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When Kamala Harris and Donald Trump campaigned in North Carolina, both candidates courted a state-recognized tribe there whose 55,000 members could have helped tip the swing state. Trump in September promised that he would sign legislation to grant federal recognition to the Lumbee Tribe, a distinction that would unlock access to federal funds.

Robeson County consistently voted for Democratic presidential candidates until Donald Trump's first run. It's one of North Carolina's more purple counties.

Tens of thousands of voters part of the civically-engaged Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina stand to make a difference in the election.

The Cumberland County School District held its 5th annual feather ceremony for graduating Native American high school seniors.

North Carolina's Museum of the Southeast American Indian released a song described as being by and for Native communities.

In recent years, many Lumbees have helped shift Robeson County politically from a place with a reliable majority for the Democratic Party to a county that largely supports Republicans. A push for federal recognition for the tribe is one of the factors.

Three decades after Congress passed a federal law intended to return ancestral remains to Native tribes, UNC-CH’s Research Laboratories of Archeology still hold remains representing more than 600 individuals — the largest share of unrepatriated remains in the state.

A bill heading to North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper's desk seeks to ensure American Indian students in public schools can wear items like feathers and plumes to their graduation ceremonies.

As the highly-transmissible delta variant moves through the Lumbee community, many are now feeling the impact of the pandemic at a personal level.

As COVID continues to inundate Robeson County, health officials and local leaders are working tirelessly to get more Lumbee tribal members vaccinated.