PR SRT STD US POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO 49 STIGLER, OK 74462 VOLUME 12 EDITION 5 Lawton, OK May 2012 P.O. Box 908 Lawton, OK 73502-0908 NOTE: The Comanche Nation News (TCNN) honors all Comanche Veterans, past and present, by highlighting the top ranked military men of the Comanche Nation in honor of May’s Armed Forces Day and Memorial Day. TCNN salutes all service men and women who valiantly serve our great country. The pictures and list of military men are courtesy of the Comanche Indian Veteran’s Association. SPRING HAS SPRUNG WITH GREEN THUMBS. With spring in the air, the Coman- che Nation Youth Program planted a garden at the Office of Environmental Programs to teach students how to plant different veg- etables and how to maintain it. Stu- dents from Cache, Apache, Walters, and Lawton are all taking part in the community garden. Photo and story by Candace Wilson/ News Staff EDITOR’S NOTE: This is an overview of the Annual Gen- eral Council Meeting and not the official minutes. To obtain a copy of the official minutes, please call the Office of the Comanche Nation Chairman, (580) 492-3251. Chairman Johnny Wau- qua was notified at 1:30 p.m. there were around 360 tribal members registered, and a quo- rum was established. He called the meeting to order at 1:32 p.m. Following the invoca- tion by Wallace Coffey, the first item on the agenda was to take nominations for the position of Chairman of the Comanche Nation. Being nominated was: Wallace Coffey; Willie Nel- son; Eleanor McDaniel; David Yeagley; Calvin Kosechata; and Jaquetta McClung. A motion was made to cease nominations and it was seconded. A verbal vote ceased nominations. Being nominated for Vice Chairman was: William Owens; James Nelson; Robert Komahcheet, but he declined his nomination; and Mike Mahsetky. A motion was made to cease nominations and it was seconded. A verbal vote ceased nominations. For the CBC No. 1 po- sition, being nominated were Charles Ikner; Travis Chibit- ty; Charles Wells; and Anita Daukei. A motion was made to cease nominations and it was seconded. A verbal vote ceased nominations. In the CBC No. 2 po- sition, being nominated were Tommy Parker; Dan Bigbee Jr. ; Vernon Tehauno; Forrest Tahdooahnippah; and Sonya Nevaquaya. A motion was made to cease nominations and it was seconded. A verbal vote ceased nominations. An At-Large position on the Election Board was up for nominations. Janet Tieyah was nominated by Carol Codo- pony. Since she was the only one nominated, a motion was made and seconded to place her in the seat by acclimation. The motion carried, and Chairman Wauqua said she will be placed in the position by acclimation, pending the completion of her paperwork. He explained all nominees had by 5 p.m. April 23 to sign paperwork in the Election Board Office to proceed with the background checks. For the Tribal Admin- istrator’s (TA) position, six were nominated. John David Wahnee ; Johnny Wauqua; Jo- seph Aitson Jr. ; Robert Kom- ahcheet Jr.; Richard Henson; and Michela Mahsetky Gutier- rez. A motion was made to cease nominations and it was seconded. A verbal vote ceased nominations. Chairman Wauqua ex- plained CBC No. 4, Robert Komahcheet Jr., will retain his seat on the CBC even though he accepted his nomination to run for the TA position. In case Komahcheet won the TA posi- tion, nominations were taken for his seat. Being nominated were Lenora Parker, but she declined the nomination. Mari- lyn Tiger and Jack Codopony Sr. were also nominated A motion was made to cease nominations and it was seconded. A verbal vote ceased nominations. There was a lengthy discussion of whether to retain tribal lawyers, Hobbs Straus Dean and Walker (HSD&W). Tribal elder Roland Mason asked if they guided the CBC to pass the election ordnance without bringing it to the tribal council first. William Norman of HSD&W explained they counseled the CBC on their options, but the final decision was up to the CBC. Other tribal members voiced their opinions and asked questions to the at- torneys. Norman said HSD&W have saved the tribe millions of dollars and they have won five Annual General Council Meeting Covered Many Topics See COUNCIL, Page 2 Candidates for Four CBC Positions Are Announced The Comanche Nation Election Board announced the official candidates who will be on the May ballot to run for four of seven positions of the Comanche Business Commit- tee. The candidates were nomi- nated during the April 21 Gen- eral Council Meeting. They had until 5 p.m. April 23 con- tact the election board office to accept or decline their nomina- tion, and to sign paperwork at the Comanche Nation Election Board Office to proceed with the required background check. The official candidates are: Chairman: Wallace Cof- fey; William Nelson Sr.; David Yeagley; Calvin Kosechata; and Jaquetta McClung. Vice Chairman: Wil- liam Owens and Mike Mahset- ky Jr. CBC No. 1: Charles Ikner; Charles Wells; and Anita Daukai CBC No. 2: Dan Big- bee Jr.; Vernon Tehauno: and Sonya Nevaquaya Due to the continuation of the annual council meeting scheduled for 11 a.m. May 5 at Watchetaker Hall, Comanche Nation Complex, the primary elections and voting on the FY 2013 budget will be May 26 and run-offs will be June 23. This will give tribal voters more time to receive their bal- lots and mail them back. The Comanche Nation Election Board has to receive the mail in ballots by noon May 26 for the primary election, and noon June 23 for the run-off election. By Jolene Schonchin/News Staff Company granted option on land near Fort Sill Blvd. By Stephen Robertson/The Lawton Constitution- April 13, 2012 article An Oklahoma City company has been granted an option to lease about 160 acres of Indian land in Lawton that it hopes to convert into a com- mercial development. Sooner Investment Group and the Kiowa, Coman- che and Apache Intertribal Land Use Committee announced the agreement that will give Soon- er Investment two years to put together a development along Cache Road from Fort Sill Boulevard to interstate 44. In a news release, the company said it proposes to build a “mixed use” retail cen- ter that would include “retail and related operations typically found in large multipurpose commercial developments in- cluding entertainment restau- rant, hospitality, lifestyle and business/office uses.” John Combs of Sooner investment said the most likely tenants would include retailers that want 25,000 square feet or more of space as well as res- taurant, hotels and other busi- nesses. The company’s other developments include Town Center Plaza in Midwest City, the University Town Center in Norman, Edmond University Plaza and Edmond University Village in Edmond and Tulsa Hills in Tulsa. Combs and Brad Good- win of Sooner Investment said the company began looking a the KCA property a dozen years ago and began negotiating with the KCA about six months ago. They said some major prospective tenants have al- ready expressed interest and they will be marketing the site at the International Council of Shopping Centers convention in May. They said Lawton is a growing community and serves a large retail area Goodwin said he believes the center would be viable despite plans for the downtown redevelopment and a Westside shopping center be- cause that would serve differ- ent demographics and prospec- tive tenants might prefer the location adjacent to interstate 44. The company said it probably would take two years to develop the first phase of the project. KCA Chairman Louis Maynahonah said the lease would have to be approved by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, a process that could take some time. There have been sev- eral plans for development at the site, including a race track and a retail center. All previ- ous projects have “fizzled out” Maynahonah said. “As far as I’m con- See LAND, Page 2 By Jolene Schonchin/News Staff
Transcript
PR SRT STDUS POSTAGE
PAIDPERM
IT NO 49STIGLER, OK 74462
VOLUME 12 EDITION 5 Lawton, OK May 2012
P.O. B
ox 908L
awton, O
K 73502-0908
NOTE: The Comanche Nation News (TCNN) honors all Comanche Veterans, past and present, by highlighting the top ranked military men of the Comanche Nation in honor of May’s Armed Forces Day and Memorial Day. TCNN salutes all service men and women who valiantly serve our great country. The pictures and list of military men are courtesy of the Comanche Indian Veteran’s Association.
