The best source of data on Indians in Robeson County are U.S. federal census enumeration records (going back to 1790), as well as:
However, for many of the reasons elaborated on throughout the Lumbee History section, those self-same records can be unreliable if you are not well-versed in “reading” them, or are unfamiliar with the community, ie. historic racial/ethnic classifications, kinship patterns, settlements, etc.
You’re going to find very little information about Lumbees or our ancestors in typical sources, like the Department of the Interior, Congressional records, anthropology, missionary records, or historic works on Indians (although occasionally one can glean useful information from these sources). Most records about American Indians are housed in the National Archives’ Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Record Group 75. However, our appearances in the public record fluctuate or are obfuscated, depending primarily on the biases and agendas of the folks recording the information—usually local whites or the state and federal governments, who had, on the whole, no interest in recording Lumbee Indians as “Indians.” Our bibliography contains a wide range of resources, designed to encourage you to read as much as you can about political, social, economic and religious history, European exploration and colonialism, slavery, the Civil War, other Indian or mixed-race groups in the Southeast, etc. Reading widely will help elucidate the Lumbee story that is often hidden from view. We’ve found that the only constant, “factual” element in Lumbee history is the people itself, the family and clan connections that define our community. Everything else is subject to the observer’s interpretation, and can be quite misleading.
The national census goes back to 1790, and the census for 1890 was burned in a fire and is not available. The last published census listing individuals and households is the one for 1920. The federal census for 1930 will be published in 2003. Census records are available in public libraries, but they usually don't have comprehensive holdings. Your best bet is to conduct your research at a National Archive closest to you (see www.nara.gov for a list of locations). The Church of Latter-Day Saints also has comprehensive genealogical databases throughout the country and in all major cities (see http://hometown.aol.com/bbbenge/front.html for a list of locations). Their libraries house the same census data found at the National Archives. Other excellent sources of material on the Lumbee and on Robeson County are available at the North Carolina and South Carolina Archives and State Libraries, as well as in the Robeson County library, at the University of North Carolina-Pembroke and UNC-Chapel Hill (in the Southern Historical Collection and the North Carolina Collection, both housed in Wilson Library).