Native American Oral History Interviews

Adolph Dial reads various materials relating to the history of Sampson County's schools and families. The first is an article from the March 31, 1966 edition of the Sampsonian, entitled "Sampson Indians Once Operated Own School." The next is an article from another newspaper (no date given) entitled "Homecoming Queen," about Kay Bell being crowned homecoming queen at Mount Olive College. Finally, Adolph reads a pamphlet prepared by Enoch Emanuel on June 15, 1921. This pamphlet is a comprehensive genealogical list from which Adolph reads a good deal of county lineage.

Adolph Dial gives a reading of the minutes from the Burnt Swamp Baptist Association’s annual meetings. He begins with the second annual session, held at Reedy Branch Baptist Church in 1881, and continues with various reports— usually on general education— from the Association’s meetings up to 1917. Again and again, contributors to the session emphasize the importance of education in all areas of life. The overarching thought across the four decades of reports is that education must be pursued as a means of bettering the Lumbee people individually, socially, and spiritually The early reports express frustration with the lack of education available to the Lumbee, while later reports celebrate how far the area has come with the construction of public schools and the normal school.

Adolph Dial reads excerpts from George E. Butler’s book The Croatan Indians of Sampson County, Their Origin and Racial Status: A Plea for Separate Schools. It gives an overview of the Lumbee Indian history, first discussing John White’s lost colony of Roanoke in and asserting a common Lumbee lineage that distinguishes from other racial groups of the area. Butler draws upon legal codes, genealogies, oral histories, and historical archives to give a full explanation of the origin of the Lumbee tribe.

Note: This transcript was in many places corroborated with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s electronically published version of Butler’s book. That version can be found here: https://docsouth.unc.edu/nc/butler/butler.html Best efforts have been made to ensure that any errors of spelling or pronunciation are the speaker’s own.

Lew Barton reads a lecture he wrote titled “Lure and Lore of the Lumbee.” This lecture is a humorous discussion of the repeated surnames in the community, such as Locklear and Max, as well as unusual given names like Nocie and Two Gun Montana Locklear.

Lew Barton asks his daughter, Constance Barton Brayboy, to read an article in the Robesonian newspaper written by Lew Barton, in which he interviews Mack Lucas about the “Shake of 1886,” or the Charleston earthquake, which the Lumbee used as a marker to date other events. Then, Lew Barton’s son, Rick, read an article written by John Charles McNeil for the Lumberton Argus about the Lumber River, originally called the Lumbee River. Lew Barton goes on to talk about the importance of appreciating the river and asks his son questions about the river.

Marilyn Taylor reads several newspaper articles to provide more information for previous tapes. The first article is by Tony Goodyear, and profiles W. J. Strickland. Strickland serves as chairman of the Coalition of Eastern Native Americans, a coalition of Eastern tribes from twenty-nine states. This coalition aims to improve education and obtain federal services. The next article is about James Holshouser, governor of North Carolina, who was greeted with celebration and support when he ended his campaign in Pembroke. The following article describes how protesters from the American Indian Movement took possession of the Bureau of Indian Affairs building in Washington, D.C., one fourth of which hailed from Robeson County. The final article is on Vicky Ransom, a college senior who was the first Miss Lumbee and participated in politics. She assisted both President Richard Nixon and Governor James Holshouser with their campaigns and was invited to both of their inaugurations.

Lew Barton shares some of his poetry from his books, Rhythm a Little Lumbee and Way out in Carolina. The poems contain a variety of themes, such as race, love, gender, history, and popular culture. He intersperses the poetry readings with spoken commentary, revealing backstories and inspirations behind his writing. Lew also sings some folk songs that are common to the Lumbee community, as well as folk songs he wrote himself.

**The date of this recording is unknown, but most likely took place in the spring of 1974.

Lew Barton reads the preface to his book What People Want to Know Most about the Lumbee Indians: A Contemporary History of the Indians of Robeson and Adjacent Counties Of North Carolina, in Question-and-Answer form.

**Note: Lew explicitly dictates punctuation marks throughout the interview. These are firmly adhered to at the beginning of the interview, but eventually begin to be omitted for clarity. Punctuation marks have also been added for clarity when necessary.

Mr. Lew Barton records himself as he reads “statistical stories” that deal with population and health data collected among the county’s residents. He first reads his own article, entitled “Vanishing Americans on the Comeback Trail." He then recites statistics published by the Robeson County Health Department called Health and Related Statistics, Robeson County, North Carolina. He provides statistics like birth rates and infant mortality rates, and then reports the prevalence of various diseases in the county. These figures are broken down by race, age and gender.