SPRING HAS SPRUNG WITH GREEN THUMBS. With spring in the air, the Coman-che Nation Youth Program planted a garden at the Office of Environmental Programs to teach students how to plant different veg-etables and how to maintain it. Stu-dents from Cache, Apache, Walters, and Lawton are all taking part in the community garden.
Photo and story by Candace Wilson/ News Staff
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is an overview of the Annual Gen-eral Council Meeting and not the official minutes. To obtain a copy of the official minutes, please call the Office of the Comanche Nation Chairman, (580) 492-3251. ChairmanJohnnyWau-qua was notified at 1:30 p.m.there were around 360 tribalmembersregistered,andaquo-rumwasestablished.Hecalledthe meeting to order at 1:32p.m. Following the invoca-tionbyWallaceCoffey,thefirstitemontheagendawastotakenominations for the positionofChairmanof theComancheNation.Beingnominatedwas:Wallace Coffey; Willie Nel-son;EleanorMcDaniel;DavidYeagley; Calvin Kosechata;andJaquettaMcClung. Amotionwasmade tocease nominations and it wasseconded.Averbalvoteceasednominations. Being nominated forViceChairmanwas: William
Owens; JamesNelson;RobertKomahcheet, but he declinedhis nomination; and MikeMahsetky. Amotionwasmade tocease nominations and it wasseconded.Averbalvoteceasednominations. FortheCBCNo.1po-sition, being nominated wereCharles Ikner; Travis Chibit-ty; Charles Wells; and AnitaDaukei. Amotionwasmade tocease nominations and it wasseconded.Averbalvoteceasednominations. In the CBCNo. 2 po-sition, being nominated wereTommy Parker; Dan BigbeeJr. ; Vernon Tehauno; ForrestTahdooahnippah; and SonyaNevaquaya. Amotionwasmade tocease nominations and it wasseconded.Averbalvoteceasednominations. An At-Large positionon theElectionBoardwasupfor nominations. Janet TieyahwasnominatedbyCarolCodo-
pony. Since she was the onlyone nominated, amotion wasmadeandsecondedtoplaceherintheseatbyacclimation.Themotion carried, andChairmanWauquasaidshewillbeplacedinthepositionbyacclimation,pending the completion ofher paperwork. He explainedall nominees had by 5 p.m.April23 to signpaperwork inthe Election Board Office toproceed with the backgroundchecks. For the TribalAdmin-istrator’s (TA) position, sixwere nominated. John DavidWahnee;JohnnyWauqua;Jo-sephAitsonJr. ;RobertKom-ahcheet Jr.; Richard Henson;andMichelaMahsetkyGutier-rez. Amotionwasmade tocease nominations and it wasseconded.Averbalvoteceasednominations. Chairman Wauqua ex-plained CBC No. 4, RobertKomahcheetJr.,willretainhisseat on theCBC even thoughheacceptedhisnomination to
runfortheTAposition.IncaseKomahcheetwontheTAposi-tion, nominations were takenfor his seat. Being nominatedwere Lenora Parker, but shedeclinedthenomination.Mari-lynTiger and Jack CodoponySr.werealsonominated Amotionwasmade tocease nominations and it wasseconded.Averbalvoteceasednominations. There was a lengthydiscussionofwhethertoretaintribal lawyers, Hobbs StrausDean andWalker (HSD&W).Tribal elder Roland Masonasked if theyguided theCBCto pass the election ordnancewithoutbringingittothetribalcouncil first.WilliamNormanof HSD&W explained theycounseled the CBC on theiroptions, but the final decisionwasuptotheCBC.Othertribalmembersvoicedtheiropinionsandaskedquestions to the at-torneys.NormansaidHSD&Whavesavedthetribemillionsofdollarsandtheyhavewonfive
Annual General Council Meeting Covered Many Topics
See COUNCIL, Page 2
Candidates for Four CBC Positions Are
Announced
The Comanche NationElectionBoard announced theofficialcandidateswhowillbeon the May ballot to run forfour of seven positions of theComanche Business Commit-tee.Thecandidateswerenomi-natedduringtheApril21Gen-eral Council Meeting. Theyhaduntil5p.m.April23con-tacttheelectionboardofficetoacceptordeclinetheirnomina-tion,and to signpaperworkattheComancheNationElectionBoard Office to proceed withtherequiredbackgroundcheck. The official candidatesare: Chairman: Wallace Cof-fey;WilliamNelsonSr.;DavidYeagley; Calvin Kosechata;andJaquettaMcClung. Vice Chairman: Wil-liamOwensandMikeMahset-kyJr. CBC No. 1: CharlesIkner;CharlesWells;andAnitaDaukai CBC No. 2: Dan Big-bee Jr.; Vernon Tehauno: andSonyaNevaquaya Duetothecontinuationof the annual councilmeetingscheduledfor11a.m.May5atWatchetaker Hall, ComancheNation Complex, the primaryelections and voting on theFY 2013 budget will be May26 and run-offs will be June23.Thiswillgivetribalvotersmoretimetoreceivetheirbal-lotsandmailthemback. The Comanche NationElection Board has to receivethemailinballotsbynoonMay26fortheprimaryelection,andnoon June 23 for the run-offelection.
