Don't Rub Yourself on the Vegetation

If you have to get up early – and we did, breakfast was at 6:30 – it’s great to be able to make it worthwhile by getting out on the water. Our first event of the day was riding research boats out to Shackelford Banks. (The powers that be had warned us to dress warmly – “put on all the clothes you think you need, then add one more layer." It was windy and a bit overcast, but not too bad.)

This area is called the Graveyard of the Atlantic, and it’s easy to see why. There are plenty of sandbars and little islands – and of course those were only the ones that were visible. Bad luck for the boats that find the ones that aren’t visible!

As we neared the island, our host gave us a word of warning: “Don’t rub yourselves on the vegetation.” Apparently the wild ponies on the island have a lot of ticks, and leave them on the island plants. (But the mental image of a herd of faculty leaping from the boat and throwing themselves into the bushes, rolling around with abandon, was rather amusing. Surely that would have been the first thing we did had he not cautioned us otherwise!)

The ponies didn’t seem very concerned about humans. They kept a reasonable distance, but were close enough so we got a good view! They’re gorgeous from a distance, but noticeably skinny close up.

Fun fact: The UNC research vessel was actually a former drug boat! Some years back, the government had confiscated a number of boats from drug runners, and then gave them to people who had federal grants. Our host told us that when they turned the boat over to him, he had to check off which equipment he wanted to keep on the boat and which he did not. (Among the items that he did not chose to retain were “automatic weapons” and “inflatable spouse.”) The Duke vessel had a much less interesting story; it was simply given by a donor.

Our next stop was an elementary school in Duplin County. This area of North Carolina has seen a large influx of Latino immigrants, and this particular school was 50% Hispanic. They’re doing great things with their ESL (English as a Second Language) program, and in fact, we were all impressed with the school as a whole. They have a very dedicated staff and a wonderful group of students. We had eighth-graders as our tour guides, and we peeked into a variety of classrooms. It wasn’t until after we left that we found out that over 75% of the students at the school were on free/reduced lunch program, which of course is an index of poverty. So, these kids were coming from a generally low-income environment, but the principal and teachers had created a very strong learning community (at least as far as we could tell!)

The school was also our lunch stop, and we were slightly dreading a return to cafeteria food! It wasn’t grand cuisine, to be sure, but it was not as disgusting as we feared.

Another fun fact (not as fun as the first): From our speakers, it seems that the new PC term for “illegal alien” is “unauthorized immigrant.” I can see why people would object to “alien”, but to toss out “illegal” seems extreme, since immigration laws are in fact being broken.

From there we visited a Lumbee Indian community. You probably haven’t heard of the Lumbee; I hadn’t either before this trip. Their group has a bizarre and sad story. For more than a century now, they’ve been seeking federal recognition as a tribe. Federal recognition means that members of the tribe are eligible for services like housing assistance, scholarships, and so on. But for various political reasons, they kept having their request denied. At first, the issue was that the government didn’t know what tribe they should be, so they kept getting different names but not getting through the recognition process. (In fact, they only chose the name Lumbee – after a nearby river – in the 1950’s, after having been assigned several others by outsiders.) And then, a bill was passed granting them recognition but barring them from receiving services, a Catch-22 that has only happened to one other tribe ever. So now, they’re still fighting the battle. Essentially, they have to get Congress to pass a new bill changing their status, and they have opposition from Western states (I assume because representatives from those states don’t want the competition for funds that currently go to American Indian communities in their states).

It’s hard to know what to think about their situation. On the one hand, it does seem unfair that they are denied services that other American Indian groups are receiving. On the other hand, those other Indian communities still seem to be struggling with many of the same kinds of problems. Government aid may help some individuals, but it is not a long-term solution. A big part of the problem is that there are not many employment opportunities in that area.

Our overnight stop is a golf resort near Pinehurst. One extreme to the other!