Lumbee leaders may find the process of returning the Lumber River to what they say is its ancestral name, the Lumbee River, no cakewalk.

The Tribal Council last month passed an ordinance asking the state General Assembly to change the river’s name. Under the ordinance, tribal leaders are now referring to the river by its ancestral name in all correspondence and tribal publications.

The 125-mile river runs through Scotland, Moore, Hoke, Robeson and Columbus counties as the Lumber River.

If the state approves the change, to become recognized as the Lumbee River at the federal level the tribe would have to make a requestto the U.S. Board of Geographic Names, the federal board with the responsibility of maintaining uniform geographic name usage throughout the federal government. To approve changing the river’s name, the board would have to be convinced that the name change requested by the tribe is more than just an act to correct or re-establish historical usage.

Significant documentation exists that before the early 1800s American Indians in the region called the river the Lumbee — an Indian term that refers to the river’s dark color.

According to Stan Knick, director of the Native American Resource Center at The University of North Carolina at Pembroke, both Angus McLean, a N.C. governor from Lumberton, and Hamilton McMillan, a member of the state General Assembly, referred to the Lumbee River in the 1880s. And according to Wikipedia, the poet John Charles McNeill, who lived from 1874 to 1907, used the Indian name Lumbee in his writings about the river.

“I think it would be a great idea to change the name of the Lumber River back to its original name,” Knick said. “This river is very important to the Lumbee tribe, especially the stretch that flows through the part of the region still home to so many tribe members.”

Jimmy Goins, chairman of the Lumbee Tribal Council, also supports renaming the river.

"Personally, from a historical aspect, I think it would be something nice," Goins said. "It would be a good gesture toward the Lumbee tribe."

State Rep. Ronnie Sutton, who is Lumbee and represents Robeson County, said last week that he thinks it may be difficult getting state legislation approving the name change.

"My feeling is that this wouldn't be popular with everyone. I don't think all of the people in the county and state are going to rally around this," Sutton said. "I have not yet taken, or been asked to take, an official position and I have no personal opinion at this time. Before I take a position I will want more information ... I'm not opposed to it, but I'm not out waving the flag for it either."

Sutton also said that the General Assembly will not address such an issue this year.

"It is a moot issue this year. Legislators are too busy working on the state budget," he said.

The name Lumber River is reportedly derived from the extensive timber harvesting and transportation operations that took place in the region during the late 1770s. The river is the primary reason that towns along its banks — including Lumberton — were settled.

It was in 1809 that the state General Assembly decided to designate the waterway that had previously been known as Drowning Creek because of treacherous currents.

Today, the Lumber River is the only blackwater river in North Carolina to be designated by the National Park Service as a National Wild and Sceniic River. The river serves as the centerpiece of the Lumber River State Park, which consists of 8,438 acres of land and 115 miles of waterway. The park is especially popular to canoers, kayakers and boaters.