LUMBEE NEWS

Tribe blesses new Cumberland County Indian Education building        

        (November 2010) The Chairman of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina took part in the blessing of the new Cumberland County Indian Education building on Monday, November 22nd on Elementary Drive in Fayetteville.

         “Mr. Kinlaw, on behalf of the Lumbee Tribe I want to commend you for your efforts, now people can recognize this as being theirs,” said Tribal Chairman Purnell Swett, “I see this as a beginning that will expand beyond what you see today because of its high demand.”

         Tribal Youth Services Coordinator John Oxendine(below-left))then blessed the building. “We do this to say thank you to our Creator because Indian Education has a place they can call home now,” said Oxendine. The blessing was then followed by an honor song.

         According to Dream Catcher Coordinator Shelby Oxendine the building has brought some of the field employees to a central location where they can all be reached as well as having a facility where they can meet with parents or staff without having to always reserve a location. “Tim Kinlaw is the reason all of this could be possible,” said Shelby Oxendine.

         The building was unoccupied over the summer during which former Indian Education Coordinator Trudy Locklear asked Associate Superintendent of Cumberland County Schools Tim Kinlaw for the building to be released for an Indian Education facility. The staff was then able to move in on September 21, 2010. “This is so special to us,” said Indian Education Coordinator Darlene Ransom(pictured above), “thank you so very much, Mr. Kinlaw, from the bottom of our hearts.” According to Ransom, the building will be called the Long House for Learning.

         The event was also part of a meet-and-greet day for the parents to become familiar with the building. Goodie bags were given out containing such items as a resource guide, hygiene items and knitted toboggans which was started by two Navajo nurses with the intention of preventing ear infections. The ceremony was ended by a catered dinner by Fuller’s Old Fashioned BBQ of Lumberton.