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PEMBROKE – Tribal Chairman Harvey Godwin announced Thursday that the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina will hold a special prayer service Sunday morning before the final day of the powwow. He has invited all ministers to attend. The interdenominational service starts at 9 a.m. to highlight day three of the 12th annual Dance of the Spring Moon powwow at the Lumbee Tribe’s Indian Cultural Center. Godwin said he plans to lead the service. “Upon reflection and prayer I have decided to take the lead and conduct the prayer service myself on Sunday. I think it is important as the leader of the Lumbee People and a Christian to lead this service and hopefully other tribal leadership and their people as well as our own will join me,” he said. Godwin said it is important to include Christian worship service as part of the annual celebration of Indian culture. The tribe has held three prayer services at the tribal complex since Godwin took office Jan. 8. The chairman said he wanted to have the next ceremony on a Sunday and he felt it would be appropriate to have it at the Lumbee Tribe’s newly revived Indian Cultural Center. “Now that the weather is good, this will give us an opportunity to have it outdoors,” Godwin said. “The Cultural Center is in shape now and I want to have it there on Sunday morning because Sunday is the most significant day of the week. This will allow us to get back to the environment and this is relevant to how our ancestors worshiped years ago. It allows us to get back to nature.” Many Lumbees worshipped outdoors in the years before the first churches were built in the 1800s. Some still held brush arbor worship services outdoor as late as the early 20th century as many communities still did not have church buildings. Godwin said it’s important to keep in mind that prayer and worship have always been at the forefront of the Lumbee experiences. He said he is pleased to make it a part of the powwow celebration as it will be an opportunity for people from varying religious backgrounds to worship as one on the tribal grounds. “We would like to invite all of our churches to participate,” Godwin said. “It does not matter what denomination. We want all to feel welcome and to take part in our powwow celebration.”

PEMBROKE – The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina will have a surplus sale on May 13 in the back parking lot of the tribal complex beginning at 9 a.m. Office furniture will be available for purchase. For more information, call James Jones at (910) 522-2222 or email him at jjones@lumbeetribe.com

PEMBROKE – The Red Hill community watchmen fishing tournament in the Lumber River will be held June 11 from 6 a.m. until noon. The participant who catches the five largest red breasts will win a one-man fishing boat. Registration for the tournament is $30. Funds raised will be used to support the Red Hill community watchmen. Participants will meet at the Blue’s Cafe at 1128 Old Red Springs Rd. at 6 a.m. The rain date is June 18. For more information, call Terry Cummings at (910) 217-0717 or (910) 217-2285.

Registration for Summer Program is this week for current members and next week if space is available.

The Lumbee Tribe’s Pepsi Cola display powwow salute and powwow t-shirts at the Pembroke Walmart. From left are: Patrick Strickland, the tribe’s Department of Energy manager, Tribal Chairman Harvey Godwin, and Pembroke Walmart Manager Ponce Chavis. The children are from the Lumbee Tribe’s Boys and Girls Club. They are from left front: Kyra Young, Zayin Locklear, Braylie Locklear, Victoria Locklear, and from left at back are Zachary Hunt, Jayla Cummings and Jeremy Hunt

Tribal Chairman Harvey Godwin thanks Pembroke Walmart Manager Ponce Chavis Wednesday evening for helping the Lumbee Tribe to promote the 2016 Dance of the Spring Moon powwow by selling powwow t-shirts and for the impressive Pepsi display at the rear with the words “May 2016 POWWOW” spelled out using 12-pack Pepsi product boxes. Members of the tribe’s boys and girls clubs wearing powwow t-shirts look on as the two men exchange well wishes near the Pepsi tribute at the store’s grocery entrance.

Tribal Councilman Bobby Oxendine with a group of Prospect School students who recently competed in the county’s Battle of the Books competition. Councilman Oxendine and a local business owner sponsored a pizza dinner for the students last week at the Pembroke town park. Prospect Elementary School took third place, defeating Deep Branch Elementary in an additional round after the two schools were tied.The three-day competition tested the knowledge of students from 15 elementary schools across the Public Schools of Robeson County. The students read and were quizzed on 18 books in preparation for the event. Congratulations to the Prospect School students on a job well done. who recently competed in the county’s Battle of the Books competition. Councilman Oxendine and a local business owner sponsored a pizza dinner for the students last week at the Pembroke town park. Prospect Elementary School took third place, defeating Deep Branch Elementary in an additional round after the two schools were tied.The three-day competition tested the knowledge of students from 15 elementary schools across the Public Schools of Robeson County. The students read and were quizzed on 18 books in preparation for the event. Congratulations to the Prospect School students on a job well done.