By Jolene Schonchin/News Staff
Company granted option on land near Fort Sill
Blvd. By Stephen Robertson/The Lawton
Constitution- April 13, 2012 article
An Oklahoma Citycompany has been granted anoptiontoleaseabout160acresof Indian land in Lawton thatithopestoconvertintoacom-mercialdevelopment. Sooner InvestmentGroupandtheKiowa,Coman-cheandApacheIntertribalLandUseCommitteeannouncedtheagreementthatwillgiveSoon-erInvestmenttwoyearstoputtogether a development alongCache Road from Fort SillBoulevardtointerstate44. In a news release, thecompany said it proposes tobuilda“mixeduse”retailcen-ter that would include “retailandrelatedoperationstypicallyfound in large multipurposecommercial developments in-cluding entertainment restau-rant, hospitality, lifestyle andbusiness/officeuses.” JohnCombsofSoonerinvestmentsaidthemostlikelytenantswouldincluderetailersthatwant25,000squarefeetormore of space as well as res-taurant, hotels and other busi-nesses. The company’s otherdevelopments include TownCenterPlaza inMidwestCity,theUniversityTownCenter inNorman, Edmond UniversityPlaza and Edmond UniversityVillage in Edmond and TulsaHillsinTulsa. CombsandBradGood-winofSoonerInvestmentsaidthe company began looking atheKCApropertyadozenyearsagoandbegannegotiatingwiththeKCAaboutsixmonthsago. They said some majorprospective tenants have al-ready expressed interest andtheywillbemarketingthesiteat the InternationalCouncilofShopping Centers conventioninMay. They said Lawton is agrowingcommunityandservesalargeretailareaGoodwinsaidhe believes the center wouldbeviabledespiteplans for thedowntown redevelopment andaWestsideshoppingcenterbe-cause that would serve differ-entdemographicsandprospec-tive tenants might prefer thelocation adjacent to interstate44. The company said itprobablywouldtaketwoyearstodevelopthefirstphaseoftheproject.KCAChairmanLouisMaynahonah said the leasewouldhavetobeapprovedbythe Bureau of Indian Affairs,aprocessthatcouldtakesometime. There have been sev-eral plans for development atthesite, includinga race trackand a retail center. All previ-ousprojectshave“fizzledout”Maynahonahsaid. “As far as I’m con-
See LAND, Page 2
By Jolene Schonchin/News Staff
THE COMANCHE NATION NEWS
Theaward-winningComanche Nation News,theofficialcommunicationof theComancheNation, is available atnochargeuponrequest.ThedeadlinetosubmitinformationfortheJuneeditionisnoonMay15.Donationstohelpcoverthecostofprintingandmailingarewelcome.
• The Milestones Page(Birthdays,Anniversaries,Engagements,MemorialPictures,Weddings,Births)arebysubmissiononly.ThePassingsaresubmittedbytheComancheNationFuneralHomeorbytribalmem-bersonafuneralhomeletterhead.TheMilestonesPageisfortribalmembersonly.TCNN publishesallservicesconductedbyTheComan-cheNationFuneralHomewithoutdiscretion.Obituariesarewrittenfortribalmembersonly.
• We reserve the right to edit all material. Letters or articles that contain libelous information, slander, or personal attacks will not be printed. Letters to the edi-tor must be signed with a legible name. The letters to the editor or articles contained in the The Comanche Nation News does not reflect the opinions of the PIO staff.
Comanche Nation Officials
Chairman JohnnyWauquaVice Chairman
VacantSecretary/Treasurer
VacantCommitteeman No. 1
VacantCommitteeman No. 2
VacantCommitteeman No. 3
VacantCommitteeman No. 4
Vacant
To contact officials:ComancheNationP.O.Box908
Lawton,Okla.73502TollFree:(877)492-4988
Physical Address584BingoRd.
Lawton,OK73505
Member of the Native American Journalist
Association since 2001
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists since 2010
May 2012 2 The Comanche Nation News
Winner of four 2011 NAJA Media Awards for Best Feature Story, Best Sports Story, Best Environmental Sto-ry, and Best Sports Photo
20th Annual Comanche Nation Fair
For more Information:TCNN (580) 492-3752
September2,3,4 2011
Comanche Nation Headquarters
Lawton, Oklahoma
Travis Codynah at Quanah Parker Lake
SECOND IN STATE. Congratulations to Co-manche Nation PIO As-sistant Editor, Paula Karty, who won a second place award in the Pro-motional Material cate-gory during the Society of Professional Journalists Oklahoma Pro Chapter’s annual banquet April 21 at the Jim Thorpe Mu-seum in Oklahoma City. The winning flyer was for the 2011 Comanche Na-tion Fair, featuring Tra-vis Codynah. There were over 1,200 entries for this year’s OKSPJ awards. The Comanche PIO/News have been a mem-ber of SPJ since 2010.
Photo by Jolene Schonchin/News Staff
lawsuitsforthetribethisyear.ThevotetokeepornottokeepHSD&Wwasastandupvote,andtheresultwas265tokeepHSD&W, and 95 not to keepHSD&W. The voting result fortheTAposition,whichwasbyballot,was:Wauqua226votes;Wahnee 26 votes; Aitson 61votes;Komahcheet160votes;Henson7votes;andGutierrez12votes. Beginning the discus-sion of the proposed FY2013budget was the proposed$222,000 increase of theCBC salaries from $18,000to $240,000. Although manytribal members took the floorto say an increase is needed,otherstookthefloortosaytheCBCdidnotbringtheproposedincreasetothetribalcounciltodiscuss it before putting it onthe budget, which cannot bechanged without a secretarialvote to amend the ComancheNationConstitution. Tribal member, Elea-nor McDaniel, said the CBCpassed Resolution No. 108-11 in Oct. 2011 which was alist of proposed constitutionalamendments. In addition totheCBC salary raise, also in-cludedraising the tribalbloodquantum from 1/8 to ¼, theCBC, not the tribal generalcouncil,choosetheTApositionandFinancialCEO,extendtheCBC terms to four years, andchanging the requirementsof recall petition signaturesfrom 200 to 400. She addedthe community meetings setup themiddleofApril todis-cusstheproposedamendmentswasdone too latebecause theBIA was already reviewingtheproposedamendmentsandthe tribal people had no inputon them.Eleanormadeamo-tion to replace the $240,000CBC Salary line item to itsoriginal amount of $18,000.Themotionwasseconded.Thefinalstandupvotewas153toseven.TheCBCsalarywillbe$18,000onthevotingballot. Jarvis Poahway of the
ComancheWarScoutsaskediftheothertwoveteranorganiza-tions, Comanche War ScoutsandWaltersServiceClub,canbe put on the ballot.Themo-tion was seconded, and themotionpassed164to30.Theywill have a $40,000 line itemonthevotingballot. Thegeneralcouncil,bya standupvote,passedamo-tion tomove $864,000 of theeconomicdevelopmentbudgetintotheComancheNationWa-terparkand thenursinghome/assistant living facility, andtheywillbothbeunderthedi-rection of the Comanche Na-tion, not the economic devel-opment. Chairman Wauquathanked everyone who cameout toattend theannualmeet-ing and vote, and he said thenursing home/assistant livingwillsoonbeareality. The tribe will be re-suming the GCmeeting fromApril21ontheFY2013bud-getat10a.m.May5attheCo-mancheNationComplex.
