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{{Short description|Place in Oklahoma, U.S.}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2022}}
{{Coord|35.654158|-96.139862|display=title}}
'''Nuyaka''' is a populated place in [[Okmulgee County, Oklahoma|Okmulgee County]], [[Oklahoma]], United States. It is approximately {{convert|7.4|km}} south-southwest of [[Beggs, Oklahoma|Beggs]] and is west of [[Okmulgee, Oklahoma|the city of Okmulgee]] off [[Oklahoma State Highway 56|SH-56]]. The Old Nuyaka Cemetery and the [[Nuyaka Mission]] site are southwest of town.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Old+Nuyaka+Cemetery,+Okmulgee,+OK/Nuyaka,+OK+74447/@35.6488021,-96.1664923,15z/data=!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x87b41bdea00df56b:0x7effc5cefa16a1dc!2m2!1d-96.1588297!2d35.6453895!1m5!1m1!1s0x87b4194306892d7b:0xb7ca7eef37f739a7!2m2!1d-96.1397212!2d35.6531503!3e0 |title=Old Nuyaka Cemetery to Nuyaka, Oklahoma|publisher=Google Maps|accessdate=October 22, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= https://landmarkhunter.com/139242-nuyaka-mission/m |title=Nuyaka Mission|publisher=LandmarkHunter|accessdate=October 22, 2022}}</ref>  The elevation is {{convert|735|ft|m}} and the coordinates are latitude 35.653 and longitude -96.14.<ref>OK HomeTownLocator, Nuyaka Populated Place Profile. Retrieved April 28, 2013.[http://oklahoma.hometownlocator.com/ok/okmulgee/nuyaka.cfm]</ref> It was notable as the center of traditionalist opposition to the [[Creek Indian|Creek]] national government during the late 19th century.
According to one source, the name Nuyaka is from the Creek pronunciation for New York, which was the site of a meeting between President [[George Washington]] and 26 Creek chiefs. The meeting was to discuss a treaty and to obtain a cession of Creek land to the U, S. Government. Reportedly, the Creeks were so impressed with New York City that they named one of their towns in present-day [[Alabama]] on the [[Tallapoosa River]] for it.<ref>Piker, Joshua Aaron. ''Okfuskee: A Creek Indian Town in Colonial America''. Available on Google Books. p. 198. Retrieved June 27, 2013.[https://books.google.com/books?id=0BgDqNVkL6wC&dq=%22Nuyaka%22&pg=PA196]</ref> The town was abandoned during the [[Creek War]] in the fall of 1813 and destroyed by Major General David Adams in December 1813. That site was never rebuilt and is now within the boundary of the [[Horseshoe Bend National Military Park]]. <ref>[http://creekwarandwarof1812.com/index.html "The Creek War and the War of 1812:Nuyaka."]</ref> White men wrote the town name as Nuyaka.<ref name="FWP">Federal Writers Project of the Works Progress Administration. ''Oklahoma: A Guide to the Sooner State''.  (1941) University of Oklahoma. Available on line from Google Books. [https://books.google.com/books?id=HvlFlr7fS0QC&dq=nuyaka+oklahoma&pg=PA263]</ref>
After the [[Muscogee (Creek) Nation]] moved to [[Indian Territory]], the name was given to one of the new Creek towns near Okmulgee. This Nuyaka was populated mainly by full-blood Creeks who did not want to adopt the ways of white civilization. After the Civil War, it became the center of a threatened insurrection by a group of full-blood Creeks against the officially recognized Creek Nation government and the ruling faction, led by [[Samuel Checote]]. The dissidents were led by [[Lochar Harjo]] and, after Harjo's death, [[Isparhecher]]. The rebellion over various issues, such as retention of tribal culture as a way of life and tribal ownership of land, was settled with little bloodshed, though it was called the Green Peach War.<ref name="FWP"/>
The town was the terminus in 1921 of the [[Oklahoma-Southwestern Railway]], which originated in [[Bristow, Oklahoma|Bristow]] and ran through [[Slick, Oklahoma|Slick]].<ref name=Railroads>{{cite web|url= https://digitalprairie.ok.gov/digital/collection/okresources/id/70309/ |title= Oklahoma-Southwestern Railway Company (Abandoned)|publisher= Railroads of Oklahoma, June 6, 1870-April 1, 1978, pp. 13, 27 & 60|accessdate=October 21, 2022}}</ref><ref name=ICC>{{cite web|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=QhRTONCzvvwC&dq=%22Oklahoma-Southwestern+Railway%22&pg=PA512-IA8 |title=Abandonment of Line by Oklahoma-Southwestern Railway Company, decided December 21, 1929|date=September 19, 2023 |publisher=Interstate Commerce Commission|accessdate=October 21, 2022}}</ref>  The town's estimated oilboom population of 600 in 1922 was enough to support daily passenger rail service to Slick and points beyond.<ref name=ICC/>  However, by 1929, the population was down to about 50, and train service was limited to three times a week.<ref name=ICC/>  The line was abandoned altogether in 1930.<ref name=Railroads/>
==References==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Muscogee tribal towns]]
[[Category:Geography of Okmulgee County, Oklahoma]]
[[Category:Muscogee (Creek) Nation]]
[[Category:Indian Territory]]