Coharie Intra-tribal Council, Inc.

Coharie Intra-tribal Council, Inc.
Named afterGreat Coharie Creek, Little Coharie Creek
Formation1911,[1] 1978[2]
Typestate-recognized tribe,[3] nonprofit organization[2]
Tax ID no.EIN 56-1187928[2]
Location
Members2,700[4]
Official language
English
Tribal Administrator
Greg Jacobs[4]
Chairperson
Phillip Strickland[4]
Chief
Ammie Gordon "Gordie" [4]
Revenue$835,656[5] (2019)
Expenses$743,463[5] (2019)
Websitecoharietribe.org
Formerly called
Croatan Indians of Samson County,[1] Coharie Tribe of North Carolina,[6] Coharie Indian People, Inc.[7]

The Coharie Intra-tribal Council, Inc., is a state-recognized tribe in North Carolina.[3] The headquarters are in Clinton, North Carolina.[5]

Formerly known as the Coharie Indian People, Inc.,[7] and the Coharie Tribe of North Carolina, the group's 2,700 members primarily live in Sampson and Harnett counties.[4] Their chief is Ammie Gordon "Gordie".[4]

The group identifies as descendants of "certain tribes of Indians originally inhabiting the coastal regions of North Carolina."[6] In 1910, residents of Herrings Township along the Coharie creeks identified as being of Croatan descent.[8] Genealogist Paul Heinegg claims the group is of invented origins.[9][10]

History

The Coharie descend from free Black families who lived in North Carolina in 1830.[11][9] Scholar Renate Bartl labels them as one of the triracial groups present in the state, who claim Native American identity from local groups, even those extinct or deported.[10]

Nonprofit organization

In 1978, Coharie Intra Tribal Inc. formed as 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Clinton, North Carolina, and Freddie Carter serves as the organization's principal officer.[2] Its mission is to "provide housing, economic development, health, social services assistance and maintenance of the tribal roll for the members of the Coharie Tribe."[2] They have four employees.[5]

The organization operates a HUD/NAHASDA housing project with $557,380 in revenue and $550,186 in expenses for 20 unites.[2] Another program removed debris from the Coharie River after a hurricane, and another provided COVID-19 relief to members.[2]

Leadership positions, as of January 2026, included:

  • Chairperson: Phillip Strickland[4]
  • Tribal Administrator: Greg Jacobs
  • Vice Chairperson: Sharon Williams
  • Secretary: Magic Gomez
  • Council Member: Daniel Robbins
  • Council Member: Gnaynelle Ammons Faircloth
  • Council Member: Dawn Chumley
  • Council Member: Shelby Autry

State recognition

In 1911, North Carolina first recognized the Croatan Indians of Samson County.[1]

The state of North Carolina formalized its recognition process for Native American tribes and created the North Carolina Commission of Indian Affairs (NCCIA) in 1971.[12] North Carolina formally recognized the Coharie Tribe of North Carolina as a state-recognized tribe on July 20, 1971.[6]

The state recognized the site of their historic tribal school with a historical marker in 2024. Built in 1901, the children of the tribe attended the school for decades due to segregation. The tribal headquarters is now located at the site.[13]

Petition for federal recognition

Romie G. Simmons sent a letter of intent to petition for federal recognition on behalf of the Coharie Intra-tribal Council, Inc., on March 13, 1981.[14] The organization never followed through with a petition for federal recognition as a Native American tribe.[15]

Activities

The Coharie Indian Cultural Pow Wow takes place in every September every year.[16]

E. Sequoyah Simermeyer, a member of the Coharie Intra-tribal Council and Navajo descendant, served as a Government Affairs Group Associate with the National Congress of American Indians and became a counsel to the assistant secretary in the US Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs in 2007.[17]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Butler, George Edwin (1916). The Croatan Indians of Sampson County, North Carolina. Their Origin and Racial Status. Durham, NC: Seeman Printery. p. 31.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Coharie Intra Tribal Inc". GuideStar. Retrieved August 26, 2022.
  3. 1 2 "State Recognized Tribes". National Conference of State Legislatures. Archived from the original on October 25, 2022. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "NC Tribal Communities". NC Department of Administration. North Carolina. Retrieved January 17, 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Coharie Intra-Tribal Council". CauseIQ. Retrieved August 26, 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 "Chapter 71A. Indians". NC General Assembly. Archived from the original on April 2, 2025. Retrieved January 8, 2026.
  7. 1 2 Cumulative List of Organizations Described in Section 170 (c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. United States. Internal Revenue Service. 1980. p. 240.
  8. ↑ Butler, George Edwin (1916). The Croatan Indians of Sampson County, North Carolina: Their Origin and Racial Status. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library. ISBN 978-1-4696-4181-2. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
  9. 1 2 Heinegg, Paul (2021). Free African Americans of North Carolina, Virginia, and South Carolina from the Colonial Period to About 1820. Sixth Edition. Vol. I - Families Abel to Drew. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Company. p. 27. ISBN 9780806359298. Retrieved January 8, 2026.
  10. 1 2 Bartl, Renate (2021). American Tri-Racials: African-Native Contact, Multi-Ethnic Native American Nations, and the Ethnogenesis of Tri-Racial Groups in North America (PDF) (PhD thesis). Munich: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. pp. 166–167. doi:10.5282/edoc.26874. Retrieved July 7, 2026 – via Electronic Theses of LMU Munich.
  11. ↑ Matory, James Lorand (2015). Stigma and Culture: Last-Place Anxiety in Black America. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press. p. 246. doi:10.7208/chicago/9780226297873.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-226-29787-3. Retrieved July 10, 2026.
  12. ↑ "Commission of Indian Affairs". North Carolina Department of Administration. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  13. ↑ Scofield, Sydnee (August 25, 2024). "Coharie Tribe honored with long-awaited symbol of state recognition: 'A million emotions'". ABC11 Raleigh-Durham. Retrieved August 26, 2024.
  14. ↑ Federal Acknowledgment Process Reform Act. Washington, DC: US Congress Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. 2004. p. 156. ISBN 9780160733444.
  15. ↑ "Coharie". Indian Affairs. US Department of the Interior. Retrieved August 26, 2022.
  16. ↑ "Coharie Pow Wow Festival". Sampson County. Retrieved August 26, 2022.
  17. ↑ "Artman Names E. Sequoyah Simermeyer as Counsel to the Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs". Indian Affairs. US Department of the Interior. September 11, 2007. Retrieved August 26, 2022.
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