Tribal elder, Roland Mason, left, voices his opinion about the tribal attorneys during the April 21 General Council meeting, while Cornell Tahdooahnippah waits his turn to take the floor.
Photo by Paula Karty/News Staff
COUNCILContinued from Page 1
cerned this is the farthest theKCA Intertribal Land UseCommittee has gone on any-thing with that property,” hesaid The company saidthe project has the support ofthe KCA officers- Maynaho-nah, Vice Chairman, RonaldD Twohatchet and SecretaryJohnny Wauqua- and otherKiowa,ComancheandApachetriballeaders. In addition to income,Maynahonah said the proj-ect would provide jobs fortribal member and residentsof the larger community andalso would beautify Lawton’s“frontdoor.”
LANDContinued from Page 1
May 2012 3 The Comanche Nation News
Government The Expenditures forOctober1,2011throughJanu-ary31,2012for(FY12)were$511,233. Themonthly aver-ageexpendituresare$127,808.Taxes and Revenue collectedfromOctober 1, 2011 throughJan.31,2012for(FY12)wereapproximately $780,014. Themonthly average collectionsare $195,004. collections aredown (-7%) compared to lastyearinthesametimeframe. The Tobacco Tax col-lections are $404,990 down[-13%] compared to last year.Tobacco Warehouse in Cyrilcloseddownandnowwehave10 Smoke Shops with 4 trib-ally owned. The Oil and Gascollections are $61,590 down(-30%) compared to last year.$964,000 has been allocatedfor the four quarters for theTax Supplemental monies.The second, quarter allocationhasbeenpaidintheamountof$482,000. The monthly City Na-tionalBankStatementforJan.2012 has been reconciled bythe Hatch, Croke andAssoci-ates, Jim Patterson, the TaxCommission Executive Chair-man and CNTC staff with-out anydiscrepancies. Hatch,CrokeandAssociates,P.C.,aregivingusourmonthlyfinancialreports and have reconciledthe FY 2012 financials up todatewith nomajor discrepan-cies. The Tax Commission ishas been audited for FY 2011byanother independentC.P.A.firmwithnodiscrepancies.
Tax Commission Report for Jan. 2012
Submitted by the Comanche Nation Tax Commission Staff
EDITOR’S NOTE: The fol-lowing is an overview of the April 14 Comanche Business Committee Meeting and not the official minutes. To obtain a copy of the official minutes, please call the Office of the Comanche Nation Chairman, (580) 492-3251. ChairmanJohnnyWau-quacalledthemeetingtoorderat 10:05 a.m.During theRollCallofCBC,itwasannouncedDarrell Kosechequetah wasnot present, due to family ob-ligations.Aquorumwasestab-lished. The meeting minutesfromtheMarchmonthlymeet-ingweretabled.
Resolutions: 26-12 Clark Land Ac-quisition.CBCNo.1,RonRedElk, said the resolution needs
tobetableduntiltheCBCcanmeetwiththeClarkfamily. Red Elk makes a mo-tion to table Resolutions No.27-12 Velma Mihecoby landacquisitionandNo.28-12Tit-Chuk-Sah land acquisitionuntil the CBCmeetswith thefamilies. Eschiti seconds themotion. The motion carries5/0/1. 29-12DiscretionalCIPFundforNumunuPahmu.Es-chitimakesamotiontoaccepttheresolutionwiththecorrec-tionofaddingthephrase“moreorless”tothe“NowThereforeLetitBeResolved”sectionofthe resolution. Komahcheetseconds the motion. The mo-tioncarries5/0/1. 30-12ElectionAppealBoard. This resolution wouldhave appeals concerning elec-
tions go through the ElectionBoard Appeal Board and nottheCBC.Eschitimakesamo-tion to accept the resolution.Komahcheetsecondsthereso-lution. The resolution carries5/0/1. 31-12unknown 32-12 Request Assis-tance ofOpening theComan-che Nation Waterpark up to$125,000.ThiswillcomefromtheCapitol ImprovementPro-gramfunds.Thiswillbeaprofitsharing venture withmanage-mentgroupNextLevelSports.A3-5yearcontract.NationsofFunand thedriving rangeareincluded. Tippeconnie makesamotion toaccept the resolu-tion. Eschiti seconds the mo-tion.Motioncarries5/0/1. 33-01 Law Enforce-ment Grants. The Law En-
forcementwillbeapplyingforthree of seven areas of grant.Tippeconnie makes a motiontoaccepttheresolution.Kom-ahcheet seconds the motion.Themotioncarries5/0/1. Therewasadiscussionofwhetherallmotionshavetoberecognizedbythechair.
Old Business Jarvis Poahway askediftheothertwoveteranorgani-zations,ComancheWarScoutsandWalters Service Club, begiven a line item on the FY2013proposedbudget.
Adjorn Eschitimakesamotionto adjourn the meeting to gointo the meeting to the recallpetition certification meeting.Red Elk seconds the motion.The motion carries at 11:29a.m.
April 14 CBC Meeting Reviews Eight Resolutions By Jolene Schonchin, Candace Wilson/News Staff
Comanches Gather at Special General Council Meetings to Vote on Recall Petitions
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is an overview of the special General Council Meetings concerning the six recall peti-tions, and not the official min-utes. To obtain a copy of the official minutes, call the Of-fice of the Comanche Nation Chairman, (580) 492-3251. ThefirstthreeofthesixrecallpetitionswereheldApril19 at the Comanche NationComplex. The first meetingconcerning Comanche NationViceChairman,EdEschiti,wascalled to order at 10:10 a.m.
byChairmanJohnnyWauqua.Wauquaexplainedtothecrowdof over 400 tribal members,thattheonlyoneswhowillbeallowed to speak are the peti-tioner,EleanorMcDaniel,andthemember of theComancheBusyness Committee who isbeing recalled. Following thetwo speaking, the membersof the Comanche Nation willvote by ballot. Once the voteiscountedandannounced,themeeting will adjourn, and alltribalmemberswillhavetore-registerforthenextmeeting.
McDaniel read thebillof particulars against Eschiti,readingrefailedtoprovidethe60%percapasadoptedbytheTribalCouncil.HeviolatedtheNationalIndianGamingRulesand regulations by continuingto allow an unqualified Gam-ingCEOtooverseethegamingoperations.HewillfullyactedtoviolatetheComancheTribalConstitution Article VI, Sec-tion2,Hehasviolatedthecon-stitutionArticle II, Section 1,2,&3.Hefailedtosafeguardthe rights, powers and privi-
legesofthetribeanditsmem-bers.Hefailedtoimprovetheeconomic, moral, educationaland health status of a greaterpercentage of tribalmembers.HecontributedtothehardshipoftheComanchePeoplebythesudden lay off ofmany tribalemployees and caused unnec-essarychaosandfear.Hefailedtotakenecessarystepstoestab-lishanElderlyNursingHome/Assisted Living Facility. Hehasattemptedtopasslawwiththehelpof theHSDWtotake
By Jolene Schonchin/News Staff
See RECALL, Page 5
May 2012 4 The Comanche Nation News
The Comanche Nation Offices will be closed May
28 for Memorial Day.
