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Freedmen: Tribal Injunction

By AP

Tahlequah, OK – Okla. tribal judge grants injunction request

(Information in the following story is from: Tulsa World, http://www.tulsaworld.com)

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. (AP) A tribal judge has ruled that citizenship applications from the descendants of former slaves of Cherokee Nation members won't be processed until appeals in the case are completed.

District Judge John Cripps on Friday decided in favor of the tribe's request to extend a temporary injunction against processing new applications from the group.

Last month, Cripps ruled the tribe had to accept applications from freedmen descendants who lost their tribal citizenship following a March 2007 referendum. About 2,800 freedmen descendants who were tribal citizens before the referendum's passage will still retain all rights and responsibilities associated with citizenship.

The Tulsa World reports that the tribe has received about 3,500 applications from the descendants.

The temporary injunction originally was issued in 2007 after the referendum was approved.