Today (1pm EST) on Native America Calling, “Lumbee Nation secures its sovereign status.” I look forward to this discussion & call-in show with academics Malinda Lowery, (Emory), David Wilkins (Richmond), and Carrie Schuettpelz( Iowa).

It's official - the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) has renamed itself the Advancing Indigenous Science and Engineering Society (still AISES). Membership voted to change the name earlier this year to better reflect the organization's geographic scope. aises.org

I am especially overjoyed for my friend Malinda Lowery, who has given so much of her creativity and intellect to telling the Lumbee story with the rigor of a historian and the soul of an artist. You should read her book.

Great interview with journalist, author, & filmmaker Julian Brave NoiseCat on Lumbee recognition. I highly recommend clicking through the NativeNews header below and watching the 20-min recorded interview. 1/2

Also. In celebration of the Lumbees finally receiving federal recognition, here's a taste of Dr Ashley Minner-Jones' EXTRAORDINARY work documenting and telling the stories of Lumbee Baltimore www.baltimorereservation.com

In other news... promoted to full professor at Duke! nicholas.duke.edu/news/emanuel... #DukeEnvironment

The Lumbee Tribe has been in North Carolina since long before we became a state. The Lumbee were officially recognized by the State of North Carolina in 1885 and have fought for their fair share from the federal government for more than a century.

The 1956 Lumbee Act was amended this week, concluding a decades-long effort to have Congress strike discriminatory language that subjected Lumbees to nearly 70 years of partial federal recognition. But no longer. The Lumbee Tribe of NC is now *fully* recognized by the US—the 575th Native Nation.

15 years ago today (Dec 15, 2010) I published an ope-ed on Lumbee recognition in @newsobserver.com. I hadn't seen this piece in a while & was struck that it foreshadows my work on Indigenous rights & #EnvironmentalJustice... several years before these terms entered my professional lexicon. #ncpol

1st paper 👊 by Duke’s Skye-Anne Tschoepe maps North Carolina’s methane gas pipelines, shows racial disparities in routes, & explains how results of #EnvironmentalJustice analyses are sensitive to analyst decisions. agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/... #ncpol @geohealthjournal.bsky.social

Our work is featured in today’s research news from @ecologicalsociety.bsky.social: “A new study highlights major educational gaps among environmental professionals regarding Indigenous peoples, and shows how those gaps can impact real-world decisions.” esa.org/blog/2025/12... #GeoSky #OpenAccess

I tell students to mark the language that government agencies use to talk about Indigenous peoples, because it holds information about relationships & power dynamics. I have no insider knowledge, but I'm definitely marking the pivot from "Tribal Nation" to "Indian Tribe." www.nsf.gov/policies/doc...

The reconciled NDAA includes a provision to amend the 1956 Lumbee Act by removing a discriminatory, Termination-Era clause & inserting new language to affirm the Tribe's federal status. Here are a few resources to help make sense of what's happening & why. I may post more later.

Other folks have written & spoken powerfully about Thomas King specifically. What I query here, 9 years into the almost annual winter unveiling of a fraud in Canada, are the metaphysics of white colonial play-acting as native in the arts, literature, politics, academia. Colonial mirror worlds.

Re-sharing a 2022 article from the journal Southern Cultures about 100+ years of extractive research on my Tribe. It's well known that extractive research can harm Indigenous peoples; my coauthor & I show how it can also lead to poor results & junk insights. www.southerncultures.org/article/stor...