Offices will reopen 8 a.m. May 29.
Women’s Wellness SeminarMay 9, 2012
8:30 a.m.-4 p.m.Great Plains Tech CenterWorley Center Room 301
4500 Lee Blvd., Lawton, OKOpen to the PublicDress Comfortable
Call Family Assistance Center (580) 492-3590
The Comanche Nationcelebrated its second annualComancheNation EarthDay,April19,atWatchetakerHall.Itwas hosted by theComan-cheNationOfficeofEnviron-mental Programs (CNOEP)who wanted to highlight en-vironmentalissuessuchasre-cyclingandsolarenergy.Pro-grams from the tribe also setupinformationbooths. ComancheNationSIAEthno-OrnithologicalIni-tiativesetuptheirboothwiththeir eagles and informationonhowSIApreservestheCo-mancheculturalandeaglehis-tory, science, and spirit. Siaalsohousesover24,000pagesof unpublished historic jour-nals diaries and letters, along1,400 historic images of Co-mancheHistory. City ofLawtonStormwater Management informedthepubliconwhatstormwa-tercancarrywhenitcomesincontactwithwasteandwhatto
Earth Day Celebrated at Comanche
NationStory and Photo by Candace Wilson/ News Staff
Sia the Comanche Nation Eagle and Raptor Program, had their first Bald Eagle born in captivity. The Bald Eagle was born April 16 and was hatched with in a incuba-tor.
dotopreventit. Variable Energy Systems ex-plainhowbeneficialtheirwindturbines and energy systemswould be for individual tribalmembersandtribaloffices. Liberty tires partici-patedintheComancheNationearthdayaswellinformingthepublicaboutrecyclingtires. JimGloverChevro-letbroughttheirhybridcarsforthepublictoviewandsitin. CNOEPalsohelddrawings for individuals whoparticipatedincollectinginfor-mationfromeachbooth. L y n nSchonchin; CNOEP AssistantDirector said “Wewant shareinformation with tribal mem-bers about products that aresaferfortheenvironment.” SThere was anestimatedtotal200tribalmem-bersthatparticipatedintheCo-mancheNationEarthDay.
Important DatesContinuance of General Council
Meeting11 a.m. May 5
Watchetaker HallComanche Complex
Primary Voting May 26Run-Off Voting June 23
May 2012 5 The Comanche Nation News
Cache Public Schools - Johnson O’Malley Program
Saturday, May 19, 2012 Multi-Purpose Building – Cache Intermediate School Sponsored by the JOM Indian Education Committee
HEAD STAFF
Masters of Ceremony Ron “Dawes” Twohatchet Head Singer Chad Tahchawwickah (CHS ’00) Head Gourd Dancer Sean Cable (CHS ’03) Head Man Dancer Jeremy Keahbone (CHS ’94) Head Lady Dancer Carlene Atauvich (CHS ’80) Arena Director Freddy Banderas Security Brian Wahnee CO-HOSTS: Comanche War Scouts & Comanche Nation Princesses Sorority HONOREES: Cache High School 2012 JOM Seniors: Michael Elam Wauqua, Dre Jensen, Evelyn Mithlo,
Nathan Morrow, Chasity Parker, Dara Parker, Branden Rider, Derek Scruggs, Jonathan Thode, Ana Zambrana.
SPECIAL GUEST: Miss Krista Hubbard, 2011/2012 Comanche Nation Princess HONORED RETIREES: Eddie Ahdosy (Teacher-32 Years), Kimberly Ahdosy (Teacher-30 Years)
and Mike Asenap (Teacher-32 Years)
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS 2:00 – 5:30 PM Gourd Dance 5:30 – 6:30 PM Community Dinner/Senior Banquet 6:30 – 8:00 PM Resume Gourd Dance (Penelope Cable Memorial Song) 8:00 PM Grand Entry (Recognition of 2012 CHS Seniors) 8:00 – 11:30 PM Social & Contest Dancing
CONTESTS Men’s Categories Combined Women’s Categories Combined Junior Boys Combined
Junior Girls Combined Tiny Tots Special Contest – Junior Boys Fancy Dance: Sponsored by Jeremy Keahbone
More event information: Robin Choney @ 580-585-0784, [email protected]; Host Concession; Native American arts and crafts vendors only; limited vendor space available @ $20 each or a comparably valued raffle item acceptable; must provide own table and
chairs; no smoking, alcohol, illegal substances, or weapons allowed on State property; Vendor Coordinator: Tanisha Burgess @ 580-695-6965, [email protected]; BYOC; Cache Schools and the Host Committee are not responsible for any theft, accident, or personal injury at or during this event; general public warmly invited.
