In a story published July 23, 2026, The Associated Press reported that the Muscogee Nation Citizenship Board found that the Creek Freedmen citizenship applicants could not identify a lineal descendant of the tribe.

The Muscogee Nation Supreme Court has ruled in favor of two descendants of former slaves held by the tribe.

While many across the country recognize Juneteenth as the end to the institution of slavery in America in 1865, some tribal nations in Oklahoma continued to own slaves until the following year, 1866.