Congratulations to all the winners of the United Tribes Community awards, which were presented this weekend at the 49th Annual NC Indian Unity Conference in Charlotte, NC
Congratulations to all the winners of the United Tribes Community awards, which were presented this weekend at the 49th Annual NC Indian Unity Conference in Charlotte, NC. We wanted to take time to celebrate our Lumbee Tribal Citizen recipients. Congratulations to Rudy Locklear, who was recognized for his service during the Veteran Honoring Ceremony. Mr. Rudy, a Purple Heart Recipient and Union Chapel Community resident, was drafted into the Vietnam War on January 5, 1966. He went to Fort Jordan for Advanced Infantry Training in Georgia and then onto Fort Benning Airborne School, aka “jump school”. From there he went to Vietnam and spent 8 months in combat. He served with the 4th and 9th B Company, 25th Infantry Division. During a search and destroy mission on March 29, 1967 outside of Saigon, Vietnam, he was severely wounded by enemy gunfire and had to be airlifted by a medevac helicopter. His recovery was spent at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington DC and he completed his mission and military career at Fort Bragg, NC in 1968. He still has the telegrams from the US Army that his parents kept informing them that their son had been wounded.
Congratulations to Mr. Larry Townsend, who received the Unsung Hero Award. Lumbee Tribal Chairman Lowery accepted the award on Mr. Larry’s behalf. Mr. Larry, who lives in Pembroke, helped to establish the Lumbee Tribe Veterans Office, which assist veterans of all races from around the nation. He worked to draft legislation to begin this office, which opened in 2004 and has helped thousands of veterans. Mr. Larry is a Vietnam Veteran and spent years serving as a Veterans Service Officer for the Lumbee Tribe. Through the Lumbee Tribal Veterans Office, Mr. Larry also worked with other veterans to establish the Lumbee Warriors Association, which honors and recognize veterans for their service and promotes veteran issues.
Mr. Larry served multiple terms on the Lumbee Tribal Council, and would go on to serve as the Southeast Region Vice President to the National Congress of American Indians. During his time at NCAI, Mr. Larry represented 29 American Indian tribes throughout the Southeast. He worked with the full NCAI Executive Committee Members to fulfill a variety of national and regional responsibilities to ensure that NCAI remained a strong, stable organization that serves the broad and best interest of American Indians and Alaska Native tribal governments and communities throughout the United States.
Also, Congratulations to Perry Hunt Senior, who received the Economic Advancement of Indian People award. Mr. Hunt is a citizen of the Lumbee Tribe. He lives in the Piedmont/Greensboro area.
Congratulations to all of the recipients who received a Lumbee Warriors Association Pin. These included Secretary Pamela Brewington Cashwell (Lumbee/Coharie) who is Secretary of the NC Department of Administration, United Tribes Vice President Nora Dial- Stanley (Lumbee), United Tribes President Jessie Jacobs (Coharie), United Tribes Treasurer Corbin Eddings (Lumbee), NC Commission of Indian Affairs Executive Director Gregory A. Richardson (Haliwa-Saponi), Coharie Tribal Administrator Greg Jacobs, Commission Board Member Hattie Campbell (Waccamaw Siouan), Commission Board Member Danny Bell (Coharie), and NC American Indian Heritage Commission Associate Director Quinn Godwin (Lumbee).
Congratulations to all of the students who received scholarships on Saturday. It was exciting to see that more than a dozen of the 24 recipients were from the Lumbee Tribe. Thank you to all of the Lumbee presenters and Key Note Speakers who represented our nation so well. Also, congratulations to all of our winners in the art, quilting and writing contest.
