The Lumbee Problem: The Making of an American Indian People
How does a group of people who have American Indian ancestry but no records of treaties, reservations, Native language, or peculiarly "Indian" customs come to be accepted--socially and legally--as Indians? Originally published in 1980, The Lumbee Problem traces the political and legal history of the Lumbee Indians of Robeson County, North Carolina, arguing that Lumbee political activities have been powerfully affected by the interplay between their own and others' conceptions of who they are. The book offers insights into the workings of racial ideology and practice in both the past and the present South--and particularly into the nature of Indianness as it is widely experienced among nonreservation Southeastern Indians. Race and ethnicity, as concepts and as elements guiding action, are seen to be at the heart of the matter. By exploring these issues and their implications as they are worked out in the United States, Blu brings much-needed clarity to the question of how such concepts are--or should be--applied across real and perceived cultural borders.
1101620091
The Lumbee Problem: The Making of an American Indian People
How does a group of people who have American Indian ancestry but no records of treaties, reservations, Native language, or peculiarly "Indian" customs come to be accepted--socially and legally--as Indians? Originally published in 1980, The Lumbee Problem traces the political and legal history of the Lumbee Indians of Robeson County, North Carolina, arguing that Lumbee political activities have been powerfully affected by the interplay between their own and others' conceptions of who they are. The book offers insights into the workings of racial ideology and practice in both the past and the present South--and particularly into the nature of Indianness as it is widely experienced among nonreservation Southeastern Indians. Race and ethnicity, as concepts and as elements guiding action, are seen to be at the heart of the matter. By exploring these issues and their implications as they are worked out in the United States, Blu brings much-needed clarity to the question of how such concepts are--or should be--applied across real and perceived cultural borders.
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The Lumbee Problem: The Making of an American Indian People

The Lumbee Problem: The Making of an American Indian People

The Lumbee Problem: The Making of an American Indian People

The Lumbee Problem: The Making of an American Indian People

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Overview

How does a group of people who have American Indian ancestry but no records of treaties, reservations, Native language, or peculiarly "Indian" customs come to be accepted--socially and legally--as Indians? Originally published in 1980, The Lumbee Problem traces the political and legal history of the Lumbee Indians of Robeson County, North Carolina, arguing that Lumbee political activities have been powerfully affected by the interplay between their own and others' conceptions of who they are. The book offers insights into the workings of racial ideology and practice in both the past and the present South--and particularly into the nature of Indianness as it is widely experienced among nonreservation Southeastern Indians. Race and ethnicity, as concepts and as elements guiding action, are seen to be at the heart of the matter. By exploring these issues and their implications as they are worked out in the United States, Blu brings much-needed clarity to the question of how such concepts are--or should be--applied across real and perceived cultural borders.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780803261976
Publisher: UNP - Bison Books
Publication date: 09/01/2001
Edition description: New Edition
Pages: 298
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author


Karen I. Blu is an associate professor of anthropology at New York University.

Table of Contents

Prefaceix
Acknowledgmentsxiv
1Why the Lumbee?1
Why should the Lumbee be of any general interest?2
What kind of evidence is cited?5
Robeson County today8
2Where did they come from and what were they like before?36
Where did they come from?36
What were they like before?44
3What changed and how?66
Underlying conditions67
Leaders and tactics68
Identity conflict and change77
4What are they trying to do now?91
County politics92
The coalition99
5Who do they say they are?134
How do Indians talk about themselves?134
Traditions expressive of Indianness148
Other behavioral qualities of Indianness160
6What difference does who they say they are make?169
Membership in the Lumbee community170
Black, White, and Indian identity concepts181
7Where does the Lumbee problem lead?200
The "Lumbee problem" and American ethnicity201
Ideas of "race" and "ethnic group" in America203
How useful is the concept of "ethnicity"?218
Toward understanding227
Afterword236
AppendixEvents in Lumbee political history258
Notes260
Bibliography273
Index287
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