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Meet your . Please join us for the Senior Ms. Lumbee Pageant on June 23, 2023 at 6:30 pm at Givens Performing Arts Center on the campus of UNC Pembroke. Who will win this crown to represent the Lumbee People? Tickets are $15. Let's pack the GPAC! Tickets on sale now. Your contestants are Joan Carol Blackwell Dottie Ruth Woods Katie Ann Burns Locklear Edith Ann Jones Patricia Allen Suggs Scarlet Ann Thomas For more information call 910.521.6361 or visit https://www.uncp.edu/resources/givens-performing-arts-center

Bradley Locklear, Director of Housing Services, recently presented to the NC Department of Public Instruction's NC Homeless Education Program's Learning Institute at the three-day Learning Academy held at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Locklear met with Homeless Prevention Liaisons, School Social Workers, and Social Services Program Directors to explain and detail the services that the Lumbee Tribe of NC offers to its members to prevent homelessness and promote housing stability. Shaneitha Lee-Nance, pictured, works with the Public Schools of Robeson County (PSRC). She is a tribal member and the niece of a former tribal councilman, Ricky Burnett. She is also the current McKinney Vento Liaison that works with students, in PSRC, who are facing or experiencing homelessness. She has worked with the tribe to help families get rental or mortgage assistance as well as transitional housing, preventing them from becoming homeless.

Thank you to everyone who came out this evening for the District 7 Community Meeting at Union Elementary School The meeting was hosted by Lumbee Tribal Council Members Yvonne Dial, Nanci Locklear, and Rudy Locklear. The community received some great information about our Lumbee Tribal Services. Guest also received various kinds of goodies after the presentation. Thank you to our Tribal Council members and our staff for the great showcase of our programs.

Mark your calendar for these key dates of upcoming Lumbee Tribal Events.

Before crops can be certified organic, farmers must carefully manage their land without using prohibited supplements like synthetic pesticides for 36 months (about 3 years). During this transition period and during the first years after certification, farmers often face many technical and market challenges. The Organic Transition Initiative (OTI) is a $300 million multi-agency USDA effort to support this transition for farmers to build and strengthen organic markets. USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Risk Management Agency each have a major role in the Organic Transition Initiative (OTI). To learn more, contact Millard Locklear, Agriculture and Natural Resources Manager, at 910.674.1751 or www.farmers.gov.

Project IndigeCHOICE has exciting news about our camps to share! Our FREE Middle School Girl Camps, located at UNC Pembroke, are open for registration! These camps include 'Redesigning the World: Native Women Engineer', 'The Art of Healing: Native Women in Medicine', 'Trailblazers: Native Women Scientist and Mathematicians', and 'What It Takes: Native Women Saving Lives.' Students must be rising 6th - 8th graders. Camps will be held June 26 - 29, 2023. Space is limited—camps are first come, first serve. For more information and to register, please visit https://indigechoice.lumbeetribe.com.

You are invited to the District 5 Community Meeting on Thursday, June 8, 2023 at 6:30 pm at Two Streams Community Building at 16 Rosie’s Drive, Maxton, NC 28364. The meeting is hosted by Tribal Council members Wendy Moore-Graham and Carrington Locklear. The community event will include • Tribal Services Information • Upcoming Events and Projects • Community Information • Door Prizes Dinner Will Be Served

Reminder- Veterans, please mark your calendar for the Lumbee Tribe Veterans Stand Down on June 10, 2023 from 10 am till 2 pm at the Lumbee Tribe Boys & Girls Club. The event will offer a variety of resources for our Veterans including Health screenings, Mental Health Services, Food, Gear Distribution and much more. Veterans will need to present a DD-214, Veterans ID or be verified on-site. The event is in collaboration with Veterans Services of the Carolinas, NC Works and the US Department of Veteran Affairs. The address is 6984 NC Highway 711 West, Pembroke, NC. The Boys & Girls Club is located behind the Lumbee Tribe Housing Complex. #lumbeeveterans

