Record: the document says itPattern: documents line upLens: our readingOpen: not yet proven
Year: 1975 · Places: Florida, Oklahoma & the Five Tribes
SUMMARYMuscogee 1979 constitution: Freedmen removed, Interior approved (Okmulgee, 1975–1979) [Connections: Five Tribes, Florida & maroons, Nov 5, 2026]
RECORDThe 2018 complaint alleges the Muscogee National Council sent a draft constitution to the Department of the Interior on or about Aug. 18, 1975 that would strip Freedmen-roll descendants of citizenship; Interior replied Sept. 26, 1975 with no objection to those provisions; Interior approved the referendum Aug. 17, 1979, and the vote was held Oct. 6, 1979 (paras. 52–57). NBC News (2020) reports the constitution "required blood ancestry to belong to the tribe, using the final 'by blood' Dawes Roll as proof"; Sharon Lenzy-Scott recalls "They just said that you were no longer a citizen of the nation."
PATTERNthe Interior Department signed off on the removal; descendants allege they were left out of the 30% turnout count (para. 59)
LENS (WW9)a federal agency approved writing a people out of their nation in 1979
OPENthe complaint's facts are allegations; obtain Interior's 1975 letter and 1979 approval