2019 Calendar of Events
The Muscogee Creek Indian Freedmen Band honors and celebrates the rich history and culture of the Creek Freedmen on February 16!
Please join us at the Ralph Ellison Library at 2:00 pm for History, Genealogy, and Storytelling. The MCIFB’s Story Teller, Jennifer Bradley will guide event participants on a journey back in time to the days of Indian Territory, a pivotal time in history before the creation of the State of Oklahoma. A time when people of African descent were known as Natives, Black Indians, or African Creeks in Indian Territory.
In the Story Tellers’ portrayal of Creek Freedman Lucinda Davis, she gives a riveting performance of this little-known history as recorded by the writer’s project (WPA) in the 1937 interview. Ms. Davis was an eyewitness to the historic Battle of Honey Spring that occurred near her home in the summer of 1864. This interview is historically significant because it provides an insider’s view of the life and culture of the Creek Freedmen. For example, Ms. Davis describes her life experience of being born and enslaved in the Creek Nation, funerals and burials traditions, traditional foods and more. Ms. Davis also spoke the Muscogee Creek language fluently as reflected in the interview.
The MCIFB will also present a history display exhibit for your viewing pleasure. We will also offer free genealogy look-up.
Where: Ralph Ellison Library
Address: 2000 N.E. 23rd St, Oklahoma City, OK 73111
Time: 2:00 PM
www.1866creekfreedmen.com
mcifb@1866creekfreedmen.com
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2018 Calendar of Events
February 24, 2018
Black History Event
In honor of Black History month, the Muscogee Creek Indian Freedmen Band in collaboration with the Oklahoma Black Museum of Performing Arts presents “Creek Freedmen Faces” This exhibit is a collage of photographic images and the history of the Creek Freedmen.” This event is scheduled for February 24, 2018, at the OBMOPA center. Address: 4701 N Lincoln Blvd, Oklahoma City, OK 73105. Activities are scheduled from 11 AM to 6:00 PM. Visitors are free to come and go as there will be entertainment, speakers and other planned activities throughout the entire day until 6:00 pm.
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2018 Membership and Community meetings:
March 10, 2018
Hillwood Missionary Baptist Church
7901 John St.
Spencer Oklahoma, 73084
1:00PM
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May 19, 2018
In collaboration with the African American Genealogical Interest Group, the Muscogee Creek Indian Freedmen Band (MCIFB) will host its next meeting in Dallas TX. The MCIFB will provide a brief history of the Creek Freedmen. In addition, genealogy will be shared as it pertains to Creek Freedmen history and the Treaty of 1866. An abbreviated exhibit of prominent Creek Freedmen and history boards will be available for your viewing pleasure.
Where: J. Erik Jonsson Central Library
Dallas West Room, 1st floor.
1515 Young Street
Dallas, TX 75201
When: May 19, 2018
Time: 2:00 PM-4:00PM
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***The June 30th meeting is being rescheduled for later in the year***
June 30, 2018
Muskogee, OK
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August 25,2018
New Life Church
5221 E. Elm St.
Wichita, Kansas 67208
1:00PM
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October
Additional information forthcoming!
SEMINOLE DAYS
The ABSENTEE SEMINOLE TRIBE OF TEXAS
2nd ANNUAL BANQUET
SEPTEMBER 16, 2017
KINNEY COUNTY CIVIC CENTER
200 E. SPRING ST.
BRACKETTVILLE, TX
TIME: 6:00 PM – 12:00 AM
SPEAKER:
JEFFREY D. KENNEDY
MUSCOGEE CREEK INDIAN FREEDMEN BAND
Golf Tournament Sep 16 – 9 AM Fort Clark
Tour Fort Clark & Seminole “Camp” Sep 16
Dedication John Horse monument Sep 16,
2 PM near old fort cemetery
Music provided by DJ Javier
Catered Meal : $30
RSVP by – SEP 8, 2017
RSVP: TO
Absentee Seminole Tribe of Texas
P O Box 1932
McKinney, TX 75071
Principal Chief (Mikko) Lee R. Young
https://AbsenteeSeminoleTribe.org
For more information about this event visit
https://absenteeseminoletribe.org/resources
The following documents are downloadable:
Banquet Flyer
Banquet Reservation
Registration Golf Tournament
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Symposium
Friday, March 24, 2017, 10:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m.
