Henson First Lumbee Indian to Lead NCAJ

When Carma Henson begins her term as president of the North Carolina Advocates for Justice on July 1, she will be the first Lumbee Indian to lead the organization in its 63-year history and the first Lumbee lawyer to lead a statewide legal organization in North Carolina.

“Lumbee Indians are a tenacious and mighty group,” Henson said. “While we make up a very small percentage of the population in the North Carolina, we are doing great things in our state and beyond. I am proud and honored to have achieved this accomplishment and recognition but am just one of many successful Lumbees who make our community and our world a better place.”     

Henson is a partner at Henson Fuerst, where she practices with her husband, David Henson, as well as her brother-in-law Thomas Henson, and Rachel Fuerst. She has served as the president and vice president of NCAJ’s Nursing Home Litigation Section and is chair-elect of the American Association for Justice’s Nursing Home Litigation Group. Henson regularly presents at national and statewide seminars on topics related to nursing home litigation.

She is a graduate of the University of North Carolina School of Law and earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The state of North Carolina recognized the Lumbee as a tribal nation in 1885. Congress recognized the Lumbee as an Indian tribe while denying federal benefits in 1965, and the Lumbee continue to seek federal recognition with benefits. The greatest concentration of Lumbees live in the counties of Robeson, Scotland, Hoke and Cumberland near and around the Lumbee Tribal Complex in Pembroke, North Carolina. The Lumbee is the largest tribe in North Carolina.