Chairman’s Monthly Report | April 2023 Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina People of the Dark Water Dear Lumbee People, In April, we held our first annual “Lumbee Day at the General Assembly”, bringing Lumbee culture and history to Raleigh. The day saw Lumbee artisans on display, friendship dances with lawmakers, and we were able to honor legislative leaders with gifts made by children from our Boys & Girls Club. During this event, the North Carolina House of Representatives passed a resolution encouraging the United States Congress to pass the Lumbee Fairness Act, which will give our people full federal recognition. We will continue to hold Lumbee Days each year as a reminder to state leaders of our ongoing contributions to the state, while also strengthening our government to government relationship with North Carolina. On April 27th, we honored our high school and college graduates with our Honor Cord Ceremony. With over 200 students participating, parents and loved ones looked on as each student was given a Honor Cord, a symbol of the Lumbee Tribe, which showed our appreciation to those who have worked so hard to achieve the title of graduate. Mrs. Shelia Cummings served as the event’s keynote. She talked to our graduates about our resiliency as a tribe and their ability to achieve their goals with hard work and determination, just like our ancestors. Another generation of educated Lumbee citizens, I am so proud of each of them! The Lumbee Tribe was a proud sponsor of this year’s Region 7 American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) conference, which was held at Robeson Community College (RCC). We had numerous staff members to present during the conference and I had the honor of providing remarks at the closing banquet. As a former member of AISES, I appreciate the leadership of RCC to host this conference, while providing invaluable networking and learning opportunities for these students. AISES is an integral organization for American Indian students looking to have a career in a STEM field. Congratulations to everyone who made this conference a success. As we look toward the summer months I hope to see you at the upcoming events. Lumbee Day at the Woodpeckers - June 14, 2023 | Segra Stadium, 460 Hay St., Fayetteville, NC Senior Ms. Lumbee pageant – June 23, 2023 at GPAC Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina Gala -- July 1, 2023 at the 402 Venue Chairman’s State of the Tribe Address July 6, 2023 at Pembroke Boys & Girls Club Lumbee Tribal Holdings Share Holder Meeting -- July 7, 2023 at Pembroke Boys & Girls Club Thank you for allowing me to be your Chairman. I love you all, John L. Lowery Chairman

The funds for the Lumbee Tribe LIHCAP (Low Income Household Cooling and Water Assistance Program) summer cooling program have been exhausted. For people who had planned to apply for summer energy assistance over the next 3 weeks, we apologize, but the funds have run out. The reason for the shortage of funds for our summer cooling program is due to a high demand of energy this past winter. We had an additional 3,000 people to apply for assistance in the winter time. Even though the Summer Cooling program is not available, the Water Assistance Program is still available. The Water Assistance program is available for families to assist with late payments or restart water service, which may have been interrupted. It can also assist with water hook if you are receiving new water service or a new meter. You may apply Monday through Friday from 8 am till 4 pm at the Lumbee Tribe Housing Complex.

We send our deepest condolences to the family of Dr. James “Jim” Jones. Dr. Jones passed away this week. He was a beloved legend and a citizen of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. He will be remembered for his infectious sense of humor, his beautiful smile, his spirit to assist his fellow man, but also his willingness to stand up for justice. Dr. Jones took a stand against hate on January 18, 1958 by joining Lumbee fighters against the Ku Klux Klan at the historic Battle of Hayes Pond. He was the first American Indian to graduate from Wake Forest University and the first American Indian to graduate from Bowman Gray School of Medicine. Dr. Jones was also the first American Indian to become chairman of a clinical department in a medical school in the US. He served in multiple board leadership roles at UNCP, including a five-year stint on the Board of Trustees from 2013 to 2018. He was instrumental in establishing a relationship between UNCP and Brody, setting aside guaranteed seats for UNCP and other minority graduates. He recently gave the keynote address at the 2019 commencement and listed an Honorary Doctor of Science degree from UNCP among his career highlights. This January, in celebration of the 65th anniversary of the Battle of Hayes Pond, Lumbee Tribal Chairman John Lowery had the opportunity to conduct a public zoom call with Dr. Jim Jones and Mr. Jack Lowery as they both recalled the night they helped remove the Ku Klux Klan out of Robeson County during the battle that would be heard around the world. Chairman Lowery said even as a graduate student working on his medical degree, Dr. Jones drove home to help protect his homeland and his people and that is the spirit he took with him throughout the rest of his life. “Dr. Jones was a leader, pioneer, visionary, and a builder of many different institutions and organizations to help with the health care of people all across our state,” said Lowery. "This is truly a sad day for the Lumbee people, health community, education community, and so many others who Dr. Jones touched during his remarkable life.” If you were unable to hear Dr.. Jones tell his story about the historic Battle of Hayes Pond, you may watch it by visiting https://youtu.be/NPzg8X3M9cc

Reminder - Applications are due today by 5 pm for the Lumbee Tribal Scholarship Award 2023. 1. The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina will be awarding scholarships to current college students enrolled for next semester and entering freshman. Applications will be competitive. Scholarships will be awarded to students attending a technical, two or four-year college, or university. 2. Professional individuals in the field of education will weigh academic achievement, grade point average (minimum of 2.5), Native American cultural involvement, career plans, extracurricular activities, community involvement, and your essay for the award. 3. Applications must be received between April 13th through May 19th 2023. 4. Applications will be accepted by mail or you may bring the completed application to the Tribal Complex in a sealed envelopment. Applications MUST be accompanied with an official transcript signed by a guidance counselor in a sealed envelope and postmarked no later than May 19th, 2023. Official transcripts may also be sent via e-transcripts to lsweat@lumbeetribe.com on or before the deadline date of May 19th, 2023. If you have any questions about the application, contact LaKishia Sweat @ 910-522-2188. Mailing address: Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina Education Committee/LaKishia Sweat 6984 NC HWY 711 W. Pembroke, NC 28372 5. Applicants must be tribally enrolled with an active membership and must also provide their tribal enrollment number on the application (a copy of tribal card must be included). 6. Applicants may apply annually. Click here for the full application. https://www.lumbeetribe.com/.../6ca8af...