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The Muscogee (Creek) Nation prepares for a potential U.S. Supreme Court case over whether tribal members living and working on tribal land must pay income tax to the state of Oklahoma. Meanwhile, the Tribe continues to block Freedmen descendants from gaining tribal citizenship, despite the clear language in the 1866 Treaty.
Earlier this month, the Oklahoma Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case Stroble v. Oklahoma Tax Commission. The Muscogee (Creek) Nation, or MCN, wants the court to rule that the state of Oklahoma doesn’t have jurisdiction to place an income tax on tribal members working and living within the Tribe’s reservation boundaries.
The case comes over three years after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in McGirt v. Oklahoma that Congress never dis-established the MCN reservation. Essentially, it means Tribes in Eastern Oklahoma continue to have sovereignty over their own reservations.
“Once you have a reservation holding, various principles flow from that, and what we are asking you to do is simply to recognize and vindicate the long-established principle that where you do have a reservation there is immunity from state income taxes,” said Riyaz Kanji, an attorney for the Muscogee Nation, according to NonDoc.
MCN citizen and lawyer supports Freedmen citizenship, 1866 Treaty
Meanwhile, the Tribe continues to ignore a ruling from its own tribal district judge granting citizenship to Black Freedmen descendants who were kicked out of the Tribe in 1979.
The Black Wall Street Times spoke with Palmer Scott, a recent graduate of the University of Oklahoma College of Law, who works for legal services corporation. Scott specializes in Indian law and federal law. He’s also an MCN citizen who supports both the Stroble case and citizenship for Black Freedmen descendants.
“You can’t claim and bound all of your arguments for your people in a treaty from the federal government and claim this is the supreme law of the land” while intentionally disenrolling Freedmen,” Scott told The Black Wall Street Times.
“It’s wrong. It’s not based in law, and it’s just based in a general decision that they don’t want those people in the Tribe,” he said.
Freedmen descendants left in the cold
The Treaty of 1866 between MCN and the U.S. government remains the basis for the U.S. Supreme Court to reaffirm the Tribe’s authority over its own lands.
While the Tribe respects the treaty when it comes to regaining jurisdiction over its reservation, the Tribe’s attorney general and Chief continue to ignore Article II of the same treaty, which grants citizenship rights and benefits to the descendants of formerly free and enslaved Black Tribal members.
Attorney Damario Solomon-Simmons, who represents survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and Black Creek plaintiffs, launched a case against the Tribe that culminated in a historic trial in April 2023.
“We don’t go by the Treaty of 1866,” MCN Citizenship Board member Leann Nicks testified when asked why the Board refused to process citizenship applications from Freedmen Descendants. “We don’t consider this law,” she said.
Meanwhile, plaintiffs and Attorney Solomon-Simmons argued the Board’s actions violated the 1866 Treaty.
“And our question is, how can you skip over Article II, go to Article III and say it’s good law. But then when it’s applicable to the Freedmen…we just avoid that,” Creek Freedmen plaintiff Rhonda Grayson told reporters. She traces her family to the Dawes Roll.
“We are some of the most documented people in the nation.” “We don’t get this stuff by oral history, we get this information by documents,” fellow plaintiff Jeff Kennedy previously said.
MCN Judge ruled in favor of Freedmen
Ultimately, MCN District Judge Denette Mouser sided with the plaintiffs against her own Tribe’s Attorney General at the end of September 2023.
“Having weighed all the facts and evidence presented by the parties, this court finds the acts of the Defendant in this matter have been contrary to the law and unsupported by the relevant and substantial evidence,” Judge Mouser ruled.
Muscogee (Creek) Nation blocks Freedmen from citizenship
Notably, MCN Judge Mouser sanctioned MCN AG Wisner after the trial phase in July in a moment that failed to gain major news coverage.
The judge accused AG Wisner of trying to intimidate her when the AG placed a document on the judge’s desk that described how to recall a judge.
