Black members of Oklahoma Native American tribe file federal lawsuit to gain citizenship rights

Black descendants of the Muscogee Nation in Oklahoma, Rhonda Grayson and Jeffrey Kennedy, filed a federal lawsuit against tribal leaders, including Principal Chief David Hill, to enforce a 2025 tribal court ruling granting them citizenship. The lawsuit alleges violations of an 1866 treaty requiring the tribe to recognize Black Creek Freedmen as citizens, as the Muscogee Nation Citizenship Board has refused to issue citizenship cards despite the ruling.