News & Politics
Principal Chief Places Holdenville Creek Indian Community Under Nation’s Control Until New Board Is Elected
Executive Order 26-03 strips the community's former board of authority over its finances and calls for a special election within 30 days.
Staff Writer
Tribal Town Radio · November 1, 2026
The Holdenville Creek Indian Community meeting house on East Poplar Street. Image: Google Earth
Muscogee (Creek) Nation Principal Chief David W. Hill has placed the Holdenville Creek Indian Community under the control of the Nation’s Community Research & Development Department until the community elects a new Executive Board.
Executive Order 26-03, issued October 5, 2026, took effect immediately. It names Community Research & Development as the community’s Acting Director, with control of daily operations, including employment.
Former board loses control of finances
The order states that the community’s former Board of Directors “shall have no authority over any funds, financial resources, assets, records, contracts, bank statements, bank records, investment accounts, investment records and other documents related to the operation of the community.”
Community Research & Development now has authority to pay the community’s bills and utilities. The order gives the Nation’s Controller signature authority for the community and puts the Controller in charge of all its financial resources.
The Holdenville Creek Indian Community Smoke Shop stays open under the department’s supervision.
Special election within 30 days
The order directs Community Research & Development to hold a special election for the community within 30 days. Notices go on the doors of the Community Center and in the Holdenville News and Hughes County Tribune.
Once a new Executive Board is in place, a Community Finance Officer will help hand the community’s finances back to it. The order states that “all financial operations shall be restored back to the Holdenville Creek Indian Community” at that point.
Under the Chief’s chartering power
The order cites Title 11 of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Code, which gives the Principal Chief the exclusive right to charter qualified Indian communities. Holdenville Creek Indian Community is one of the Nation’s chartered communities.
The order stays in effect until the Principal Chief amends or revokes it. Copies went to the National Council, the Supreme Court, the Department of Justice and the divisions of the administration.