This year the 2016 Dance of the Spring Moon Pow Wow will be streamed Live. Please click on the image above to launch the LIVE Stream. ********NOTE: The Video will not be LIVE until May 6, 2016 at 7pm***********

Chairman Godwin is pleased to announce that registration for the 2016 Lumbee Nation Economic Summit is open! Confirmed speakers include: Deputy Assistant Secretary of Navy for Installations, Energy, and Environment, the NC District Director of US Small Business Administration, and an Energy Resources and Renewable Energy professional. There are more speakers, yet to be confirmed, representing the broad sectors of DoD's requirements. Exhibitor and sponsorship opportunities are available. We look forward to seeing you at the Summit! For more information and to register for the event. Click here

By James Locklear Public Relations Lumbee Tribe PEMBROKE – Michela Bullard channeled her inner creativeness as she sketched the silhouetted image of a hawk. She had no idea where the drawing was headed until she penciled in a bare oak tree. Before long, she added a glowing orangish yellow full moon in the background. As she tweaked the image over the next couple of days, the sketch quickly took shape. The final touch was adding blossom buds to the bare oak tree’s limbs, a sign of the arrival of spring. Michela’s impressive artwork was recently selected as the logo for the Lumbee Tribe’s annual “Dance of the Spring Moon Powwow” set for May 6-8 at the tribe’s Indian Cultural Center near Pembroke. The Purnell Swett senior art enthusiast said she was pleasantly surprised to find out her drawing had been selected. Now, it’s out there for the rest of the community to enjoy, adorning thousands of t-shirts, flyers, cards and vinyl road signs announcing her beloved tribe’s annual powwow. “It’s amazing to know my design will be used to advertise the powwow,” Michela said. “I was speechless when I found out. I couldn’t say anything. I am truly grateful it was selected.” Michela is a shy, soft-spoken 17-year-old with big dreams for her future to the delight of her parents, Chris and Dr. Monica Oxendine. Her mother is a pharmacist at Lumberton Drug. The proper upbringing of her childhood has molded the aspiring veterinarian into a scholar in the classroom. Michela has a scholarship to Campbell University. She plans to major in biology and hopes to attend veterinary school. For now, she will concentrate on her schoolwork and her passion for art, something that has drawn her close to her art teacher Sheila Godwin. “I hate to lose her,” Godwin said. “I will be crying on graduation day along with her mother. We get close to the students and they feel like our own children. It’s funny sometimes when they forget and call you ‘Mama’.” Michela said she does this all the time. She said Godwin is more than a teacher for her and other students. “She is like my second mama,” she said. “Miss Sheila really cares about the students.” The love of art that drew her so close to Godwin began in Michela’s freshman year at Purnell Swett. Her mother is a landscape artist whose passion for art inspired her daughter’s love for drawing. Realism is what Michela enjoys, as she has sketched out more than 200 realistic drawings. She still remembers her first art assignment – drawing a baby picture. Unlike many of her classmates, she chose to sketch a picture of her baby sister Malia. The impressive picture of her sister drew rave reviews from her art teacher as well as her schoolmates. Soon, she was a commissioned artist taking orders from schoolmates who had fallen in love with her artistic abilities. “I was amazed with it,” Michela said. “It just took off from there and I started showcasing my work. People started asking me to do their pictures.” Her Facebook page is full of her drawings. She has done more than a dozen commissioned pieces for friends and schoolmates. It’s a joy for her to get paid to do something she loves, Michela said. She is now working on a tribal sketch for a classmate who wants to use it as a tattoo. “It’s just something I really enjoy doing,” she said. “I discuss my ideas with Miss Sheila. She helps me to figure out what works best and I always ask for her advice. It’s been a pleasure having such a wonderful teacher to work with. I will definitely miss her and I will always remember the things she has taught me.” And, she will take with her the memories of having her work selected to represent her tribe at the annual powwow during her senior year. In her mind, the hawk will always stand strong, perched along that oak tree limb speckled with the spring blossoms about to bring forth color. It’s just like her inner creativity imagined it would be. For more information, visit the Lumbee Tribe’s website at lumbeetribe.com or call (910) 521-7861. James Locklear may be reached at jvlocklear@lumbeetribe.com or (910) 536-3918.

Tribal Chairman Harvey Godwin addresses a group of volunteers and tribal workers during a powwow committee meeting Wednesday at the Lumbee Tribe Cultural Center. The annual Dance of the Spring Moon Powwow will be held May 6-8 at the cultural center. Everyone is invited. Final preparations are being made as the powwow returns to its home for the first time in over 10 years. Please invite your friends to come join the celebration. For more information visit www.lumbeetribe.com or call 910-521-768