Visit Westerville

Muscogee Nation Students Mural

MVSKOKE

By Artist Dexter Komakaru

Mural Location: Westerville Public Library | 126 S. State Street                                                                                                                                           Located on the brown wall across from the History Museum entrance

Education as Survival. Learning as Resistance.

In the late 1870s, William Apueka and Taylor Chissoe, young Muscogee Creek men from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, traveled to Central College in Westerville as part of the Mvskoke Nation's Youth-in-the-States program. They came not to assimilate, but to arm their people. The English fluency and civil service skills they gained here became tools of sovereignty, carried home to become a chief and a judge.

It is an honor to tell this Indigenous American story as part of America250.

Native history is not a footnote to this nation's story. It is the ground beneath it.

This mural weaves their journey through Muscogee traditional patterns, the Dawes rolls, historical maps, and the sweet gum leaf, sacred to the Muscogee Nation and a near mirror of Ohio's buckeye.

A reminder of resilience, adaptability, and that home can find you, even far from home.

Dexter Komakaru is the artist behind DXTROSE, his independent visual arts practice and creative studio rooted in Central Ohio. Since establishing his practice in 2015, his work has been shaped by his Mexican and Native American identities and lived experiences, both in his own lifetime and beyond, weaving together visual magic, multigenerational storytelling, and community organizing into visual art that connects with the spirit and sparks transformation.

His work explores art as alchemy, movement meditation, and a transformative process for the individual and collective. Through community collaborations, grant-funded projects, and his creative practice, he makes visionary art that honors place, lineage, and the generations of living beings who share it.

Learn more about Dexter at dxtrose.com

The Muscogee (or Mvskoke) are one of America’s first nations, originating in southeastern woodlands moundbuilders. During forced removal, when the U.S. government claimed land by pushing Indigenous people from their homes, the today’s Muscogee-Creek Nation was pressed from Georgia, Alabama, and Florida to Oklahoma.

The nation’s Youth-in-the-States program sponsored Muscogee students attending white universities to learn English fluency & civil service skills. The goal: gain tools to resist encroachment on Muscogee land, culture, and sovereignty.

William Apueka (1850s-1902) & Taylor Chissoe (b. ca. 1855) studied at Central College under this program in the late 1870s. Apueka boarded with Francis A. Wilbur, Presbyterian minister, professor, and principal.

Upon return to Oklahoma, Chissoe became a judge, educator, soldier, businessman, and chief (“Miko”) of Broken Arrow. He was also instrumental in the foundation of the University of Tulsa. Apueka worked as a farmer and member of the “House of Warriors,” a government council.