away all polling sites and goentirelyabsenteevotingforallspecial and general elections.This isadeliberateattempt totakeawayalltribalvotersrighttogotothepollsandcasttheirvote.Themailoutofabsenteeballotsfailstoreachthevotersin time and deniesmany vot-erstherighttohavetheirvotescounted.Absenteevotingalsodeniesthosethatdidnotvoteintheprimarytherighttovoteinany run off. Absentee ballotsforrunsoffsareonlymailedtothosethatvotedintheprimary.Weshouldallhavetherighttovoteinanyprimaryandrunoffelections. All Absentee Vot-ing is not in the best interestof the Comanche Nation anditsmembersbecause it allowstoo much room for error andtampering. Eschiti and othermembersoftheCBChavetak-enactiontoeliminatetheElec-tionBoardwithouttheconsentoftheTribalCouncilandgoallAbsentee Voting. Ed EschitiandothermembersoftheCBChave acted to pass an unlaw-ful Election Ordinance withthehelpofHSDW.EschitihasactedinhisowninterestandinblatantviolationoftheComan-cheTribalConstitutionArticleXV–NEPOTISM,Section1.,Arelativeofamemberof theComanche Tribal BusinessCommittee (to include wife,husband, mother, father, son,daughter, sister, brother) shallnot be employed within theComanche Tribal governmentsystem.HeandothermembersoftheCBCactedtoterminateseveral funeral home employ-eesandthenplacedhiswifeasDirectoroftheComancheNa-tionFuneralHome.UndertheComancheTribalConstitutionArticleV,Section9,TheTribalCouncil has exclusive author-ity to hire an Administrator/Manager to administrate thetribalgovernment.Theadmin-istrator/Managershallbeunderthedirectionofbusinesscom-mittee. Membersof theCBCshallnotbeanemployeeoftheTribalGovernment.EdEschitiandothermembersoftheCBChaveoversteppedtheirboundsbymeddlinginthedaytodayoperationsofthetribalgovern-ment by acting to terminatemanytribalemployeesandbyunlawfully hiring an actingTribal Administrator. Oncethe Tribal Administrator wasremovedtheCBCshouldhavecalled aTribal CouncilMeet-ingtolawfullyhireanewTA.Under the Tribal ConstitutionONLY the Tribal Council hastheexclusiveauthority tohiretheTA.UndertheTribalCon-stitutionArticleV,Section7,(f),ThesalaryfortheChairmanoftheCBCshallbeestablishedby the Tribal Council by theadoptionofanannualtribalop-erating budget. Salary for allothermembersofthebusinesscommittee shall be two hun-dred and fifty dollars ($250)permonth.But,EdEschitiandothermembersoftheCBCareattempting to act in violationof the tribal constitution andpass law togive themselves a$40,000salary.TheCBCsala-riescanonlybechangebyanamendment to the Constitu-tion. Eschiti took the floorfollowing the Bill of Particu-lars.He said hewas going togo over them one at a timesince therewere somany.HeexplainedtheCBChasnoau-thorityovertheRevenueAllo-cationPlan.Hetoldthegeneralcouncil about the communitymeetingtheCBCwereholding
toinformandexplainthepro-posed constitutional amend-ments, pointing out ChairmanWauquadidnotattend. Hesaid the formerad-ministration lost millions ofdollars and theAssistant Liv-ing Facility did not have anymoney,whichthecurrentCBChad no control over. He ex-plained the reasoning behindthe election ordinance changewastoreachmorevoters,andalthoughnothingisperfect,hebelievesitwillwork. He said his wife caresdeeply for theComancheNa-tion and the petitioner hasnerve to say he violated thenepotism clause in the consti-tution. He admitted the CBCshouldhavespoketothetribalpeopleabouttheconstitutionalamendments, but they are notset in stone, and the generalcouncil has the final say. Hestressed the necessity of hav-ingagoodpeopleintheposi-tions of chairman, vice chair-man’sandtribaladministrator.“ItisanhonortoservetheCo-manche people,” Eschiti saidasheendedhisrebuttal. The voting results torecall Eschiti were: 247 torecall, and 227 not to recall.There was a total of 474 thatvoted.Themeeting adjournedat11:37a.m. The next meeting toheartherecallofCBCNo.1,RonaldRedElk,cametoorderat 12:24 p.m. McDaniel readthe bill of particulars againstRed Elk, which were similartoEschiti, only adding he al-lowedthenepotismofputtingEschiti’swifetorunthetribalfuneralhometohappen. Former CBCmember,Oscar Codopony, spoke onRed Elks behalf, explainingthethegeneralcouncilhehadafamilyemergency. Codopony told thecrowdhesatonthetribalgam-ingboardastheCEO,andthetribeisincompliancewiththeNIGA. He added the gamingrevenues have come up 35%,even though the country’seconomy is down. He saidthe nepotism clause does notaffect Echitis wife becausegovernmental issuesaresepa-rate from economic develop-mentwhich the funeral homefalls under. He discussed thelack of financial reports andother obstacles the economicdevelopment committee hasfaced. The ended the rebuttalexplaining the reason for anincrease in theCBC salary isto get educated people to runfortheboard The voting results fortherecallofRedElkwere246torecall,and204nottorecall.Atotalof450voted.Themeet-ingadjournedat1:24p.m. Thelastmeetingoftheafternoon to hear the recallof CBCNo.2,YoneveaTerrybegan at 2:03 p.m. McDan-iel read the bill of particularsagainstTerry,whichwere thesameasRedElks. Terrysaid,whengiventhe floor, the CBC met ev-eryWednesday at 2 p.m., butnothingwasactedon,andthemeetings were open to any-one.ShecontinuedexplainingtheformerCBCandEconomicDevelopment board membersshould have known about thepredicament the economicdevelopment was in, and theCBC was not responsible forthelay-offs. When speaking of theelection ordinance amend-ments,Terry saidbygoing to
an all mail vote, every tribalmember18yearsandolderwillreceiveaballot,whichwillcutdownonthedaysittakestore-questaballot,mailoneoutandreceive it from the voter. ShesaidthereismorenepotismatthetribethanjusttheallegationagainstEschiti,butthosewerenotbroughtup. “I have learned a lot,”said Terry. “The CBC is an8-to-5job,andweneedtogeteducated people to fill thesepositions,andtheyneedtogetacompetitivesalary.” The voting results fortherecallofTerrywere240torecall, and 145 not to recall.Themeetingwasadjournedat2:57p.m.
April 26 Meetings The second round ofspecialGeneralCouncilMeet-ingstovoteontherecallpeti-tionsbeganat10:20a.m.April26atWatchetakerHall.Therewasadiscrepancybetweenthetribal chairman, JohnnyWau-qua,andthethreeCBCmem-berswhowere on the agendatoberecalled.ThedebatewaswhetherWauquaorTippecon-nie,secretary/treasurer,shouldchair the meeting. After thetriballawenforcementsteppedin to maintain peace, mem-bersoftheCBCwhowereonthe agenda said the meetingwas illegal and told everyone
to leave.About75peoplefol-lowedthemoutthedoor. Wauqua apologized totheremaininggeneralcouncil,which was around 200, andsaidthemeetingwillcontinue. McDanielreadtheBillofParticularsagainstCBCNo.4, Komahcheet, which werethe same as the other Bill ofParticulars against the othermembersofthecouncil.Kom-ahcheet was not present, so avotewastaken.Thevotingre-sultswere148torecall,and50not to recall.Themeetingad-journedat11:05a.m. The next meeting torecall of CBC No.3, DarrellKosechequetah,cametoorderat 11:29 a.m. McDaniel readthe Bill of Particulars againstKosechequetah, which werethesameas theothercouncil-men. Kosechequetah was notpresent to rebuttal, so a votewas taken. The voting resultswere 162 to recall, and 59not to recall.Themeetingad-journedat12:06p.m. ThelastmeetingoftheafternoonfortherecallofSec-retary/Treasurer,RobertTippe-connie,cametoorderat12:30p.m.McDanielreadtheBillofParticulars against Tippecon-nie,whichweresimilar to theothers, but she added he triedtofundhissonsmoviethroughtribal funds, and violated the
nepotism clause, among oth-ers. Tippeconnie took thefloor to say, even though ev-eryone has an opinion abouthis actions, he knows in hisheart he works hard for theComanche people, being atthe headquarters everyday for$250amonthforthelastfouryears. He explained the bud-getsareforecasts,andthe30%ofindirectcostisoftenmisun-derstood as towhat is covers.Headdedbeforehecametothepositionof secretary/treasurer,there was no budget process,butnowthereisanestablishedprocess for program directorsto follow.He told the generalcouncil the tribecannotspendwhattheydonothave,andthetribeisdebtfree. “If you wantme here,itisyourchoice,”Tippeconniesaid. The voting resultswere156 to recall and82nottorecall.Themeetingwasad-journedat1:50p.m.
