October 12, 1972
This interview occurred in the Carolina Indian Voice newspaper office. Carnell Locklear was Secretary/Treasurer of the Eastern Carolina Indian Organization at the time of the interview. He participated in the American Indian Movement conference in Cass Lake, Minnesota. He was thirty years old, married, and had three children.
 

Lew Barton: It takes a lot of hard work doesn’t it?

Carnell Locklear: Lot of determination, and it takes faith in what you’re doing, and determination and faith in God. That’s the three keys to success anyway. Especially what we’re doing. You’ve got to have guts, which you’ve got to have faith and good spirit.

Barton: And you have to be sure in your own heart that you’re right in what you’re doing.

Locklear: Yeah, you’ve got to be Indian, you’ve got to think Indian, you’ve got to be in it all the way. You’ve go to understand that Indians is people that is um, people that’s uh, the first Americans, and they have pride, and they have love in their hearts and they want to be treated equal and fairly. But you know that we’ve never been treated like that, and we’ve got, we’ve got something to fight upon. The federal government has never stuck to their promise for the Indian people. And uh, that’s one thing that we fight for, now we’re fighting historical and constitutional way. We stand up with the constitution, and that, that’s what we’re leaning back on.

Save Old Main Movement

Barton: You, ah, took part in the old, the Save Old Main Movement, your group came in, there was no difference, when the need came your people were right there standing side by side with all other Indians who were interested in the same thing. And uh, this is something that made me feel good, because we did have friends throughout the United States, didn’t we.

Locklear: Yeah. Yeah, ah, the Old Main issue really sparked up a lot. Ah. I went down to Mr. Danford, uh, he used to work at LRDA, Danford Dial. And he was so disgusted, sayin they was gonna tear down Old Main, and he asked me, reckon some of my people could go out and demonstrate. And uh, we went out and that day we had about fifty head. We marched in the rain and sleet, and uh to save that building, and we meant to save it, and if it took marching four or five years that was what we done because that is the only symbol left that resembles anything on that university, if I’m gotta say that. Until that was the one time that was the only college for Indians, and uh the people in our organization really had the guts to, to ah, to march, and they was laughed at by people riding up and down the road on the streets there. We didn’t mind that. Because we was Indian, we’re proud we was Indians, now study that fact.

Barton: Well this was a great victory, and uh, I know we’re all proud. And this is one time where you can say when the people actually, you know they say you can’t beat city hall. Now this time we did beat city hall.

Locklear: This right, yessuree, I mean ah. And they way we don’t that was stand up, with our guts.

And everybody was dedicated.

Yes. Yes. We really worked together on it. Ah. And we saved, we saved the building, and now ah, hopefully. I’ve been trying to work some a trying to get some funds, but Janie has spoke to the General Assembly, I think, and we might be getting some funds from the General Assembly to renovate the building.

Locklear: To my knowledge, uh the head officials here in the county, in the state as a whole wants to wipe out Indians, from the, from North Carolina. But, um, ah, I’m proud to say that that God and the people there not gonna let that happen. Were gonna, now, this is a new breed of Indian. And uh, used to be a lot of peoples afraid to speak out, fear, but the fear is leaving us now because, ah the three words I used a while ago, ah, faith, determination and faith in God is taking all the fear out of it. And now they stand up and be proud their Indian, and uh, but the people, the officials in Raleigh and everywhere else will never wipe Indians away from North Carolina. We’re gonna remain here, if anybody leaves it’s gonna be them. (laughter)