The Muscogee Creek Indian Freedmen Band is scheduled to present at the Blood Quantum, Identity, and Sovereignty: Contemporary Legal Battles in Indigenous Communities Symposium.
This free event is open to the general public. We encourage our members/supporters in the Irvine Ca, and surrounding area to come out and support us. We would love to visit with you at the close of the symposium. Please visit http://www.law.uci.edu/events/student-run/nalsa-2017/#.WK9K3UqGMz0.mailto for additional information and free registration.
Blood Quantum, Identity, and Sovereignty: Contemporary Legal Battles in Indigenous Communities
A symposium presented by Native American Law Students Association (NALSA) at UC Irvine California
Friday, March 24, 2017, 10:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m.
EDU 1111, UC Irvine School of Law (map)
This symposium will gather indigenous people together to discuss the realities of blood quantum and identity in Indian Country and Native Nations battles for sovereignty. The symposium is broken down into two main topics: “Blood Quantum, Culture, Lineage, and Identity” and “The Fight for Sovereignty.” The first panel will focus on the intersections of the above topics and how they affect tribal communities. The second panel will focus more closely on legal battles that Native peoples are facing in the judicial system currently.
Confirmed Speakers
-
- Kimberly Cluff, Tribal Attorney, The Morongo Band of Mission Indians
- Cristina Coc, Director and Co-Founder of the Julian Cho Society
- Carole E. Goldberg, Jonathan D. Varat Distinguished Professor of Law, UCLA School of Law
- J. Kēhaulani Kauanui, Professor of American Studies and Anthropology, Wesleyan University
- Jeffrey D. Kennedy, Vice President of the Muscogee Creek Indian Freedmen Band
- Denise Turner Walsh, Attorney General, Rincon Band of Luiseno Indians
Free Event!!!!!
February 18, 2017, history event!
The Muscogee Creek Indian Freedmen Band [MCIFB] of Oklahoma will host its annual history program in honor of Black History month. This event is scheduled on Saturday, February 18, 2017, at the True-light Worship Center at 3:00 PM.
Participants will be enlightened on the “Little-known history” of the Muscogee Creek Indian Freedmen, while enjoying “old-time” traditional gospel music, Storytelling, a meme dance performance and much more. The event will commence with a brief history of the Muscogee Creek Freedmen, and the Seminole Freedmen.
Special guest:
• Brotherly Love
• Sylvia Davis-Price, Black Seminoles
• Musical guest, Pastor Linda Daniel
• Minister Terry Reece
• Ms. Jennifer A. Bradley
Brotherly Love is a group of sensational gospel singers from Ada Oklahoma. They grew up as children singing for the Lord. God brought these anointed men together Five years ago. Please come out and join us for some down home traditional quartet music from the “Brotherly Love!”
Story Teller, Jennifer Bradley will guide event participants on a journey back in time to the days of Indian Territory, a pivotal time in history before the creation of the State of Oklahoma. A time when people of African descent were known as Natives, Black Indians or African Creeks in Indian Territory. In Bradley’s portrayal of Creek Freedwoman, Mary Grayson she gives a riveting performance of this little know history as recorded by the writer’s project (WPA) in the 1937 interview of Grayson “I am what colored people call a Native.”
Sylvia Davis-price, Band Chief of the Black Seminoles
her presentation will focus on the history of Fort Mose the year 1795 and its significance as it relates to free blacks, Spaniards, and Native Americans.
Background of Fort Mose.
Hidden away in the marshes of St. Augustine, Florida is one of the most important sites in American history: the first free community of ex-slaves, founded in 1738 and called gracias real de Santa Teresa de Mose or fort Mose (pronounced moh-say).
