Robeson County, 1871: called mulattoes, "of Indian origin"
Record: the document says itPattern: documents line upOur lens: how we read it
Year: 1871 · Places: Carolinas
The case
Our case: in 1871 a judge swore to a committee of the North Carolina legislature that the people of Robeson County were called mulattoes, and in the same testimony that he thought they were of Indian origin. The label and the people part ways in one sworn answer.
What this case proves for us
Point 3: We were renamed on paper. The paper name was mulatto; the origin, by the witness's own words, was Indian.
Background
In 1871 a joint committee of the North Carolina Senate and House took testimony in Robeson County, home of the people now known as Lumbee.
Our evidence
Exhibit A · Record: The name"They are called 'mulattoes' that is the name they are known by, as contradistinguished from Negroes."
Exhibit B · Record: The origin"I think they are of Indian origin."
Exhibit C · Pattern: Two answersThe same witness gives the paper name and the origin, and they do not match.
Exhibit D · Our lens: Our lensThe label and the people part ways in a single sworn answer.
Cross-examination
If they were of Indian origin, why were they called mulattoes?
Who chose the name, the people or the paper?
Verdict: we won
We won on the judge's own testimony. Called mulattoes, of Indian origin, in one answer.
How we won
The witness: a judge, under oath, to the legislature.
The name: mulattoes.
The origin: Indian.
Where this gets us
Level 1: Awakening. Sworn proof that the label did not match the people.
To reach level 2, Paperwork, we still need:
The full 1871 testimony.
The Lumbee recognition fight, and what it means for families papered the same way elsewhere.
The original card
SUMMARYRobeson County, 1871: called mulattoes, "of Indian origin" (Nov 13, 2026; Witness Index W073)
RECORDJudge Giles Leitch, testimony to the North Carolina Joint Senate and House Committee (1871), on the people now known as Lumbee: "They are called 'mulattoes' that is the name they are known by, as contradistinguished from Negroes," and "I think they are of Indian origin."
PATTERNthe same witness gives the paper name (mulattoes) and the origin (Indian), and they do not match
LENS (WW9)the label and the people part ways in a single sworn answer