Godwin's DC trip makes history

PEMBROKE — Just five days after being sworn in as the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina’s chairman, Harvey Godwin Jr. made history.

Godwin found himself in Washington, D.C., at the nation’s capitol attending the final State of the Union address delivered by President Barack Obama. He was there at the invitation of Rep. Richard Hudson, a Republican from Concord whose District 8 encompasses most of Robeson County.

“I never thought I’d do anything like attend a State of the Union address,” Godwin said. “I am the first Lumbee chairman ever to be invited to attend a State of the Union address.”

Godwin said that Hudson spent a significant amount of time with him before the beginning of the president’s 59-minute speech, taking him to a couple of socials during which he was introduced to about 30 representatives of Congress, both Democrats and Republicans.

Godwin was able to use the time to lobby on behalf of full federal recognition for the tribe.

“All of those I was introduced to knew where Pembroke and Lumberton are located,” he said. “That tells me he (Hudson) has been talking about the tribe and federal recognition. With all the work he has been doing it shows he wants to help not just Lumbees, but all the people of our area.”

Godwin said that as he sat in the gallery directly across from First Lady Michelle Obama and overlooking the packed House floor, he felt a “tremendous sense of pride.”

Godwin used his time in Washington to share with legislators the tribe’s efforts become fully recognized that date to when it first petitioned Congress in 1888. Congress recognized the tribe in 1956, but denied its members hundreds of millions of dollars a year that would flow into the region to enhance economic development, health care and educational opportunities.

“They were astounded that we are the only tribe in the nation that has been federally recognized but was not granted the financial benefits that other tribes received with recognition,” Godwin said.

Godwin said that Hudson, a Republican from Concord, has committed support to Lumbee in other ways.

“It’s even more important that he has committed to helping us in ways other than just recognition to become successful,” said Godwin. “He will help us with out veterans, economic development, and elder and youth programs.”

Last January, Hudson and U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield, a Democrat who represents the 1st District, introduced the Lumbee Recognition Act in the U.S. House.

Hudson had worked with former Rep. Mike McIntyre, a Democrat from Lumberton who represented the 7th Congressional District from 1997 to 2012, to obtain full federal recognition. McIntyre successfully shepherded the Lumbee Recognition Act through the House in two consecutive congressional sessions, 2007 and 2009. The bill never passed in the U.S. Senate.

In 1989, the Lumbees petitioned the Bureau of Indian Affairs for full federal recognition . But the solicitor general said that because of language in the Lumbee Act of 1956, the tribe could only be recognized through Congress.

The Lumbee Tribe, with more than 55,000 members, is the largest American Indian tribe east of the Mississippi River.