Students will explore Lumbee history and culture through music, dance, storytelling, and visual art on Nov. 19, when the Lumbee Tribe Showcase returns this fall semester to Givens Performing Arts Center at 359 Prospect Rd. on the University of North Carolina at Pembroke campus.
Organized by the arts center and the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, the program will offer school performances at 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Admission is free, but reservations are required. Registration opened Sept. 8, according to event information provided by organizers.
The showcase comes less than a year after the tribe received full federal recognition Dec. 18, 2025, becoming the 575th federally recognized tribe in the United States. The milestone followed generations of advocacy and brought renewed attention to the Lumbee people and their place in North Carolina history.
For students attending the November program, that history will be presented alongside artistic traditions that remain part of community life. Organizers describe the showcase as an opportunity to introduce young audiences to Lumbee identity through several forms of cultural expression.
The tribe is inviting teachers, principals and families who homeschool to bring students in kindergarten through eighth grade. The two performance times give schools a choice of morning or afternoon attendance during American Indian Heritage Month.
The event builds on a partnership that has drawn thousands of children to the university. According to UNC Pembroke, more than 3,000 students from 23 schools attended the November 2025 showcase. Schools traveled from Robeson, Cumberland, Hoke and Bladen counties for performances featuring dancing, drumming and storytelling.
Last year's program was the third annual showcase. The university reported that attendance increased by nearly 300 students from the previous year, reflecting the event's expanding reach across the region.
This year's presentation will take place in a community closely connected to the tribe's history. Pembroke is home to the Lumbee Tribal Complex, and the tribe's territory and service area encompass Robeson, Scotland, Hoke and Cumberland counties.
According to the tribe's historical account, Lumbee ancestors established communities along the river known locally as the Lumbee River. Those ancestors included survivors of tribal nations from the Algonquian, Iroquoian and Siouan language families who came together amid war, disease and colonization.
North Carolina recognized the tribe in 1885. Congress passed the Lumbee Act in 1956, identifying the Lumbee as American Indians while withholding the federal services and benefits generally associated with recognition.
The December 2025 legislation granted full federal recognition. In January, the U.S. Department of the Interior added the Lumbee to its official list of recognized tribes, formalizing the tribe's relationship with the federal government.
Recognition provides a significant backdrop to the showcase, while its focus remains the people, traditions and artistic practices that children will encounter onstage. The program connects national development with a community whose history extends far beyond the recent legislation.
Sara Santiago, a Lumbee mother of four, said recognition deepened her appreciation for earlier generations. “My pride hasn't changed, but my appreciation for those who paved the way has definitely grown.”
The planned visual art component broadens the presentation beyond the stage performances, placing another form of Lumbee creativity within a program designed specifically for children and their educators.
The showcase offers schools an opportunity to include local Indigenous history in students' cultural education. Its combination of performance and storytelling gives young audiences several ways to engage with that history during a shared visit to the theater.
Teachers planning to attend can contact Givens Performing Arts Center at 910 521 6361 or gpac@uncp.edu to arrange reservations and request registration information. Organizers are directing school groups to register through the arts center at https://bit.ly/3USXv87 for the Nov. 19 performances.

(Photo courtesy of Givens Performing Arts Center)