Full Text of the Excerpt

MM: It’s interesting I think to some historians the fact that Indians obviously a large number of them, but still fairly isolated regionally and economically from sort of the mainstream, would carry that kind of political weight on a state level. Do you have any thoughts about that? BN: Well, I think the explanation is that actually there was a fellow running for Attorney General at the same time that Jim Holshouser was running for governor. He didn’t win. I don’t remember his name now. I’m trying to think of his name. He was a good fellow. He was very interested in and supportive of the Indians. He and I became good friends at that time because he talked to me about legal issues involving the Indians, and he went to Robeson County and campaigned among the Indians. So I think my sense is that the Republican Party saw an opportunity for an inroad into the Democratic control of the county. I think they did achieve some success in that respect although the county is still largely Democratic, and I think the number of Republicans among the Indians to my sense has diminished.