Lew Barton reads aloud Roy Thompson's 1966 article for the Winston-Salem Journal and Sentinel entitled "Robesonians Compromise, Get Along", before sharing two of his own poems and recordings of songs performed by the Worriax brothers. Thompson's article gives an overview of race relations in Robeson county in 1966, addressing topics such as segregation and the Ku Klux Klan, but focusing especially on the phenomenon of there being four races present there: White, Black, Indian, and The Smiling Independents. The Lumbee Indian pageant is discussed briefly. Lew then recites poems "Iago" and "How Big is America?". Finally, Lew shares recordings of Larry Worriax singing "Hey, Joe" and Buddy Worriax performing "Hot Guitar" and "Matchbox Blues."

Adolph Dial records his thoughts in stream-of-consciousness style monologues, dictated across two different days in July 1971. The first is in regard to the gerrymandering and unfair educational practices toward the Lumbee in the area; he outlines the brief history of the school systems, and then speaks on the newly founded Lumbee Indian Conference. He ponders whether he should run for office, and thinks about those who have unsuccessfully done so before him. He lauds certain successful Lumbee individuals. Finally, he reports from the county's "school breaking," where the community celebrates commencement and the last day of school. He explains that this is one of the few organized social gatherings for the area, along with communal woodsawings.

In this monologue, Adolph Dial speaks about an interview he had earlier in the day with Anna Lowry, previously married to the nephew of Henry Berry Lowry, regarding the whereabouts of his body. Anna Lowry believed Henry’s body was buried in a hole in a stream, hidden again for no one to find. Dial also reflects on his family and the grapevines his grandfather grew on his farm. Dial discusses race relations, citing a specific incidence of a dance he and some friends wished to attend, but once they found out they were Indians from Pembroke, they were turned away. Dial explains the difficulty of appearing white-passing, which allows him certain privileges, but once people find out he is Lumbee, the public’s opinions change.

Adolph Dial speaks about the events that unfolded at Prospect School the day prior, where members of the public– some self-identified as Tuscarora– arrived to demonstrate about the mistreatment of Native students in the region’s schools. Dial says their objective, although complicated, was ultimately to “to run the Black and White away from the schools.” He also attributes dissatisfaction with Indian children not attending Prospect schools. Dial explains that any children were not attending the schools in which they were assigned to, which resulted in grades or diplomas not being dispersed despite being allowed as sit-ins. Gerrymandering of lines was another cause for discussion, as the Oxendine and Red Spring district intersect right beside the school’s campus. Schools in the Prospect and Maxton area were far from level in the demographics of students in attendance. All of this to say, Dial hopes for an equal playing field when it comes to education with a well-balanced faculty focusing on teaching ability overall.

Adolph Dial records this monologue as he is in the car traveling through Sampson County. He introduces the name Coharie as another name for the Lumbee people. He speaks about the perplexing nature of Henry Berry Lowry’s disappearance and death, wondering if anyone really knows the true story and concluding from his interviews with Lowry’s relatives that he most likely died loading his own gun. Dial also discusses the difficulty educating the Lumbee after a 1929 legislative act, denying Sampson, Hoke and Scotland counties access to the college in Pembroke. He names Oak Grove as the only Native elementary school in the area at the time. Finally, Adolph Dials explains the knack for which the original Lumbee settlers had for recognizing such fertile soil, noting it as a reason for being able to farm and support families for so many years.

Adolph Dial is reflecting on his recent visit to Raiford Brewington’s old home, specifically noting the grease that was visible on the barn ceilings from meat being hidden from soldiers during the Civil War. Dial’s wife, Ruth Jones, is connected to the Brewington family, so he was then able to visit Festus’ Brewington’s home where he could connect nine generations together for their daughter, Mary Doris Dial. Believing to have discovered lineage back to William Brewington from the 1600s, Adolph is amazed to find Lumbee history dating so many centuries back in the same area. Lastly, Dial discusses the relations between the Indian and white communities. Indians fear losing their jobs or taking wrong steps and the White folks are scared of losing political power in the case of voting unity.

Joe Sando delivers a monologue for Adolph Dial, comparing his observations of the Lumbee people with his own experience of life in the Pueblo community. He lauds the success of Pembroke State, and encourages the Lumbee to connect with national groups like the National Congress of American Indians to create wider solidarity with the tribe's struggle. Sando explains the situation of tri-ethnic life in New Mexico, and the elements that make it less contentious than the racial landscape of the Lumbee region. He muses on the growing Black population in the western United States, and tells the story of one of the first non-Indian settlers in New Mexico, a Black man named Esteban. Finally, he gives a brief history of the Pueblo people's relationship with White culture.

