Muscogee Chief Blocks Tribal IDs for the Descendants of Freedman Amid a Review

The Muscogee Nation's chief, David Hill, has temporarily blocked the issuance of tribal IDs to Black Freedmen descendants despite a recent tribal supreme court ruling that granted them citizenship rights. Chief Hill argued that the court overstepped its authority by striking down the "by blood" constitutional requirement adopted in the 1970s that had excluded descendants of those once enslaved by the tribe. While applications from Freedmen descendants can still be accepted, they won't be processed until the tribal council reviews and establishes new citizenship requirements through a constitutional amendment process.