“To be born a Lumbee Indian is to be born a singer,” says Malinda Maynor Lowery in the opening scene of her 1997 documentary "Sounds of Faith." “We’ve been singing gospel music for 300 years.”
Born in Robeson County and raised in Durham, Lowery is a scholar, filmmaker, and member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. Through archival images, powerful field recordings, and narration that explores the importance of music in her own family, Lowery uses music as a mechanism for revealing the strength, resiliency, and creativity of the Lumbee tribe.
Sounds of Faith, a documentary about Lumbee Indian gospel music.
Today Malinda Maynor Lowery is the Director of the Center for the study of American South and author of the newly published book “The Lumbee Indians: An American Struggle.” She co-produced several seasons of the hit PBS series "A Chef’s Life" and the HBO documentary "Private Violence."