TULSA, Okla. — Creek Freedmen are asking the Muscogee Creek Nation Supreme Court to pause elections until Freedmen can vote.
They gave an update on progress after a court decision ruled Creek Freedmen are full citizens of the Nation.
During a press conference on March 10, Attorney Damario Solomon-Simmons, surrounded by Rhonda Grayson and Jeff Kennedy, laid out the latest court filing in a case that spans the last several years.
Grayson and Kennedy applied for citizenship in 2019 but were denied because their relatives were listed on the Dawes Freedmen Rolls rather than the Blood Rolls. Solomon-Simmons argued that citizenship is guaranteed to the Freedmen through the Treaty of 1866 between the Muscogee Creek Nation and the United States.
WATCH: Creek Freedmen ask MCN Supreme Court to pause elections until Freedmen are enrolled
We told you on July 23, 2025, when the Muscogee Creek Nation Supreme Court agreed to a ruling that the Freedmen had access to citizenship.
Since then, they allege Principal Chief David Hill and the MCN Citizenship Board are not complying with the law.
Solomon-Simmons says they believe nearly 4,000 Freedmen have applied for citizenship. He says none of them, including Grayson and Kennedy, have citizenship cards yet.
“It’s infuriating,” said Damario Solomon-Simmons. “It’s absurd. It’s hurtful.”
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Muscogee Nation Supreme Court rules Freedmen are citizens
They’re asking the MCN Supreme Court for two things.
First, they want the court to hold the Citizenship Board and Principal Chief David Hill in contempt, basically forcing them to uphold the law.
“A nation of law will follow the law,” said Solomon-Simmons. “They’re disobeying their own court system.”
Second, they want the court to postpone all elections until Freedmen are enrolled. Solomon-Simmons says they should be able to participate in democracy.
“We know that without Creeks of African descent there may not even be a Creek Nation today,” said Solomon-Simmons. “That’s why we will not give up this fight, no matter how hurt we are. How tired we are. We will not give up this fight.”
The next election is in May.
“They’re doing constitutional amendments things that are going to impact all citizens,” said Solomon-Simmons. “Here you have citizens who are not able to participate.”
Solomon-Simmons says they’ll go to the Federal Court if they can’t get relief in the Nation’s Supreme Court.
“If we cannot get the relief, we cannot continue to allow second-class citizenship to continue,” he said.
2 News reached out to the Muscogee Creek Nation for comment. We’re still waiting to hear back.
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