⚡️ New Paper ⚡️ “Indigenous invisibility: Gaps in education about Indigenous peoples among environmental decision-makers” led by Dr. Brittany Hunt (Virginia Tech). esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... #EnvironmentalJustice #Lumbee #geosky 🌎

Dr. Seth Grooms is an Indigenous archaeology professor whose research puts community first. Check out his recent presentation for the NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources on the eve of the state's annual American Indian Heritage Celebration. www.youtube.com/watch?v=aB7_... #Lumbee

I found a timeline of my Interlibrary Loan requests from @ncsulibraries.bsky.social back when I was a professor at @ncstate.bsky.social. There are inklings of my book as far back as 2010 before the dam broke in 2016-2017. #Indigenous #EnvironmentalJustice #EnvHist #OnTheSwamp @uncpress.bsky.social

As part of American Indian Heritage Month, we're looking back at the artists featured in last year's exhibition, "To Take Shape and Meaning." Harlen Chavis Jr., a Lumbee freestyle artist, utilizes natural materials - pottery sherds, glass, copper, and gold to create culturally reflective jewelry.

New @nybooks.com essay by @robtsullivan.bsky.social interweaves reviews of On the Swamp & Wilkinson's Treaty Justice. ⚡ "If there is hope for the earth, it will depend in part on acknowledging indigenous sovereignty in the face of insatiable resource extraction." ⚡ www.nybooks.com/articles/202...

The wonderful people at @uncpress.bsky.social sent me an advance copy of my book and I think I’ll have a little cry now. You can order it from here and it will arrive soon (use code 01UNCP30) for a discount uncpress.org/978146968920...

#OnTheSwamp has been out for ~20 months, and I've traveled quite a bit sharing stories from the book & connections to other research topics. The travel was exciting, a mix of familiar & new. But glad to have a break until spring 2026. 74 total events since last spring, 56 of them in-person.

This article by @aknewsom.bsky.social is a good summary of last week's Senate Indian Affairs committee hearing on S.107 - a bill that would strike discriminatory language from the 1956 Lumbee Act.

Today the Senate Indian Affairs Committee held a hearing on S.107, which amends the 1956 Lumbee Act by striking language that bans a formal relationship between Tribe & US. Recording embedded in page below. 👇🏽 www.indian.senate.gov/hearings/leg... #Indigenous

Summary of recent fieldwork in coastal NC - We ground truthed part of a massive new dataset of ghost forests along the US east coast. First paper of the project, led by Henry Yeung (UVA), should be out soon. www.science.org/content/arti... #hydrology #remoteSensing #geosky

Redistricting splits up North Carolina's tribal service areas. It's especially bad for Lumbee and Coharie - each tribe's service area is split into 3 districts. Nationally, most Indigenous people live in cities. But NC flips that pattern, with most living in rural tribal service areas. #ncpol

In 2016, numbers on the "NC Promise" plan pointed to an eventual ~$3M annual shortfall, which many people pointed out (myself included). I wasn't right on all details, but it was predictable that the General Assembly wouldn't fully fund the gap as enrollments grew on these campuses. #nced #ncpol

Clippy is clearly pulling the strings at Microsoft.

The Geology Dept at WWU is hiring an Assistant Prof in Hydrology! Come be my colleague in a great department! More info in the attached flyer, and at hr.wwu.edu/careers-facu...

Happy #IndigenousPeoplesDay from @markruffalo.bsky.social, whose 2019 film "Dark Waters" eliminated one of the early title ideas for my book (b/c Lumbees call ourselves People of the Dark Water).😬 In the end, I'm super happy with the title: ON THE SWAMP.

It's #IndigenousPeoplesDay in North Carolina. Read the governor's proclamation here. 1/2 governor.nc.gov/governor-ste... #ncpol

We're hiring a tenure-track assistant professor in Dept of Environmental Studies at University of Colorado Boulder with expertise in energy & environmental policy, and emphases on sustainability & decarbonization. The job ad is here, apply by the Nov 14 deadline! jobs.colorado.edu/jobs/JobDeta...

Congrats to my friend & colleague Nancy Strickland Chavis for receiving the William Collins Smith Auburn Award for Advancing American Art! Nancy leads the Museum of the SE American Indian at UNC Pembroke & curated a major exhibit last year @ NC Art Museum. 👇🏽👏🏽 jcsm.auburn.edu/auburn-museu... #Lumbee

Saw #OnTheSwamp today on displayat Birchbark Books in Minneapolis. I signed their copy and also got to sign their wall of authors! #Indigenous #EnvironmentalJustice #Lumbee

Just heard inspiring words from @ltgovflanagan.mn.gov about the importance of taking up space - #LandBack one conference room table at a time. Today is a showcase of #Indigenous excellence at the AISES National Conference in Minneapolis.

