Okmulgee, Oklahoma - Descendants of Black Creek Freedmen scored another big win after the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Supreme Court denied a petition for a rehearing in their citizenship case.

"Upon review of the Appellant's Petition for a Rehearing this Court finds that no grounds were established upon which a rehearing would be appropriate," reads a ruling issued Wednesday.

The ruling dealt a blow to the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Citizenship Board's attempt to challenge a Supreme Court decision recognizing Black Creeks' rights to full tribal citizenship.

Muscogee Creek Freedmen were people of African descent who were either enslaved by members of the Muscogee Creek Nation, lived among the Creeks as free Blacks, or were listed on the Dawes Rolls as interracial Creeks.

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The Creek Treaty of 1866 – agreed between the Muscogee Creek Nation and the US government – guaranteed that Freedmen and their descendants "shall have and enjoy all the rights of native citizens."

But those citizenship rights – and all the accompanying benefits – were suddenly stripped from Black Creeks when the Muscogee Creek Nation adopted a new constitution in 1979 restricting citizenship to those listed as "Muscogee (Creek) Indians by blood" on the Dawes Rolls.

The Muscogee (Creek) Nation Supreme Court in July found "there have been no actions taken by the United States Congress to abrogate the Treaty of 1866 and that this treaty stands as the supreme law of the land under both federal and Mvskoke law."

"Final. The law is settled. Article II governs, the 'by blood' restriction is void, and it is time to implement – not obstruct," attorney Damario Solomon-Simmons said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Citizenship cards must be issued immediately. Any delay or noncompliance will result in us seeking immediate enforcement from the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Supreme Court," he warned.

Plaintiffs Rhonda Grayson and Jeff Kennedy have been fighting for years for recognition of their Creek belonging, suing the tribe's citizenship board for their rights to be fully reinstated.

The Supreme Court has ordered the citizenship board to apply the Treaty of 1866 to Grayson and Kennedy's applications, as well as to any future applicants who can trace an ancestor to either the Creek By Blood Dawes Roll or the Creek Freedmen Dawes Roll.

"Today affirms our dignity and our ancestors’ truth. With this door finally open, let's choose healing – restore our citizenship, rebuild trust, and walk forward as one people," Grayson said on Wednesday.

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Kennedy added, "This is the exhale our families have waited generations for. We're ready to work with leaders who are tired of division and committed to unity and reconciliation."