the name of the Lumbee. Over time in a process of ethnogenesis, they identified as a common people. Authenticity and doubts of origins Due to their lack of an obvious single ancestor tribe and other conventional indigenous cultural markers such as a unique language, Lumbee people are often confronted with doubts concerning the sincerity and genuineness of their claims to indigenous status. Some white and black residents of Robeson County have expressed doubts about their origins, asserting that the Lumbee are descendants of white and black people who do not want to be viewed as black. Some federally-recognized tribes have endorsed the extension of recognition to the Lumbee, while others have opposed it, accusing the Lumbee of making fraudulent claims to indigenous ancestry. Several tribes from the western United States also promulgate the belief that the Lumbee are a mixed, mostly African-descent group. Some Lumbee have undergone genetic testing which has not demonstrated indigenous ancestry. Historian Malinda Maynor Lowery, a member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, criticized the usefulness of such tests, stating that the testing companies lack base samples of the Lumbee's indigenous ancestors' DNA with which the results can be compared. Some Lumbee report that the doubts about their status have caused emotional and psychological harm in their community. Geographic dispersion The Lumbee are heavily concentrated in Robeson County, North Carolina on the southern border of the state. Over the years, the Lumbee have migrated to other areas primarily for employment. Sizeable Lumbee settlements are in Cumberland, Sampson, Hoke, Scotland, and Columbus counties; in Greensboro, Charlotte, Detroit, Baltimore, and Claxton, Georgia (settled from 1865 to the 1920s to work turpentine and cotton). Culture and traditions Surnames Locklear, Oxendine, Lowry, Hunt, Chavis, Brayboy, and Bullard are common Lumbee surnames. Language Lumbee people speak both mainstream varieties of English and a vernacular form, Lumbee English. The latter is not a Native American language, but rather a form of American Indian English. In 2020, the ISO 639-3 language code lmz was retired from use, as it was determined that no separate Lumbee language has ever existed. Linguists have speculated that the ancestors of the Lumbees had been native peoples who had originally spoken the Cheraw dialect of the Eastern Siouan language prior to adopting English sometime before the early 1700s. Lumbee people encountered English-speaking European settlers and adopted their language much earlier than other Native American groups. The Lumbee