Great thread on historical drainage of wetlands. 🧵👇🏽 #EnvHist

The Journal of Geophysical Research universe is getting out of hand.

Finally back in North Carolina after a wonderful trip to UConn to speak about my book & meet amazing folks like Dr. Kat Milligan-McClellan (@napaaqtuk.bsky.social). And it was an honor to be part of their decades-long Teale Lecture series.

Excited to be part of this event with Kirsten Squint next month, hosted by Erica Abrams Locklear as part of UNC Asheville’s Rising Waters series. Come join us! Registration link: www.unca.edu/events-and-n... #OnTheSwamp #Indigenous #EnvironmentalJustice

En route to Hartford for @uconn.bsky.social’s Teale Lecture series where I’ll share stories & lessons from ON THE SWAMP. Excited to reconnect w/ colleagues and meet new folks! events.uconn.edu/institute-of... #Indigenous #EnvironmentalJustice #OnTheSwamp

Intriguing new article by Danielle Purifoy, James Bryan, & Sara Smith examining the Landback Abolition Project at UNC & asks ‘how do faculty, students, staff, & community of a 234-year-old colonial institution create the conditions for a structural shift in our relations toward land & education?’

Mom has 3 paintings in the 9|9 Native South art show, & one sold already at tonight’s opening! She is a lifelong artist but only recently began sharing her work publicly. I’m so proud of her! If you’re in Pembroke, check out the exhibition at UNCP’s Old Main. www.uncp.edu/news/2025/mu... #EasternNC

Michael Whatley is an former oil & gas pipeline lobbyist. He was Exec. VP of Consumer Energy Alliance, a group that promoted major #fossilFuel pipelines—including Keystone XL, DAPL, & ACP—often through astroturf ops & greenwashing campaigns disguised as education programs. #ncpol #ClimateChange

Alumni profile of Kerry Bird (Lumbee, Sisseton-Wahpeton), director of North Carolina’s American Indian Heritage Commission. Kerry is an inspiring leader, a dedicated public servant, and an all-around great person! withyou.washu.edu/profile/kerr... #Indigenous #WUSTL #NCpol

Failed Atlantic Coast Pipeline still serves as a useful case study for policy research. Here's a new one. "The clear fact is that Dominion & Duke Energy’s litigation budget could not handle the variety and diversity of various independent private nonprofit budgets." ppar.thebrpi.org/vol-12-2025-...

It’s back to school time - what are you reading? For the next 2 days, On the Swamp and other titles are 50% off at the publisher’s new website. Use discount code 01NEWSITE50. uncpress.org/978146967832... #Indigenous #EnvironmentalJustice #OnTheSwamp @uncpress.bsky.social

I gave a keynote talk yesterday at the International Cartography Conference in Vancouver. I shared stories and lessons from my work on mapmaking for Indigenous #EnvironmentalJustice. This week, I’ve met mapmakers from around the world & learned about cutting edge cartographic theory & tech. #ICC2025

Forest health in the Rocky Mountains declines, which is why we looked into drought resilience via in situ stable isotope measurements of soil & tree waters on daily basis. We found that aspen are adjusting their water uptake dynamics within days to water availability changes. doi.org/10.1029/2024...

Thanks to @massybooks.bsky.social for hosting a great book talk and signing thing evening in #Vancouver! Largest Indigenous book selection of any bookshop I’ve visited. It was cool seeing #OnTheSwamp shelved in the “Indigenous Politics” subsection—and right next to Nick Estes (whose book I teach).

Many Lumbee people correctly predicted this outcome back in January. I was one of them. In fact, Lumbees have called out Trump’s offensive pandering from the beginning, even as some of our politicians have gone all in on him. bsky.app/profile/wate...