A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to modify the definition of the lumbee tribe located in robeson, cumberland, hoke, and scotland counties.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 71A‑3 reads as rewritten:
"§ 71A‑3.  Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina; rights, privileges, immunities, obligations, and duties.
The Indians now residing in Robeson County and the adjoining counties of Cumberland, Hoke, and Scotland in North Carolina, originally found by the first white settlers on the Lumbee River in Robeson County, and claiming joint descent from remnants of early American Colonists and certain tribes of Indians originally inhabiting the coastal regions of North Carolina, who have previously been known as "Croatan Indians," "Indians of Robeson County," and "Cherokee Indians of Robeson County," shall, from and after April 20, 1953, be designated and officially recognized as Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina and they shall continue to enjoy all their rights, privileges, and immunities as an American Indian Tribe with a recognized tribal governing body carrying out and exercising substantial governmental duties and powers similar to the State, being recognized as eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians."
SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law.