(More than a century before the emancipation proclamation, slaves from the British colonies were able to follow the original “underground railroad” which headed not to the north, but rather south, to the Spanish colony of Florida. There they were given their freedom if they declared their allegiance to the king of Spain and joined the Catholic Church. Fort Mose was the northern defense of St. Augustine, the nation’s oldest city). Courtesy, fort Mose historical society
Come out and join us as we celebrate and educate attendees about this unique history. Members and the general public are encouraged to attend this FREE EVENT.
When: February 18, 2017
Time: 3:00PM Cost: Free
Where: True-light Worship Center
Address: 1391 N Midwest Blvd Midwest City, Okla. 73110
For more information please contact us at (405) 414-0366, (405) 204-0023 or by email at contactus@1866creekfreedmen.com. www.1866creekfreedmen.com
Reserve your free ticket(s) by clicking on the below site:
Brotherly Love
Jennifer Bradley as Creek Freedwomen, Mary Grayson
sylvia Davis-Price
Pastor Linda Daniel
Mister Terry Reece
June 11, 2016
Meeting has been cancelled.
MCIFB June 24, 2016
Local Hotels
March meeting!
The Muscogee Creek Indian Freedmen Band [MCIFB] of Oklahoma will host its next meeting on March 12, 2016, from 1:00 PM-3:00 PM. Members and interested parties are encouraged to attend. The meeting will commence with a brief history of the Muscogee Creek Indian Freedmen. Mr. Rick Fogarty is the guest presenter, his presentation is titled “Researching Indian Genealogy”. Mr. Fogarty is a professional genealogical researcher in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He is a third-generation genealogist with deep Oklahoma roots and a citizen of the Muscogee Creek Nation. He is a life member of the Association of Professional Genealogists and specializes in Native American adoption and forensic genealogical research. He attended the Boston University program in forensic genealogy. He is a member of the National Genealogical Society and the International Society of Genetic Genealogy. This meeting is free of charge and is open to the general public.
When: March 12, 2016
Time: 1:00PM-3:00 PM
Where: East Sixth Street Christian Church
under the leadership of
Rev. Jesse Jackson Jr.
Address: 1139 NORTHEAST 6TH STREET
Oklahoma City, OK 73117
MCIFB September 26, 2015
MCIFB 2015 Conference Welcome
2015 meeting schedule
When: February 7, 2015
Time: 1PM-3PM
Where: Ralph Ellison Library 2000 NE 23rd St
Oklahoma City, OK 73111
(405) 424-1437
When: May 16, 2015
Time: 10AM-12PM
Where: Okmulgee Library
218 S Okmulgee Ave
Okmulgee, OK 74447
(918) 756-1448
When: August 15, 2015
Time: 1PM-3PM
Where: Muskogee Public Library
801 W. Okmulgee St.
Muskogee, OK, 74401
November 7, 2015
10AM-12PM
218 S Okmulgee Ave
Okmulgee, OK 74447
(918) 756-1448
Muscogee Creek Indian Freedmen Band “Bloodlines” Featured Documentary, Oct 4, 2014 The Oklahoma Black Museum and Performing Arts Center is hosting its Third Annual Multicultural Arts Festival “Art in the City: A Cultural Connection”. The festival will be centrally located in Oklahoma City’s Flower Garden Park at NW 46th and Classen. The festival will be held Saturday, October 4, 2014 from 9 a.m. to 9 .pm.
Bloodlines is one of the featured films at the Art in the City Festival. Bloodlines is independently produced and directed by Camara and Chantel Rose of Get Focused films, and the MCIFB. Show time: 11:20 am.
Synopsis:
In 1979, the Muscogee Creek Nation exclude African descendants (known as Creek Freedmen) from the tribe, and did not permit them to vote in the election even though they were adopted as tribal citizens with full rights by a treaty signed in 1866 between the United States and the Creek Nation. Bloodlines examines the struggle that the African Creek descendants of the Creek Tribe have had in claiming tribal citizenship despite history showing many African Americans and Native Americans cohabiting, intermarrying, and forming communities in Indian territory circa the mid-1800s.
