× Thanks for reading! Log in to continue. Enjoy more articles by logging in or creating a free account. No credit card required. Log in Sign up {{featured_button_text}}

The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma said Thursday it will not appeal a federal court decision that descendants of tribal freedmen must be granted tribal membership.

The court’s decision, and the Cherokees’ decision not to appeal it, settles a long-standing rift dating back to the recreation of Oklahoma tribal governments in the 1970s.

“While the U.S. District Court ruled against the Cherokee Nation, I do not see it as a defeat,” Cherokee Nation Attorney General Todd Hembree said in a written statement. “I see this as an opportunity to resolve the freedmen citizenship issue and allow the Cherokee Nation to move beyond this dispute.”

On Wednesday, Senior Judge Thomas Hogan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled the Cherokee freedmen have the same rights to tribal citizenship as “native Cherokees” under an 1866 treaty.

“When Chief (Bill John) Baker ran in 2011, and again when he was re-elected, he said he wanted to bring closure to this issue,” said Marilyn Vann, president of the Descendants of Freedmen Association and one of the litigants in the case.

“An appeal would not have brought closure.”