Measured by a Harvard anthropologist: 22 of 209 counted as "Indian" (Robeson County, NC, 1930s)
Record: the document says itPattern: documents line upLens: our readingOpen: not yet proven
Year: 1930 · Places: Carolinas
SUMMARYMeasured by a Harvard anthropologist: 22 of 209 counted as "Indian" (Robeson County, NC, 1930s) [Connections: Carolinas, Nov 5, 2026]
RECORDNCpedia (Stilling): after a 1935 Interior Department memo offered recognition under the Indian Reorganization Act to those "of one-half or more Indian blood," Harvard anthropologist Carl C. Seltzer tested 209 Robeson County applicants. "According to his anthropometric measurements, only 22 qualified." His methods "later came to be viewed as invalid." The 1956 Lumbee Act's final sentence "did not make them eligible for any federal services offered to Indians." Hostile witness: federal officials using race science to limit obligations
PATTERNThe federal government decided who was Indian by measuring bodies, and 187 of 209 people were turned away
LENS (WW9)A ruler and calipers were used to make Aboriginal people "not Indian enough," and siblings could be split by the result
OPENThe Seltzer report itself has been hard to find (see OpenHistoryHub request); check whether siblings received different results, as is often said
SOURCENCpedia, "Lumbee: Fight for Federal Recognition".