RECALLContinued from Page 3
May 2012 6 The Comanche Nation News
Programs Comanche Nation Higher Education
The Comanche Na-tionHigherEducationDepart-ment is asking for Comanchetribal member who receivedtheirGEDDiplomafromJune2011 toMay 2012 to contacttheHigherEducationOfficeassoonaspossible. A Graduation Banquetisgoingtobeheld6p.m.to9p.m.,May25,atCameronUni-versityintheMcCaslandBall-room. The Comanche NationHigher Education Departmentwould like to recognize thosewhoreceivedtheirGEDfortheacademicyear. The GED GraduationBanquet attendees also haveachancetowinthetopawardwhich is the Graduate of theYear Award. The Graduateof theYearwill be awardedaDELLLaptopwith allMicro-softOfficeprogramspreloadedon the laptop. (Top GraduateAward requires an applicationand proof of GED DiplomaANDmustbepresenttowin). If a GED Graduateis interested in attending theGraduation Banquet, pleasecontact the Higher EducationOfficeat(580)492-3363.
Summer Lawn Mowing Program
Comanche Elders and Disabled
The Comanche NationCaregiver Program is provid-inglawnmowingforthethose60yearsandolderandthedis-abled. The project startedApril 9, and will continuethroughAugust17. The areas of coverageare: Cache, Indiahoma,Law-ton,Walters, around the tribalcomplex, Meers, Apache and
Lavatai, DeVine-Tonips Lavatai
Tribal Youth Places at Language Fair
FialeleandAlofaLava-taiageninealongwithAmiyaDeVine-Tonipsageseven,rep-resented the Walters ServiceClubatthe10thAnnualOkla-homa NativeAmericanYouthLanguage Fair in Norman,Okla.,onApril2. They competed in the3rd - 5th grade Small GroupSongdivisionagainstsixothergroupsandplacedthird. They introduced them-selves in the Comanche Lan-guageandsangtwoComancheHymns. Lavatai’s are the twin
The Comanche NationYouthProgramandComancheNationLawEnforcementtooktimetodiscussD.A.R.E.(DrugAbuse Resistance Education)andbullyingwiththeyouthonMarch20. D.A.R.E is a highlyacclaimed program that giveskids the knowledge theyneedsothatchildrenoryoungadultswon’tbecomeinvolvedinille-galdrugs,gangs,andviolence. D.A.R.E has beenproven so successful it’s be-ing used in 75 percent of our
Bullying was also ad-dressed with the children andyoung adults. Kids who arebullied can experience nega-tive physical, school, mentalhealthissuesandevendeath.
Comanche Nation Law Enforcement Brian Wahnee of the D.A.R.E Pro-gram informing the students about bullying and about D.A.R.E. March 20 at the tribal headquarters.
allsmalltownsinbetween. This service is for theelderly and disabled, to helpkeep their grass cut to keepspiders,bugsandsnakesawayfromthehouse. Theprogramisforlawnmowing only and it is beingaskedtohaveall largestones,rocks, and objects removedfromaround themowing areaof the house or mowers willnot be able to cut around thehouse. Mowerswillnotcutthegrassifaelderordisabledper-sonisnotlivingontheproper-ty.Thedisabledpersonneedsproof of disability such as: astatementfromafamilymem-berordisability incomestate-ment. For more informationcalltheCaregiverProgramandthe Elder Center, (580) 699-8811,(580)699-8812or(580)355-2330, to have your nameputonthelist,pleasebepatientbecausedue to the largeareasthatisbeingcoveredthemow-erswilldothebesttheycantogettoyourhome. Theprogramisfortrib-almembersonly.
daughtersofMariandTomasiLavatai and DeVine-TonipsisthedaughterofDesireeandChristopherDeVine.
Work Out Warriors Classes in Anadarko
CaseyMcCarthyoftheWorkout Warriors will haveexercise classes 10 a.m.-11a.m. at theAnadarko Library,215WBroadway.Theclasseswill beMay 9-11; and 14-16;22-24. TheclassesinJunewillbe2p.m.-3p.m.on June4-6,and11-13.
Native Strong Jiu Jitsu
BBQ and Car Wash Fundraiser10 a.m.-4 p.m. May 6
Comanche Nation Fitness Center, 6 SW D Ave., Lawton.
No set price. Donations Only.
Funds raised will go toward upcoming tournaments and purchasing equipment.
May 2012 7 The Comanche Nation News
Foster Care Families, Facilities Needed
The Comanche Na-tionChildren’sCourt(CNCC)and IndianChildWelfareDe-partment (ICWD) need fostercarefamiliesforplacementofComanchechildren.The“Co-manche Children and FamilyRelations Code of 2008” and“ComancheIndianChildWel-fareCodeof1982”definefos-terhomes. Foster home meansa facility for the care of chil-dren in a family-type setting,licensedorapprovedinaccor-dance with Comanche Code,theStatelawsor,ifoutsidetheNation’s jurisdiction, by thelawofthejurisdictioninwhichsuchhomesisphysicallylocat-edorboth. Currently, the numberofchildren taken intocustodyof the ICWDand theStateofOklahomaDepartmentofHu-man Services (OKDHS) farexceeds the number of fosterhomesavailable.Whileitisthemission of ICWD andCNCC
to see that families are reuni-fied,circumstancessometimesexist that prevents reunifica-tion. Children taken intoprotective custody deserve abetter way of life. They needaparent,guardian,and/orcus-todian toguide themonto therightpathoflife.Theyneedaparent,guardian,and/orcusto-dian to show them affection,guidance,strength,faith,com-passion,education,butmostofall, theyneedloveandunder-standing. Please contact CNCCorICWDformoreinformationonhowtobecomeafostercarefamilytoday. For more information,contact:IndianChildWelfareProgram
P.O.Box9081921EastGoreBlvd.Lawton,OK,73502.
Telephone(580)492-335Fax(580)354-0808.
ELDERS EASTER. Co-manche Nation Elders Center held the annual Easter Egg Hunt on April 5, with a healthy meal, Eas-ter Bonnet contest, and singing. There was an estimated amount of 90 people that attended and par-ticipated in the Easter events.
