![]() The Lumbee People are also known as the People of the Dark Water, because of our special history with Drowning Creek. The Lumbee are an amalgamation of tribal peoples, who were pushed to the basin of the Lumbee River as a result of encroaching colonization. In 1956 during the Termination Era, when many tribes were being disbanded by the federal government-a step in an evolution of systemic oppression towards Native Americans-t he Lumbee Act was passed and the Lumbee people entered a special recognition agreement that acknowledged us as having Federal Recognition, but without access to federal benefits. The Lumbee People formed at the basin of the river, in an area known as the “Last Indian Frontier” on the East Coast. ![]() The Lumbee River’s power is in her deception: on the surface she seems calm, but beneath she can be lethal. Our elders tell stories about Confederate soldiers, who drowned in the river, and they say you can see some of their spirits still wandering around. The Lumbee River, known by North Carolina as the Lumber River, is 133 miles long and runs along the Coastal Plains region.īefore she was named the Lumber River in 1809, she was called Drowning Creek, because of the dark waters and a fast undercurrent that can be unforgiving even to the strongest of swimmers. She is a place of nourishment, a battleground, and she was once a way for Indigenous People in the Southeast to escape oppression. The Lumbee People honor the Lumbee River and the Swamps of Robeson County, North Carolina, as a safe haven or place of refuge. Many great civilizations were birthed by a river, just as we are birthed from our mother’s womb. It is our responsibility to protect the River, and to fight against the harm being done to her, and we cannot let the next generation suffer from our mistakes. For our ancestors it was dangerous to organize, and for our parent’s generation, speaking up could cost your career. The generation before us, represented by my father, were encouraged to go with the flow of environmental injustice. She communicates to us when something is wrong. When I woke up, I knew that the dream meant that it is our duty to listen to the River. I thought to myself, “I cannot get this baby out of here safely with that current.” After this thought, I turned back to look at the waters and they had become characteristically calm. I stood on a cliff and watched the waters surge, and I noticed an abandoned baby girl in a crib on the cliff. I was concerned, because moving quickly on the surface is abnormal behavior for the Lumbee River. The water was rushing and I saw my father on a canoe going along with the fast-paced current, unbothered. I had a dream about watching the Lumbee River move rapidly. PWC has received a $4.9 million ARPA grant that will go toward wastewater rehabilitation project and is continuing to pursue recovery funds.Written in partnership with Diversify Vanlife PWC expects to use nearly $27 million of its electric rate stabilization fund next year, that will not cover expected expenses. PWC uses a rate stabilization fund to help address drastic increases to avoid significant rate increases.Those costs were originally estimated to be $60 million, and it has grown to $130 million. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |