Lumbee Open Enrollment Begins Today

Native News Network Staff in Native Currents. Discussion »

Enrollment Office

PEMBROKE, NORTH CAROLINA - The Lumbee Tribe, the nation's largest American Indian tribe east of the Mississippi River may be getting bigger soon. For the first time in almost five years, the Lumber Tribe has opened its enrollment.

Today marks the beginning of a new era of opening enrollment to those who can trace their lineage to the tribe. Below is the information you need to participate in the enrollment process as provided by the tribe the Native News Network.

The Lumbee Tribe's Enrollment and Records office will begin taking applications by appointment only. Those who want to enroll in the Tribe must call to make an appointment by calling 1.910.521.2843.

Appointments are being scheduled between 8:30 am - 4:30 pm, Monday-Friday (excluding holidays and the archiving week, which is the last full week of each month set aside for the archival of records).

All new enrollments will have to make an appointment, regardless of age or the distance traveled. If you are an enrolled parent wishing to enroll a minor child(ren) (under 18), please let the staff know so that we may record that information, along with your enrollment number, date of birth, and the number to be enrolled. Also, if you have received a "Pending" certificate, you do not need an appointment - you will be issued a number upon the opening of the rolls.

Applications can be downloaded and printed from our website, Enrollment Application » (requires Adobe Acrobat and print on legal size paper).

Due to costs, we will be unable to mail you an application. If you do not have a computer or the internet, we will have applications on hand for you to complete when you arrive for your appointment. It is recommended that you arrive 15 minutes early so you will have adequate time to complete forms. Bring all required information on the day of your appointment (certified birth certificates that records parents' names for the person to be enrolled including their social security cards for each person to be enrolled). A photo ID will be required for adults. Failure to bring this required information may delay or prevent enrollment. Please note that minors do not need to be present in order for the parent to enroll them. If you want a picture ID card for your child, the child will have to be present.

Again, first time applicants are encouraged to arrive 15 minutes early to their scheduled appointment. Please be aware that if you are unable to keep your appointment date, you may not be able to reschedule until several weeks or months. Let us know if you are not able to make your appointment so we can give that time slot to someone else.

The tribal rolls will remain open until 5:00 pm on October 11, 2011. Then, Rolls will close for the purpose of conducting the yearly election, which always occurs in November. After the election has been conducted, the rolls will re-open at 9:00 am on December 12, 2011; again, we will be enrolling by appointments only.

For those members who are enrolled and only need to update their membership, we will continue to take re-certifications on a walk-in basis during normal operating hours, which will be from 9:00 am until 4:00 pm, closing from 12:00 pm until 1:00 pm for lunch.

Fees: ID card is $5.00; free if you are 62 years or older A certificate of enrollment is free (if you elect not to get the ID card)

Further information contact Ruth B. Locklear 910-522-5471 and Reena Locklear 910-522-5474, weekdays.

posted June 27, 2011 3:00 pm et