PEMBROKE, N.C. (WBTW) — Nearly 1,400 acres of sacred ancestral lands are being handed over to the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina in a land deal announced Monday by a national conservation group. "We are excited to reconnect with this land, which we've not been able to access for a very long tim e. Our people are outdoors people, and the ability to steward this land for Lumbee and visitors alike is truly special," Tribal Chairman John Lowery said in a statement. New York-based Open Space Institute acquired the 1,382-acre Camp Island property with funding support from a private family foundation and a North American Wetlands Conservation Act grant facilitated by Ducks Unlimited. Photo courtesy of Open Space Institute OSI then donated the property, "rich with cultural significance and natural resource,s" to the tribe. The nonprofit said Camp Island represents the first opportunity to establish a large, protected natural area under Lumbee stewardship. According to 2020 Census figures, roughly 116,000 Robeson County residents self-identify as American Indian — the highest concentration of that demographic in any county east of the Mississippi River. The Camp Island grounds are special among the Lumbees as a cultural site where significant indigenous artifacts have been found. In addition to its tribal significance, officials said keeping the land away from private development will have environmental benefits as well, since several blackwater samps on site drain directly into the Lumber River. "We're excited to join forces with OSI and the Lumbee Tribe to funda project that holds tremendous value for wetlands, wildlife and the community," said Emily Purcell, who runs Ducks Unlimited's southeastern conservation programs. Camp Island's history traces back to pre-colonial times and it once housed a pro-British loyalist encampment. In the 1850s, escaped slaves set up a small community on the grounds. ...read more read less