“…the Court’s only inference can be that the true motive of such action was at worst a veiled threat of removal from the bench, or at best an attempt to intimidate the Court prior to its ruling on Plaintiffs’ motion and/or prior to rendering final judgement,” Judge Mouser stated in her sanction order.
Following the court ruling in favor of Freedmen, MCN Chief David Hill and AG Geri Wisner made an appeal to the MCN Supreme Court. It immediately granted a stay in the case, which blocks Freedmen from applying while the case plays out.
There’s no set timeline for the MCN Supreme Court to hear the appeal, leaving Freedmen descendants in legal limbo.
“Animosity” against Freedmen descendants, ignoring 1866 Treaty
Throughout the trial and afterwards, Black Freedmen descendants and their supporters have accused tribal police of engaging in racist practices towards them.
At the end of September 2023, immediately after the ruling, Freedmen plaintiffs tried to apply for citizenship at the MCN Citizenship Board’s office in Jenks, Oklahoma.
“My grandmother passed away in 2011. She was 102 years of age. I wish she was here to see this day as well,” plaintiff Rhonda Grayson told the Black Wall St. Times. “It means everything to us and we know that our ancestors they’re very proud of us. So, we are so pleased to be here today.”
Yet, this reporter witnessed tribal police parked at the entrance. The Lighthorse officers blocked media outlets from standing in the parking lot.While this reporter was able to follow the plaintiffs inside, they ultimately were denied the opportunity to apply.
“It’s clear that there’s some animosity, some animus to the Freedmen in the community,” Scott told the Black Wall St. Times. He attended several court hearings for the April trial.
“I was happy for the ruling. They’re obviously gonna appeal it, but I’ll be there for that, too” Scott said.
Freedmen Attorney accuses Tribe of racism
Recently, attorney Solomon-Simmons received a favorable opinion from a federal magistrate judge in Eastern Oklahoma who said Freedmen plaintiffs have basis to sue the MCN in federal court.
“It is clear from language of the Treaty of 1866, set forth above, the rights created in Article 2 are rights on par with those protected by the Constitution. Therefore, the undersigned Magistrate Judge agrees that Plaintiff has a right of action under Article II of the Treaty of 1866, and by virtue, the Thirteenth Amendment…against the MCN [Muscogee Creek Nation]…”
–D. Edward Snow, United States Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of Oklahoma.
“There’s just a level of anti-Black hatred that permeates the Creek Nation that is almost unseen anywhere else in this nation,” attorney Damario Solomon-Simmons, who is a Creek Freedman himself, told Axios in January.
Muscogee (Creek) Nation wants courts to follow and ignore 1866 Treaty
After ending oral arguments in the Stroble v. Oklahoma Tax Commission case on January 17, the Oklahoma Supreme Court hinted at passing the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“Would you also agree, as I mentioned to your opposing counsel, that, although we are the Supreme Court of Oklahoma, essentially we’re marking time?” Vice Chief Justice Dustin Rowe asked, Nondoc reported. “We don’t get the final say. The United States Supreme Court will ultimately say whether (Section) 1151 (of federal code) is extended…”
Meanwhile, Freedmen descendants who faced removal from the Tribe in 1979 vow to keep fighting for as long as it takes.
Ultimately, Black Creek Freedmen plaintiffs Rhonda Grayson and Jeff Kennedy are used to people asking them why they fight to regain citizenship into a tribal nation whose leadership doesn’t want them. The answer is simple.
“It’s important to me because it’s my birthright,” Grayson told Muscogee (Creek) Nation District Judge Denette Mouser last year.
Author’s note: For a timeline of previous events, go to the bottom of this article: Muscogee Nation AG “intimidated” judge in Creek Freedmen trial
I do not think it a racial issue. One Freedman stated, “we need education…”. The Freedman will need to realize if they are granted citizenship, they will not “civil rights “. With constant lawsuits to gain monetary compensation or”civil rights “. Blacks will be very expensive for the Creeks.