Pembroke, NC
&
Robeson County
NATURAL
CULTURAL
UNC Pembroke:
Museum of the Southeast American Indian at UNC Pembroke ( what would we need to do in order to have the museum open 10 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. on Sunday? )
Books, Readings on Robeson County
Josephine Humphreys:
Nowhere Else on Earth: https://www.
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Malinda Maynor Lowery:
The Lumbee Indians: https://uncpress.
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Willie French Lowery:
Songwriter and Author of “Proud to be a Lumbee Indian”:
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Jill McCorkle:
“Growing Up in Lumberton” (Our State Book Club w/ Wiley Cash): https://www.youtube.
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Joseph Mitchell:
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Bland Simpson:
“Land of Fifty Swamps” (from North Carolina: Land of Water, Land of Sky)
Our State Video “Sweetheart Stream” (the Lumber River)
Sunday, April 13th, 2025
North Caroliniana Society, Meeting at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke
NCS Annual Meeting 1 p.m. VENUE
HONOREE Event 2 p.m. VENUE
Our Honoree: Dr. Jo Ann Chavis Lowery
Dr. Jo Ann Chavis Lowery is a Lumbee tribal elder, educator, licensed professional counselor, and education consultant. “Dr. Jo” studied English at
UNC Pembroke, earned her M.A. at Appalachian State University; and Doctor of Education at UNC Greensboro. She also earned a Master’s in Counseling in 1976 and Doctorate in Counseling in 1994. Recently, Dr. Jo was invited to serve as Elder in Residence and a speaker at the annual conference of the National Institute for Native Leadership in Higher Education.
She is the senior member of the cast of “LumBEES: Women of the Dark Water: A Memoir with Music” first directed by Bo Thorp and presented at the Cape Fear Regional Theatre in 2019. This play, which the Paul Green Foundation helped to support, was again performed to enthusiastic audiences at UNC Pembroke in July 2022—the second production of this original play based on the oral histories of the cast members. Dr. David Oxendine directed the second round of performances at the Givens Performing Arts Center.
Dr. Jo’s personal story as the child of Lumbee sharecroppers and her understanding of the struggle of Native Americans for recognition in North Carolina is especially powerful. She is a strong proponent of public education and has spoken on dozens of panels in conferences around the country on curricula and counseling that address Indigenous history and the psychological
damage done to Native children over time in schools and in communities. She also worked in the 1980s on a curriculum in Indian History for the Robeson County Schools.