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Creek Nation History Timeline

(1500s–Present)

Creek Nation History traces the development, struggles, and resilience of the Muscogee (Creek) people from their southeastern homelands through removal to Indian Territory and continuing sovereignty today. Less

Go to: Event List | Key Facts | Directory

Treaties and government

Treaty with the federal government

1856

The Muscogee signed another treaty with the federal government in 1856, continuing the changing legal and political relationship between the Creek Nation and the United States.

Treaty of 1866 abolishes slavery

1866

The Treaty of 1866 required the Creek Nation to abolish slavery within its territory. It also addressed the status of Creek Freedmen and their rights within the nation.

Muscogee government relocates to Okmulgee

1866

The Muscogee established a new government in 1866 and selected Okmulgee as the Nation’s new capital.

New Muscogee constitution ratified

1867

In 1867, the Muscogee ratified a new constitution incorporating provisions of the peace treaty and changes desired by the Nation.

Council House serves as legislative meeting place

1878 - 1907

The capitol served as a meeting place for the legislative branches of the Muscogee Nation until 1907, when Oklahoma became a state.

Modern sovereignty and citizenship

Creek Freedmen citizenship provisions

1866

Under the Treaty of 1866, Creek Freedmen who chose to remain in the territory were to receive Creek citizenship, including voting rights and shares of annuities and land allotments.

Creek Council House registry established

1893

The 1893 registry was established to identify citizens of the Nation during the allotment of communal lands and the dissolution of the reservation system and tribal government.

Image source: Dawes Rolls

Creek Council House registry established

Lineage verification office established

1906

The lineage verification office’s mission is to verify the ancestry of descendants of people listed on the 1906 Dawes Roll.

Citizenship lineage verification defined

1906

Muscogee citizenship requires tracing a direct ancestor listed on the 1906 Dawes Roll, with lineage established through birth and/or death certificates.

Muscogee communities reorganize under federal law

1936

After the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act of 1936, Muscogee communities organized governments, and some former Muscogee towns in Indian Territory and the Southeast reorganized.

Muscogee Nation regains federal recognition

1970

The Muscogee Nation reorganized its government and regained federal recognition in 1970 after decades in which its formal government had not been recognized.

Harjo v. Kleppe becomes pivotal case

1976

The 1976 court case Harjo v. Kleppe became a pivotal legal development in the restoration and exercise of Muscogee governmental authority.

Muscogee constitution replaced

1979

In 1979, the Muscogee ratified a new constitution that replaced the constitution adopted in 1866.

Citizenship limited to Dawes blood descendants

1979

The 1979 Muscogee constitutional convention voted to limit citizenship to people who could prove descent by blood from an ancestor listed on the Dawes Commission roll as Creek by Blood.

Creek Freedmen descendants excluded from citizenship

1979

The 1979 citizenship decision excluded descendants of people recorded only as Creek Freedmen in the Dawes Rolls.

Muscogee sovereignty fully renewed

1979

By 1979, tribal sovereignty had been fully renewed, and the Muscogee Nation had adopted a new constitution governing its modern political system.

Sharp v. Murphy affirms reservation status

2020

In 2020, the United States Supreme Court affirmed the Muscogee Nation’s reservation status in Sharp v. Murphy, reinforcing the continuing legal significance of the reservation.

Muscogee Freedmen citizenship ruling

2023

A 2023 Muscogee court ruling found that Muscogee Freedmen, descendants of Black slaves held by Muscogee citizens, can be granted citizenship in the Nation.

Muscogee citizenship reaches 100,000

2023

In 2023, the total population of Muscogee citizens reached exactly 100,000, rising from 87,344 in 2019. In 2019, 65,070 citizens lived in Oklahoma, including 11,194 in Tulsa.

Cultural institutions

First Muscogee capitol constructed

1867

The Muscogee built a capitol building in Okmulgee in 1867, establishing a permanent center for the Nation’s governmental activities.

Muscogee institutions expand

1870 - 1898

During the prosperous final decades of the nineteenth century, the autonomous Muscogee Nation built schools, churches, and public houses with relatively little federal interference.

Capitol enlarged

1878

The Muscogee enlarged their capitol building in 1878, creating the historic Council House that became the Nation’s principal governmental meeting place.

Creek National Capitol built

1878

The Creek National Capitol, also known as the Council House, was built in 1878 on a landscaped city block in downtown Okmulgee.

Council House becomes county courthouse

1907 - 1916

From the time of Oklahoma statehood until 1916, the former Council House served as the Okmulgee County Courthouse.

Council House restored

1989 - 1992

The Creek Council House underwent a full restoration from 1989 to 1992 and reopened as a museum operated by the City of Okmulgee and the Creek Indian Memorial Association.

College of the Muscogee Nation founded

2004

The Muscogee Nation founded the College of the Muscogee Nation in Okmulgee in 2004. It became one of only 38 Tribal Colleges in the United States.

Muscogee Nation repurchases Council House

2010

In 2010, the Muscogee Nation purchased the historic Council House back from the City of Okmulgee for $3.2 million.

College enrollment reaches 197 students

2018

For the spring trimester of 2018, individual student enrollment at the College of the Muscogee Nation was 197.

Assimilation and statehood

Curtis Act dismantles tribal governments

1898

Congress passed the Curtis Act in 1898 as part of a federal effort to assimilate Native peoples and dismantle tribal governments, including the government of the Creek Nation.

Image source: Curtis Act of 1898

Curtis Act dismantles tribal governments

Federal policy prepares Indian Territory for statehood

1898 - 1907

The federal dismantling of tribal institutions also sought to extinguish Native land claims and prepare Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory for admission as a state.

Five Civilized Tribes Act passed

Apr 26, 1906

The Five Civilized Tribes Act was passed by Congress on April 26, 1906, in anticipation of Oklahoma statehood in 1907.

Oklahoma statehood ends legislative use of capitol

1907

When Oklahoma became a state in 1907, the Creek National Capitol ceased to function as the regular meeting place of the Muscogee Nation’s legislative branches.

Image source: Oklahoma

Oklahoma statehood ends legislative use of capitol

Tribal business ends at the capitol

1908

Tribal business in the capitol ended in 1908 after Congress authorized possession of tribal lands, effectively ceasing the remaining formal structure of Muscogee sovereignty.

Key Facts

  1. The Muscogee (Creek) people formed a confederacy of towns in the southeastern woodlands, especially in present-day Alabama and Georgia.
  2. Muscogee society was organized around towns, clan relationships, agriculture, diplomacy, and ceremonial traditions.
  3. The Creek War of 1813–1814 ended with the Treaty of Fort Jackson, through which the United States took millions of acres of Creek land.
  4. Under the Indian Removal Act, many Muscogee people were forcibly removed to Indian Territory during the 1830s, an ordeal remembered as part of the Trail of Tears.
  5. The Muscogee (Creek) Nation remains a federally recognized sovereign tribal government, working to preserve its language, culture, and political identity.

Source

This Creek Nation History timeline was generated with the help of AI, using information found on the internet.

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