Haliwa-Saponi: 400 people sue to change "colored" papers to "Indian" (Halifax/Warren counties, NC, 1896–1965)

SUMMARYHaliwa-Saponi: 400 people sue to change "colored" papers to "Indian" (Halifax/Warren counties, NC, 1896–1965) [Connections: Carolinas, Nov 5, 2026]

RECORDNCpedia (Wetmore and Hill): in 1965 nearly 400 people sued in Halifax County court "to change the racial designation on their birth certificates, marriage licenses, and driver's licenses to 'Indian.'" NC recognized the Haliwa in 1965, and a separate Haliwa school was not established until 1957. NC DNCR's marker essay: on April 15, 1965, the state "formally recognized the Haliwa Indians"; in 1896 a group of Meadows Indians "applied unsuccessfully to the Dawes Commission for membership in the Five Civilized Tribes"; an observer, Gideon Branch Alston, wrote of "a settlement of half-breed Indians" (his language) in "the meadows." Wikipedia notes local people once called the Haliwa "Brass Ankles."

PATTERNIndian families in the Meadows were on paper as non-Indian (the documents they sued to change) until a 1965 court action. They had tried the federal Indian rolls as early as 1896

LENS (WW9)Four hundred people went to court to take back the name the paper took from them

OPENThe NCpedia page does not state what the old designation was ("colored," "Negro" or other); pull the 1965 Halifax County court file. Find the 1896 Dawes application in National Archives Dawes records

SOURCENCpedia, "Haliwa Indians and Haliwa-Saponi"; DNCR, "Haliwa-Saponi Indian Tribe (E-130)".