Copyright © 2001 NLThomas
All Rights Reserved

The North Carolina State Supreme Court today, Friday, November 9, 2001, officially denied the North Carolina Indian Commission’s appeal of it’s recent N.C. Court of Appeals, where the court had ruled that the Commission acted illegally in denying official recognition to the Alamance county-based Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation.

This decision paves the way for official recognition of the Occaneechi as an Indian tribe, enabling them to take their place on the commission along with the seven previously recognized tribes: The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (which is federally recognized), Coharie, Waccamaw-Siouan, Haliwa, Meherrin, Indians of Person County, and Lumbee.

The Tribe, consisting of nearly 500 members, began researching it's history in the mid 1980’s, formally submitting a petition for recognition in 1990. The petition was denied in 1995 by the Indian Commission, who felt the Occaneechi only met 3 of the necessary 5 criteria for recognition, in spite of endorsements from other tribes, historians, archeologists, and the evidence of hundreds of pages of documentation.

In a complicated legal battle, the Occaneechi won their case before Administrative Law Judge Dolores Smith in 1998, only to have it reversed in Superior Court a year or so later. This decision was appealed by the Tribe to the State Court of Appeals, which earlier this year ruled unanimously that the Commission had violated State law in denying recognition to the Tribe. The Commission elected to appeal this to the North Carolina State Supreme Court, which has denied the Commission's Petition for Discretionary Review, effectively ending the matter. In effect, the original decision by Judge Smith, which said in part that, "the petitioning group traces back to the Saponi and Catawba Tribes", becomes law.

Tribal leadership will begin working with local legislators to begin drafting the required legislation adding seats to the Commission for the Occaneechi, and will begin planning for choosing their representative to sit on the Commission Board in Raleigh. Representation on the Indian Commission will allow the Occaneechi to compete for various state educational scholarships, participate in Indian Housing Programs, and add their input to the various problems facing Indian people throughout the state. “It’s a matter of pride, not money, which is good because there just isn’t that much money out there for Indian Tribes, not on the State level”, said Tribal Historian Forest Hazel.

The Occaneechi trace their history to the Occaneechi, Saponi, and Tutelo tribes, who are related to the modern Catawba Tribe of Rock Hill, South Carolina. Their settlement in the Alamance County can be traced to 1787, when members of the Jeffries and Whitmore families settled in what came to be called the "Little Texas" community of northeastern Alamance County.

Future plans for the Tribe include a cultural center which will house a museum, office space, and room for meetings and classes.

"I think the Tribe can be a real asset to the community", said Tribal Chairwoman Beverly Payne-Betts, herself a descendant of the Jeffries and Corn families. "With so many plant closings in the area recently, anything that brings money into the area is a boost to the local economy, whether it's through grants or tourist dollars."

The Occaneechi Tribe currently holds several pow wows and cultural festivals each year in the Alamance-Orange County area and maintains a reconstructed 1701 Occaneechi village in Hillsborough, North Carolina where living history days and festivals provide thousands of visitors annually with a glimpse of early tribal life.

For more information contact the Occaneechi Tribal Office, by phone: 919-304-3723 or call Forest Haze, phone: 919-563-5653, and visit the Occaneechi-Saponi Tribe online.