Two Black descendants of enslaved people are suing to be recognized as official members of the Native American nation that enslaved their ancestors. The new lawsuit is the latest effort to push the tribe to enforce its membership rules for Black Creek Freedmen, which could lead to thousands of other descendants of enslaved people having their Indigenous citizenship recognized.
Black Muscogee members sue after citizenship recognition delayed
Attorneys representing Rhonda Grayson and Jeffrey Kennedy recently filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Oklahoma City against the Muscogee Nation Citizenship Board and Muscogee Nation Principal Chief David Hill.
The lawsuit accuses the Muscogee Nation of failing to follow through on a ruling by the tribe’s own Supreme Court recognizing the citizenship of Grayson and Kennedy, whose ancestors were among those enslaved by the Muscogee, also known as the Creek, until slavery was abolished after the Civil War.
The Supreme Court ruling overrode a provision of the Muscogee Constitution, adopted in 1979, that restricted membership to individuals who were Muscogee “by blood” and excluded Black Creek Freedmen, whose Black ancestors had been enslaved by the Muscogee.
After the ruling, Hill blocked the process of issuing tribal ID cards to Grayson and Kennedy, arguing that the Muscogee Constitution first needed to be amended to clarify how citizenship claims by Freedmen would be evaluated.
The lawsuit alleges Hill and the Muscogee Nation Citizenship Board have “erected roadblocks at every turn” to deny Grayson and Kennedy “their fundamental rights of citizenship.”
Lawsuit cites Muscogee Nation Supreme Court, 1866 treaty
In the lawsuit, Grayson and Kennedy argue the delay has denied them their rights as Muscogee citizens, including the “right to vote and the ability to participate fully as members of the Nation.”
Through attorney Damario Solomon-Simmons, who is also a Black Creek Indian, they argue Hill and the board violated both the Muscogee Nation Supreme Court ruling and an 1866 treaty with the U.S. government under which the Muscogee abolished slavery and recognized citizenship for Black Freedmen who had been enslaved by the tribe.
The lawsuit also argues the delays could affect roughly 100,000 Black Creek descendants living in the United States.
In a statement, the Muscogee Nation argued “that federal law and precedent is clear that matters of Muscogee Nation law and governance are to be addressed through the Nation’s own governmental institutions.”
The statement added that the tribe is “committed to ensuring that the Muscogee Nation’s Constitution and laws are followed fairly and consistently.” It also emphasized taking time to implement constitutional reforms so as not to “undermine the integrity of our governmental processes and the rights of our citizens.”
Recognizing descendants of enslaved people as citizens
As Blavity previously reported, the Muscogee Nation Supreme Court ruled in favor of Grayson and Kennedy in 2025, ordering they be recognized as Muscogee citizens.
The Muscogee were one of five Indigenous nations in present-day Oklahoma that practiced slavery. The practice was abolished by the 1866 treaty, which also granted citizenship to formerly enslaved people, declaring that they and their descendants “shall have and enjoy all the rights and privileges of native citizens.”
Like many Indigenous nations, the Muscogee determine citizenship based on whether individuals can trace their ancestry to people listed on the Dawes Rolls, census records compiled for several Native nations in the early 1900s.
The Muscogee initially recognized citizenship for people whose ancestors appeared on both the Muscogee roll and a separate Freedmen roll, but the 1979 Constitution no longer recognized the Freedmen roll. The Muscogee Nation Supreme Court ruled that the 1866 treaty superseded that constitutional change.
“Are we, as a Nation, bound to treaty promises made so many years ago?” the justices wrote. “Today, we answer in the affirmative, because this is what Mvskoke law demands.”
Despite prevailing before the Muscogee Nation Supreme Court, Grayson and Kennedy say they have still not been able to exercise the full rights and benefits of citizenship. Their new lawsuit seeks to enforce that ruling while potentially affecting thousands of other descendants of people once enslaved by the Muscogee.