1979 through the present. (48) Currently, the Creek Nation operates under a Principal Chief elected in violation of the 1970 Principal Chiefs Act and Treaty of 1866, and a National Council constituted without Creek Freedmen representatives, in violation of the Treaty of 1866. (49) Since 1979, thousands of Creek Freedmen have continuously attempted to assert and regain their full citizenship rights by formally applying for Creek citizenship only to be completely ignored or summarily rebuffed. Oftentimes Freedmen applicants would be informed of their denial via a form letter from the Creek Nation, which would include some version of the following language, taken from a May 31, 2002, letter from the Creek Nation to a Creek Freedman applicant: We are returning your letter and any other documents submitted for enrollment into the Muscogee (Creek) Nation because in checking the Dawes Commission Rolls, your ancestors were enrolled on the Creek Freedmen Rolls. If you will note from the copy you submitted there is no blood quantum listed because they are not Creek by Blood. When slavery was abolished following the Civil War, Treaties were negotiated with the Five-Civilized Tribes