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This article was originally published on CityView.
As a member of the Lumbee Tribe, North Carolina’s largest American Indian community, Candice Revels remembers how crucial it was to see students like her during her time as a student.
“A lot of the time, we’re [American Indians] less than 1% of a population, whether that’s at a school or university or what have you,” Revels told CityView. “Making sure that I’m visible as a support for students was very important.”
Revels, who has worked for Cumberland County Schools since 2018, serves as the school system’s coordinator for Indian education. She was appointed last month to the State Advisory Council on Indian Education, a 15-member board that advises the State Board of Education on educational matters impacting American Indian students. Revels’ term will run through July 1, 2026.
According to the N.C. Dept. of Administration, the Lumbee are one of eight recognized tribes in North Carolina, and the largest American Indian tribe east of the Mississippi River. The state also recognizes four additional “urban Indian organizations,” including the Cumberland County Association for Indian People, which Revels said recommended her appointment.
In Cumberland County, the most recent census in 2020 found 5,556 residents — about 1.7% of the population — identified as American Indian, according to the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners. Data was not available on the number of American Indian students in Cumberland County Schools, but a 2021 analysis of census data by State Demographer Michael Cline reported the American Indian and Alaska Native population in North Carolina grew 72.9% from 2010 to 2020, slightly lower than the national average of 86.5%.
Part of the increase can be attributed to evolving census questions that allow respondents to better express their whole identities, according to Cline. But that still means more American Indian students in need of support, a challenge Revels and her team are ready to meet.
“We’re very communal people — we want connection,” Revels said. “What the Office of Indian Education does is we try to make sure that those students feel that connection by having community events or family events where they can connect with other Native students, other Native parents to be able to foster that sense of community.”
Revels has especially focused on graduation and dropout rates, which can be areas of concern for American Indian students, she said. In the 2022-2023 school year, the dropout rate for American Indian students in grades 9-13 was 2.1% in Cumberland County Schools, slightly above the state average of 1.95%, the State Advisory Council on Indian Education reported. The district’s graduation rate for American Indian students was 80%, below state averages and averages for other racial and ethnic groups, according to the council’s report.
“We have seen an increase in graduation rates over the past couple of years,” Revels said. “I think in 2019, it was at 76%, and in 2023, we were up to 80% graduation rate.”
Revels and her colleagues achieved that by “a very hands-on approach,” she said.
“We monitor students who we see that might be falling behind or who are at risk of failing or dropping out or not graduating on time,” she said. “We meet with them one-on-one, or we may have meetings with the student and a parent or guardian to discuss options.”
Those meetings might also involve a trusted school employee, like a counselor or beloved teacher, to provide a sense of support, Revels said. But support doesn’t just come from school staffers, which is why she has also focused on parental engagement and building a sense of community through after-school cultural events, she said.
“Parent engagement is a big thing,” Revels said. “We provide craft nights and different events that happen after-hours for families to be able to engage in their Native culture, to learn about their Native culture. That’s something that we’ll continue to do, and that’s a priority for us.”
That aspiration led to one of Revels’ proudest moments of her career — the first Exhibition Powwow in Cumberland County Schools. The gathering last November invited students to enjoy traditional dancing, music and storytelling from a host of nearby tribes, including the Lumbee and the Coharie.
“Hearing all of the students engaged — they were dancing, they were stomping, they were singing,” Revels recalled. “Just to watch them interact and respond to seeing a powwow for the first time, that was so exciting for me, because you could see the excitement on their faces and how excited they were to be experiencing Native culture. And I thought that was a beautiful sight.”
It was a sight that spoke to the diversity of Cumberland County Schools, whose class of 2024 included graduates from 19 different tribes, Revels said.
“I would say there’s upwards of over 30 to 35 tribes represented in just Cumberland County Schools, and even more that we may not have discovered yet,” she said.
That diversity is something she’ll continue to support in both her local and statewide roles, Revels said.
“We want all students, no matter how much or how little they feel like they are connected to their American Indian heritage — they still deserve to have this support,” she said. “We want them to know that we’re here for them in any capacity.”
This story was made possible by contributions to CityView News Fund, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization committed to an informed democracy.
CityView is an online news organization dedicated to covering local government and community issues in Fayetteville and Cumberland County. You can reach them at talk@cityviewnc.com.
