Rob Noles, the founding administrator of this project passed away in 2025. His original goal was to allow everyone to join, including anyone who thinks they might be descended from the Native people, tribally affiliated or not, from Robeson County, NC and the surrounding region. Most of the people who joined are searching for that heritage, and don't have confirmed Native ancestry. Unfortunately, what this means is that when project members match other people in this project, it could well be that they are matching someone else who joined because they wanted to see if they match someone with Native roots, Today, with nearly 3500 members, there's no way for project administrators to know who has confirmed Native ancestors, and who is seeking. 

This extends to Y and mtDNA grouping as well. The Y and mitochondrial DNA of the people in the project will not be relevant to the Native people from Robeson and surrounding counties. There's no way to know which is which, unless they have included the name of a Native ancestor and you recognize it as such. Some people may have Native American haplogroups, but be associated with different tribes from other areas. I strongly recommend that if you do have a match of interest, that you contact them to compare your genealogy. 

The Robeson Co. NC American Indian Regional DNA Project extends to the counties adjacent to Robeson County in both North and South Carolina. 

This project is not associated with any specific tribe, but participation includes people researching their heritage associated with any of the following tribes or groups:  Catawba, Cheraws,  Chowanoc, Coharie, Croatoan, Indians of Robeson County, Lumbee, PeeDee, Tuscarora , Waccamaw, etc.  The Robeson County area and this project cover a melting-pot of Indian cultures and tribal people.

The 19th century U.S. censuses identified prominent Indian family surnames from this region to be Brayboy, Brooks, Carter, Chavis, Cumbo, Dial, Hammond, Kersey, Locklear, Lowry, Oxendine and Revels.  They are usually listed in the Census as "All Other Free Persons." Other surnames of interest to the this Project include: Allen, Berry, Brewington, Byrd, Cumbaa, Gallagher, Goins, Hersey, Jordan, Kelly, Middleton, Morgan, Stanley, Strickland, Webb and Woolfork.

The U.S. census identifies the surnames listed below as names used by some Indian families. Many of these surnames also identify mixed race, Caucasian and African families as well. Nearly all of the Native families in this region were heavily admixed during colonization.