of 2017 also identified the Tuscarora Nation as an Indian entity and clarified that the descendants of the Tuscarora Nation that reside in Robeson County migrated from the Indian Woods Tuscarora reservation. This same study identified that the Tuscarora Nation was separate from the Lumbee Tribe even though the Tuscarora reside in nearby communities.

2018     The BIA contact the Indian Commissioner of NC in support of the recognition of the Tuscarora Nation of North Carolina.

2019     The Tuscarora Nation of NC present voluminous evidence to the North Carolina Commission of Indian Affairs to petition for reaffirmation of recognition status. NCCIA member Furnie Lambert is photographed sleeping through one of the hearings.

2020     The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ Chief Sneed, in a deposition opposing the Lumbee recognition effort, stated: “The Lumbees have cloaked themselves in these tribal identities in a century-long quest for federal recognition as an Indian tribe,” he said. “Even since the last Congress, the Lumbees have changed again from identifying themselves as the Lumbee Tribe of Cheraw Indians to the more general Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. Congress should not reward this identity shopping with federal recognition and should not sanction the appropriation of Cherokee history, culture and sovereignty.”

2022     After decades of various Tuscaroras working to revive the language and sporadic language mini-courses being taught, a formal Tuscarora language course is offered and the Tuscaroras who graduate actively teach their children the language. 

2023      On April 21st, the city of Raleigh celebrated Earth Day.  Rahahę́·tih David Webb (Wolf Clan), who was invited to speak, opened the event with a recitation of Haʔ Kanęherathę́hčreh, the Tuscarora Thanksgiving Address.  Rahahę́·tih and other Tuscaroras danced the Smoke Dance, Alligator Dance and Stick Dance.  Raleigh was built upon our village Katteras.  

                 *June 10th was Strawberry Ceremony and the first ceremony officiated entirely in the Tuscarora language.