Nuyaka Mission, Study of Summary Team Findings
A site study of Nuyaka Mission performed on March 2, 1988, by the Oklahoma Historical Society (OHS). At the time of the study, the property was owned by Mr. and Mrs. W.L. Spears. OHS did an investigation and report on the current condition of the mission site for possible purchase and preservation. This study focuses on the historical significance of the old mission site, its physical condition, and its potential use as an educational resource to the public.
Authorized by the Muscogee (Creek) Nation National Council and founded by the Presbyterian Synod of Indian Territory in 1882, the Nuyaka Mission boarding school was one of many Muscogee (Creek) Nation Reservation schools. The William S. Robertson family, a prominent nineteenth-century Presbyterian mission family, worked extensively within the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. William's daughter, Alice M. Robertson, raised funds in the east to help build Nuyaka, and her sister Mrs. Augusta Moore was made superintendent and principal of the school by the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. Located fifteen miles west of Okmulgee, the school, where both Mvskoke boys and girls attended, remained in operation until 1922. Alice Robertson taught at Nuyaka before moving to Muskogee in 1885 and becoming principal at the Presbyterian School for Indian Girls. In 1922, after the mission school closed, the site became an orphanage operated by the Southern Baptist Convention until 1931. The mission site became a private residence in the following years, and the Oklahoma Historical Society currently owns the property.
Essential to understanding the history of education in the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, by the 1880s, the Muscogee Nation had an education system. This system consisted of an Education Department, a School Board, and a Board of Examiners for teacher certification.