Photos: YouTube Screenshots
On January 8, 2024, D. Edward Snow, United States Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, reaffirmed that Article 2 of Treaty of 1866 remains good law by writing, “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]”
Article 2 of the Treaty of 1866 granted citizenship rights to “Creeks of African descent” (a/k/a Creek Freedmen or Black Creeks), a promise upheld for over a century. However, the Muscogee Creek Nation’s (“MCN”) racially motivated constitutional change in 1979 unjustly stripped Black Creek Freedmen of their MCN citizenship rights. An injustice affects over 100,000 United States citizens across various states, in very real and tangible ways.
To this day, because of the MCN’s continuing racially discriminatory expulsion and continuing exclusion, Creek Freedmen are being denied access to resources that are necessary to meet needs as fundamental as housing, food, clothing, education, healthcare, and childcare, and available only to enrolled tribal citizens.
Judge Snow’s statement was part of an official court, Report and Recommendations, regarding whether a Creek Freedmen descendant, Ron Graham, can sue the federal government for allowing MCN to violate Article 2 of the Treaty of 1866.
His statements do not resolve the citizenship issue for Creek Freedmen. However, it is an important judicial acknowledgment by the federal court system that Article 2 of the Treaty of 1866 has not been abrogated, and Black Creeks can enforce the Treaty.
“After 43 years of judicial silence on Article 2 of the Treaty of 1866 it is encouraging to receive this positive acknowledgement by Judge Snow less than four (4) months after MCN District Judge Denette Mouser ruled that There can be no doubt that the [1866] Treaty must be followed in all regards, including as it relates to the eligibility for citizenship of those whose ancestors are listed on the Creek Freedmen Roll.” National Civil Rights Attorney and Black Creek Damario Solomon-Simmons said. “Without a doubt the two findings together bring renewed energy and hope that the almost 44-year injustice faced by the Black Creek Freedmen will come to an end soon, but there is still a journey ahead.”
ABOUT GREENWOOD
Greenwood, most revered for “Black Wall Street” was co-founded by Black Creeks—it became one of the most prosperous, organized, and successful Black communities in United States history, and a place for Black people to escape the political, economic, and social oppression of southern lawmakers post-civil war.
ABOUT JUSTICE FOR GREENWOOD FOUNDATION
Justice for Greenwood is a grassroots, 501(c)(3) organization with a big vision: to get Respect, Reparations, and Repair for the Greenwood community for the near century of historical omissions and continued harm caused by the 1921 Massacre, through survivor and descendant support, public education, and advocacy.
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