Robeson County “Up-Close”

Sometimes history comes alive best “up-close” and “personal.” We identify and even become more invested in people, places, and things by actually getting a true sense of how and why they are important – and to whom. A primary goal for our Lumbee History Course was to creatively and interactively uproot students from an academic setting and make them in many ways uncomfortable with trying to understand their topics from the characteristically narrow research perspective. We accomplished this goal in a number of ways. Throughout the semester, we embarked on two journeys to Robeson County, North Carolina, which gave us, “the researchers,” opportunities to learn, understand, and grow as people. I, for one, expanded my sense of community. The Lumbee community’s history in Robeson County has a living importance to the Lumbee Indians that is unmistakable.