So I am half Lumbee [View all]

Or, at least I was raised being told I was such. My mom was Lumbee, and raised me always saying that I was native, but I never really got any of the culture or traditions from her. We lived away from the area where most Lumbee hail from.

But the more I research, the more I see questions about if the Lumbee are even a real native people, and the DNA evidence seems to point pretty clearly to our people really being the descendants of mixed race people who claimed native status to avoid the persecution that free blacks received in the south.

So, all in all, I really don't know what I am. I know I am half Filipino, as my dad hails from the Philippines, but the rest? I was raised being told I was half Lumbee, but like I said really with no ties to the traditions or cultures. Growing up in a southern mill town I was not really accepted by the blacks, who rejected me, nor by the whites- until I got I hit puberty and the white boys wanted to date me. So from age 12 up I was mostly integrated with white culture.

I know when I have mentioned I was Lumbee to any members of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee I got a much less than warm response, with more than one calling me a "fake". I know when people want to discriminate I become black to them. I know when an employer wants diversity then I am the Indian they show off.

So who knows...

I guess my race is a lot like the rest of me- so muddled up and mixed nobody knows what is going on.

Any other Lumbee on here? What is everyones take on the issue of the Lumbee being a true native people or not?