The Cast: Renowned author, and historian Dr. Daniel F. Littlefield Jr. Attorney Damario Solomon-Simmons Brenda Golden Hutkie Fields Representative Jabar Shumate The Sells family, and other descendants of Freedmen
The Muscogee Creek Indian Freedmen Band will host its
next meeting on October 25, 2014.
This meeting is free of charge, and is open to the general public. Genealogy tips will be offered, and an update will be provided regarding the MCIFB’s plight to obtain Federal recognition.
The Office of Federal Acknowledgment (OFA) has reviewed their petition, and a Technical assistance (TA) letter
has been received by the MCIFB.
The MCIFB is in the process of answering the TA letter.
For more information about the MCIFB, please visit their
Website at WWW.1866creekfreedmen.com
or contact Jeff Kennedy
at 405-414-0366.
When: October 25, 2014 Time: 1:00-2:30 PM
Where: Muskogee Public Library
801 W. Okmulgee St.
Muskogee, OK, 74401
The Muscogee Creek Indian Freedmen Band will host its
next meeting on May 3, 2014.
The meeting is free of charge and is open to the general public. Topics of
discussion will include the history of the MCIFB, an introduction to genealogy and research into records such as Dawes census records, land allotment, and other vital records etc. We especially encourage the Youth and Young adults to attend this meeting. Please bring your family photos, and any documents that you would like to share at the meeting.
Little Known history facts:
*African Creeks Indians were elected to the Creek Nation legislative system, known as the National Council, consisting of the House of Kings and the House of Warriors. African Creeks served in many prominent positions in Creek Nation, such as Chiefs,
Senators, Judges, and Lawmen etc.
*Full blood Africans, mixed blood African Creeks, Free Blacks, and Indian slaves participated in the Force Removal,
also known as the Trail of Tears.
*African Creek Tribal members, later known as Freedmen, were Treaty signers for the entire Creek Nation, and were full citizens of the Nation as outlined in the Treaty of 1866.
When: May 3, 2014 Time: 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM
Where: Ralph Ellison Library 2000 NE 23rd St,
Oklahoma City, OK 73111,
(405) 424-1437
MCIFB Exhibit
February 1, 2014 through March 1, 2014
The Muscogee Creek Indian Freedmen Band’s
traveling exhibit is currently the “featured exhibit”
at the Village Library through March 1, 2014.
The Village Library
10307 N. Penn The Village,
OK 73120
(405) 755-0710
Monday – Thursday 9am – 9pm
Friday 9am – 6pm
Saturday 9am – 5pm
Sunday 1pm – 6pm
MCIFB Traveling exhibit!
“Crossing Bloodlines”
will be the featured exhibit on
January 4, 2014-January 31, 2014
at Ralph Ellison Library.
The Muscogee Creek Indian Freedmen Band’s exhibition,
“Crossing Bloodlines:” An American story of the Estelusti people
depicted through photographic images will be exhibited at
Ralph Ellison Library
starting on January 4, 2014 through January 31, 2014.
The exhibit explores the distinct cultural identities of the Black Indians through photographic images. The exhibit will feature Black Indians from various geographical areas, and tribal affiliations. Special emphasis will be focused on the Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes; Creek, Cherokee, Seminole, Chickasaw, and Choctaw.
Many of the images tell a story of how the lives of Africans and Indians intertwined as one, a life of shared culture, language, food, and family.
Visitor Information: Ralph Ellison Library
2000 NE 23rd
OKC, OK 73111
(405) 424-1437
Hours:
Monday – Thursday 9am – 9pm
Friday 9am – 6pm
Saturday 9am – 5pm
Sunday 1pm – 6pm
October Speaking Engagement
Oklahoma City Muscogee (Creek) Association
The MCIFB will be the guest speaker at the
Oklahoma City Muscogee (Creek) Association.
When: Oct 5, 2013
Time: 6:00 P.M
Where: Oklahoma City Muscogee (Creek) Association
1500 NE 4th ST. Suite 104,
OKC, OK
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