The Muscogee (Creek) Nation in Oklahoma
Exercising jurisdiction since March 28, 2016.
Tribal Code
The Muscogee (Creek) Nation is located in central east Oklahoma. The Nation has a total of 69,162 tribal members, 55,991 of whom live in Oklahoma. The Tribal area tracked by the U.S. Census has a population of approximately 782,000. The population of that area is 14 percent Indian and 86 percent non-Indian.
The Muscogee court system was reestablished in 1991 and is composed of a District Court and a Supreme Court. The tribe maintains a Family Violence Prevention Program, which provides services for domestic violence, provides advocacy and supportive services to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking. Specific services include: assistance in locating emergency shelter, assistance with filing protective orders, court advocacy, crisis intervention, assistance in locating medical services, accompaniment to sexual assault nurse exam, legal advocacy, safety planning, emergency transportation, child sexual assault advocacy and family support, sexual assault exams, counseling referrals, limited financial assistance, and referrals for additional services depending on an individual’s needs.
The Muscogee (Creek) Nation has not received grant funding from the program authorized in VAWA 2013 to support the exercise of SDVCJ.
2011 Oklahoma Indian Nations Pocket Pictorial Directory, Oklahoma Indian Affairs Commission, http://www.digitalprairie.ok.gov/cdm/ref/collection/stgovpub/id/5215 (last visited Dec. 13, 2017).
A recent 10th Circuit case, Murphy v. Royal, 866 F.3d 1164 (10th Cir. 2017) held that that Congress did not properly disestablish the boundaries of the Muscogee (Creek) Reservation. Although the decision is stayed while the case is appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, if the 10th Circuit’s decision stands the jurisdiction of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation—and likely several other tribes in Oklahoma, including the Choctaw Nation and Seminole Nation, who have similar diminishment language—will significantly increase.
2012-2016 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates--DP05 Demographic and Housing Estimates, U.S. Census Bureau, https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_16_5YR_DP05 (follow “Add/Remove Geographies” hyperlink; then search “Creek OTSA, OK”).
Muscogee (Creek) Nation, https://www.mcn-nsn.gov/ (last visited Dec. 13, 2017).
Family Violence Prevention Program, Muscogee (Creek) Nation, https://www.mcn-nsn.gov/services/family-violence-prevention-program/ (last visited Dec. 13, 2017).