Our History

1958 — The Battle of Hayes Pond

On January 18, 1958, the Ku Klux Klan — led by South Carolina Grand Dragon James "Catfish" Cole — announced a rally near Maxton, North Carolina, to intimidate the Lumbee community. Cole predicted 5,000 Klansmen would attend. He planned to put the Lumbees "in their place."

The Lumbees had a different plan. Several hundred Lumbees, many armed, arrived and encircled the group. After an altercation in which the single light in the field was destroyed, the Lumbees began firing their weapons and most of the Klansmen fled. Cole hid in a swamp. The Lumbees seized the KKK banner and carried it to Pembroke to celebrate.

After that night, the Klan never held another public gathering in Robeson County. The event triggered national media coverage of the Lumbee and their long struggle for justice, recognition, and respect. The New York Times and Life Magazine covered the story worldwide.

1972 — Save Old Main

In 1972, university officials at Pembroke State University voted to demolish Old Main — the first brick building on campus, built in 1923, and the historic heart of Lumbee education and identity. Some Lumbees, including various alumni, supported the decision, believing the building was no longer of use. Others felt the building represented Lumbee heritage and social progress, and formed the Save Old Main Committee, led by Janie Maynor Locklear. A petition was circulated to preserve the structure and gained 7,000 signatures.

The petition drive drew national attention. Daniel Dial told a reporter for The Robesonian, "People sign it weeping. People want to sign it, beg to sign it." The campaign attracted coverage from newspapers across the country. The building was saved — and is today listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The 2010 Lewin International scandal

In early 2010, the Lumbee Tribe was closer than ever to achieving federal recognition. After 122 years of fighting, Arlinda Locklear — who had represented the tribe pro bono for over two decades — told community members that recognition had the best chance it had ever had. President Obama had publicly expressed support. The finish line was finally in sight.

Then, in a secret move at an unpublicized meeting, Tribal Chairman Jimmy Goins and several council members signed a contract with Lewin International — a Las Vegas gaming company — without consulting a single tribal member. Arlinda Locklear, who had spent her career fighting for the Lumbee people, was fired and replaced by Lewin's lobbyists. No tribal member was told. No vote was taken.

What the community did

Tribal members were outraged. Beth Jacobs — a Lumbee tribal member — helped found the Lumbee Sovereignty Coalition, a grassroots watchdog group that organized community meetings, called for transparency, and demanded the contract be voided. About 100 tribal members attended a Lumbee Sovereignty Coalition meeting, threatening the recall of tribal council members who voted for the contract.

Arlinda Locklear — who had spent over two decades fighting for recognition, mostly for free — was pushed out as the tribe's legal representative and replaced by Lewin International's lobbyists. The community's response was overwhelming. When the Tribal Chairman gave his State of the Tribe address, around 100 people attended a simultaneous ceremony honoring Arlinda Locklear — four times as many as attended the chairman's speech.

The parallels to today

Then and now — the same pattern, the same people, the same fight

At Hayes Pond in 1958... Save Old Main in 1972... the Lewin Deal in 2010... The pattern is the same every time: an outside force or an unaccountable leadership makes a decision that affects the Lumbee people without consulting them. The community organizes. And the people prevail!!

The original Lumbee Sovereignty Coalition was a grassroots group of tribal members who had no formal position on gaming — they simply believed that their leaders must be transparent and accountable to the membership. They organized community meetings. They called for the recall of tribal council members who voted for the Lewin contract. They spoke to reporters. They showed up.

And they won.

We are launching the Lumbees United for Accountability for the same purpose in 2026. No position on gaming. No partisan agenda. Just a commitment to the principle that 67,500 Lumbee people deserve honest, transparent, accountable leadership — especially now, at this historic moment when our tribe finally has the recognition our ancestors fought for since 1888.