The Newest Federally Recognized Tribe Wants Better Healthcare. It May Be On Its Own.

North Carolina's Robeson County, where most of the tribe’s citizens live, ranks as one of the worst counties in the U.S. for health disparities. After securing federal recognition, Lumbee tribal leaders will have to decide how to address them.

By: Andrew Jones

Outlets: KFF Health News

Published: July 31, 2026

Words: 1,753

Last Updated: 2 hours, 22 minutes ago

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LUMBERTON, N.C. — Soybean fields surround Angie Lowery’s home in Robeson County, on a plot of rural land in southeastern North Carolina. Dozens of antique gas station signs, 20 feet tall, dominate her front yard. A framed re-creation of The Last Supper, Lone Ranger posters, and a 3-foot-wide tobacco harvesting basket adorn the walls of her home. A collector, Lowery over the years has amassed remnants of her region’s past.

But behind the house, the …

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