As a part of his “What People Want to Know Most About the Lumbee Indians” series, Lew Barton gives a comprehensive answer to the question “Are they really Indians?” He shares articles and accounts and evidence of the legitimacy of Lumbee Indians as a distinct ethnic group and discusses integration in Robeson County, North Carolina.

Lew Barton starts by narrating the events of October 31, 1973 live as they happen in Lumberton. A group from the American Indian Movement stopped by a rally to support Jim Holshouser for North Carolina governor on their way to Washington, D.C. to fight for rights for American Indians, especially the Lumbee. When they reached D.C., they took over the Bureau of Indian Affairs to rectify what they call the “Trail of Broken Treaties.” After this, the tape shifts to Barton interviewing two unknown speakers. The first owns a service station and car sales lot and laments the lack of police presence and response to troubles in west Lumberton. Many people in Lumberton feel that the police force, especially the chief of police, are incompetent and unorganized. Another unidentified speaker, who seems to be a police officer from a different apartment, discusses the feasibility of different solutions and weighs in on the situation.

Adolph Dial summarizes the happenings of the meeting of the American Indian Historical Society in Aspen, Colorado that occurred September 15-19, 1972. Adolph Dial, Brantley Blue, Samuel Kerns, and Dr. Bobby Brayboy attended as representatives of the Lumbee tribe. Some contention occurred over Blue's address on behalf of the Indian Claims Commission, as many Natives from western tribes faced ongoing land disputes with the U.S. government. Adolph recounts a tense exchange over breakfast between Mr. Blue and a prominent couple in the organization. Adolph then lists many of the notable Lumbee individuals that have succeeded in their career fields, and concludes with miscellaneous observations from recent days in the community and at the conference. He voices a need for greater support for Lumbee students at Pembroke State.

Helen Scheirbeck serves as the director of the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare’s Office of Indian Education. She presents a lecture to Mr. Adolph Dial’s class at Pembroke State University. Mr. Dial introduces Mrs. Scheirbeck, and she details how she would like the lecture to proceed as she gives information about her work in Washington and how it impacts Indian education in the U.S. Helen answers some questions from the audience regarding the Indian Education Act, and the events from the previous century that led to the law being passed. Helen talks about the different Indian boarding schools that existed across the nation, and how the government worked to use this education as an excuse to civilize the Indian populations so that they would assimilate. She then discusses the modern benefits of the Indian Education Act and the bureaucratic process she undertook to help get this act passed. Helen answers questions on specific cases of funding at the university and secondary education levels, and where in the act this information can be found. She finishes her talk by addressing a recent event of violence, and how these things must be avoided in order to not lose focus on the work being done for Indian issues.

This tape is a series of recorded selections from presentations given at the Pembroke State Lumbee University Indian Community Feedback Symposium, held over two nights in March 1973 and sponsored by the North Carolina Committee for Continuing Education in the Humanities. On the first night, Dr. Abraham Makofsky, Dr. Gene Greissman, Dr. David Mustian, and Dr. Gregory Peck each speak to their individual academic projects relating to Lumbee Indians in Robeson County and the Baltimore area, and take questions from the crowd about issues of Indian representation and agency. The second night focuses on professor Adolph Dial's oral history of the Lumbee and includes Bob Gregory's presentation on community organizing. George Scott concludes with a summary of the ideas presented at the Symposium, and shares his own experience growing up as a Creek and Seminole Indian working in the Bureau of Indian Affairs. He also makes a case for the Pan-Indian movement.

Notes: Speaker names were verified via archived editions of The Robesonian newspaper. Identifiable participants are denoted by first and last initial. As presenters are not introduced before their respective presentations, the transcriptionist has made a best attempt to assign names to speakers based on context clues. Finally, the speaker noted as BB on the transcript, though unnamed in the audio, was identified in the original transcript as Brenda Brooks.

In this recording, a rally for Jim Holshouser, the Republican candidate for North Carolina’s 1972 gubernatorial election, takes place in Robeson County. He along with some of his supporters and fellow Republican candidates and staffers speak, directly appealing to Lumbee voters for their participation and support. The rally begins with an invocation by Reverend Julian Ransom. Guest speakers share their experiences with Jim Holshouser, and discuss why voters should vote for Jim Holshouser and other Republican politicians. In his speech, Jim Holshouser explains why he is the best candidate for Governor of North Carolina and encourages the audience to vote for him. A war dance is also performed during the campaign rally, led by Dennis Banks from the American Indian Movement. Dennis rouses the crowd to fight for fair treatment of Indians and proper representation in government.