Muscogee (Creek) Nation - History

History

The Nation is descended from the Creek and their slaves who were forced by the US government to relocate from their ancestral homes in the Southeast to Indian Territory in the 1830s.

During the American Civil War, the tribe allied with the Confederacy. There were conflicts between pro-Confederate and pro-Union (American Civil War) forces in the Indian Territory during the war at the Battle of Round Mountain, Battle of Chusto-Talasah and Battle of Chustenahlah. With the United States victory, it required the negotiation of new treaties with the Five Civilized Tribes. The Treaty of 1866 required the Creek to abolish slavery within their territory and to grant citizenship to the Creek Freedmen who chose to stay in the territory, including voting rights and shares of annuities and land allotments. If the Creek Freedmen moved out, they would be granted United States citizenship.

The Creek established a new government in 1866 and selected a new capital of Okmulgee. In 1867 they ratified a new constitution. They built their capitol in 1867 and enlarged it in 1878. Today the Creek National Capitol is a National Historic Landmark and houses the Creek Council House Museum. The Nation built schools, churches, and public houses during the prosperous final decades of the 19th century, when the tribe had autonomy and minimal interference from the federal government.

The turn of the century brought the 1898 Curtis Act, which dismantled tribal governments; and the Dawes Allotment Act, which broke up tribal landholdings to allot land to individual households to encourage assimilation as subsistence farmers in the US style. The Dawes Commission registered tribal members in two categories, distinguishing between "Creek by Blood" and "Creek Freedmen," into which category they put anyone with recognizable African ancestry, regardless of their proportion of Creek ancestry. The 1906 Five Civilized Tribes Act (April 26, 1906) was passed by the US Congress in anticipation of approving statehood for Oklahoma in 1907. During this time, Creeks lost over 2 million acres (8,100 km2) to non-Native settlers and the US government. Later, under the 1936 Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act, some Muscogee tribal towns gained federal recognition.

The Muscogee (Creek) Nation did not reorganize and regain federal recognition until 1970. In 1979 the tribe ratified a new constitution that replaced the 1866 constitution. The pivotal 1976 court case Harjo v. Kleppe helped end US federal paternalism. It ushered in an era of growing self-determination. Using the Dawes Rolls as a basis for determining membership of descendants, the Nation enrolled over 58,000 allottees and their descendants.