November 2024: Native American Heritage Month
Did you know the following tribes are represented in the Nash County school district?
Haliwa-Saponi, Chickasaw Nation, Lumbee, Navajo Nation, Tohono O’odham, Saponi Nation of Ohio, Waccamaw Siouan, Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma, and Sioux.
Haliwa-Saponi
The name Haliwa is derived from the two counties: Halifax and Warren, which are the ancestral homelands of the Saponi people dating from the 1730s. They reorganized and adopted their current form of government in 1953 and were recognized in 1965 by the state of North Carolina.
Chickasaw Nation
The Chickasaw Nation established its Constitution of 1856 during huge gatherings at Good Spring (now Tishomingo, Oklahoma), and they established their own territory in present-day, south-central Oklahoma.
Lumbee
The Lumbee Tribe was recognized by North Carolina in 1885. In 1956, the U.S. Congress passed the Lumbee Act which recognized the Lumbees as being American Indians. The Lumbee take their name from the Lumber River, which winds through Robeson County, North Carolina.
Navajo Nation
Established in 1868, the majority of the Navajo Nation extends into the states of Utah, Arizona and New Mexico, covering over 27,000 square miles.
Tohono O’odham
Historically, the O’odham inhabited an enormous area of land in the southwest, extending South to Sonora, Mexico, north to Central Arizona (just north of Phoenix, Arizona), west to the Gulf of California, and east to the San Pedro River. In 1917, the main Tohono O’odham reservation was established.
Saponi Nation of Ohio
The Saponi Nation of Ohio is a tribal community composed of descendants and heirs of the historic
Saponi Nation. The Siouan ancestors have lived in the Ohio River Valley area since before 1200 A.D.
Waccamaw Siouan
The first written mention of the Waccamaw Siouan Indians appeared in historical records of
1521 by the Spanish explorer, Captain Franciso Gordillo. The Waccamaw Siouan Indians are
one of eight state-recognized Native American tribes in North Carolina, located
predominantly in the southeastern North Carolina counties of Bladen and Columbus.
Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma
Kiowa people are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated
southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in the 17th and 18th
centuries, and eventually into the Southern Plains by the early 19th century. In 1867, the Kiowa
were moved to a reservation in southwestern Oklahoma. Today, they are federally
recognized as the Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma with headquarters in Carnegie, Oklahoma.
Sioux
The Sioux are one of the largest and oldest Native American tribes in North America, dating
back three thousand years. The Sioux first lived in the central Mississippi River Valley and Great
Lakes region before moving west following the Iroquois Nation’s conquest of their territory.

If you would like more information on the NCPS Indian Education Parent Committee, please contact:
Rashena Hooper, President: rashenahooper@gmail.com
Chenoa Davis, Coordinator: chenoadavis24@gmail.com
Janet Morris, LEA Liaison: jjmorris@ncpschools.net