Photo and story by Candace Wilson/News Staff
There is a saying thatsweat is just fatcrying. If thatisthecase,thentherewasawa-terfalloftearsduringtheApril18 Zumba Class, instructedby Julia Mantzke. The class,which meets 5:30 p.m.-6:30p.m. almost everyweekday attheComancheNationBusinessCenter, 1915 E. Gore Blvd.,Lawton.,hasbeensheddingthepounds away while having agoodtimedancing. “I have lost 14poundssince I began Zumba,” saidtribal member Verna Cable,“andIamnotdieting.” Since its inception in2001, theZumbaprogramhasgrown to become the world'slargest – and most successful– dance-fitness program withmorethan12millionpeopleofall shapes, sizes and ages tak-ing weekly Zumba classes inover 110,000 locations acrossmorethan125countries. It is a Latin-inspireddance-fitness program thatblends red-hot internationalmusic, created by GrammyAward-winningproducers,and
Shedding Pounds Zumba Style
contagiousstepstoforma"fit-ness-party" that is downrightaddictive. AccordingtotheEhowwebsite, www.ehow.com,Zumba workouts can varyin intensity, and calorie burndepends on an individual'sweight,fitness level andmus-cle composition. During anhourlongsessionyoucanburnanywhere from 500 to 800calories. On average, a 150-lb. person can expect to burn536caloriesduringanhourofZumba. By comparison, thesame person would burn 413calories during an hour ofmoderate swimming, 477 foran hour of casual racquetballand684foranhourofrunningata10-minute-milepace. Mantzke’s Zumbaclass isalsopartof theWork-outWarriorsfitnesschallenge,whichrunsthroughJune9.Thefirstclassisfree.Studentscanpay $2 per class or $20 for amonth. Formore information,contactMantzkeat(580)678-8049.
Story and photos by Jolene Schonchin/News Staff
An energetic group of 13 Zumba students danced the hour away April 18 at the Comanche Nation Busi-ness Center. The class meets weekdays 5:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m.
The Comanche Na-tion Daycares in Lawton andApachehadafullmonthofac-tivitiesinMarchandApril. On March 22 Cyn-thiaWillimasfromtheCityofLawtonDrainageDepartment,visitedwiththechildrenattheLawton Daycare. The kidslearned about Storm Water
Story and Photos by Paula Karty/ News Staff
PollutionandMasquitoAware-ness.A special visit fromMr.Froghad thekids excited andeagertolearnabouttheimpor-tanceofrain. InadditiontotheAprilEaster activities, the childrencompeted in the 10thAnnualOklahoma Native AmericanYouth Language Fair in Nor-
man, Okla. The kids sung aComancheHymn,whilesomeweredressintraditionalcloth-ing.Thestudentsplacedfourthin their category. After com-peting the kids were treatedtoAndy’sAlligator’s funparkinNorman,Okla.tocelebratetheir hard work and accom-plishments..
TOP: Comanche Nation Daycare children competed in Norman, Okla. at the annual lan-guage fair.RIGHT: Hunting Easter Eggs at the Lawton Daycare.LEFT: Lawton Comanche Daycare students pose with their guest Mr. Frog, who taught them about water pollution and the impor-tance of rain.
Comanche Daycares Teach Students About the Environment; Compete in Language Competition
May 2012 8 The Comanche Nation News
People,Places and Things Happening
Miller and Tehauno
Tribal Youth Pass Tae Kwon Do Test
Two members of theComanche Nation tested onMarch 29 at the AnadarkoMartial Arts. Both studentswere evaluated on their stam-ina of hard exercises consist-ingofjumpingjacks,pushups,runninglaps,andcrunches. TristanMillerwaseval-uatedonhisknowledgeoftheFiveTenets ofTaeKwonDo,skills and techniques, forms,kicks, weapon drills, forms,fighting techniques and boardbreaking. Millerwaspromot-edtohisYellowBelt. Five-year-old Gabe-rialTehaunohasbeenwiththeschool three short weeks, hehasbeenevaluatedonhisbasicskill and knowledge of kicks,stance, commands, countinginKorean andwas given twopatchesforhisparticipation. Cheryl Klinekole-Go-mez, Head Instructor, wouldlike to congratulate these finestudentsonajobwelldone.
Mindemann
Blue Ribbon Tree of Child Abuse
Tina Mindemann, Ex-ecutive Director of CASA ofSouthwest Oklahoma hostedaBlueRibbonTree forChildAbusePreventionMonth.Theevent took place March 20,at 9th andGore Blvd., acrossfromCountryMart. EveryyearinApriltheStateHealthDepartmenthostsaChildAbusePreventionDayattheOklahomaStateCapitol.Everytreeregisteredwillhaveaphotographondisplayatthecapitol. This year in Coman-cheCountytherewasatotalof453blueribbonstiedonatree.331were from theComancheCounty DHS (Department ofHuman Services), eight fromtheKiowaTribeand114fromtheComancheTribe. Also, attending theevent were Dawn Ingle andCarolMithlofromtheComan-cheNationICW(IndianChildWelfare).
Red Guide Share Vision of Recovery for Indian
Country AMERINDRiskMan-agement Corporation, in col-laborationwith Heritage Pub-lishing and Communications,LTD. (Publisher of The Red Guide to Recovery-Resource Handbook for Disaster Survi-vors), is pleased to announceThe Red Guide to Recovery:2012 Native Edition which isnow available as an e-bookthat can be downloaded from
Barnes&Noble. TheRedGuide toRe-covery - Native Edition wascreated to assist disaster sur-vivors in tribal communitiesby making available a singlesource of pertinent, easy toread disaster recovery infor-mation that will walk themstep-by-step through the re-covery process while raisingawarenessofthemanypitfallsthatmaypresentthemselvesinpost-disaster scenarios. TheGuide can be used for pre-di-saster recovery training, busi-nesscontinuityorcontingencyplanning, emergencymanage-ment, and complement indi-vidual’s disaster preparednesskits.Ifpeopleunderstandwhatisinvolvedintherecoverypro-cess before a disaster strikes,theywillbe farmore resilientandbetterprepared. For more informationon The Red Guide to Recov-ery: Native Edition visitTheGuide’s interactivewebsite,atwww.TheRedGuideToRecov-ery.com.
Nevaquaya wins 2012 Oklahoma Book Award
for Poetry Mongrel Empire Pressis delighted to announce thatJoe Dale Tate Nevaquaya haswonthe2012OklahomaBookAwardforPoetryforhis2011MEP collection entitledLeav-ing Holes & Selected New Writings. Thisisnotthefirstlau-relforNevaquaya’scollection:Leaving Holeswastheco-win-nerofthefirstNativeWriters’Circle First Book Award forPoetry (then called the DianeDecorah Award) awarded in1992.Theuntimelyclosureofthesmallpressthathadagreedto publish the manuscript ledtoa19yearlapsebetweentheawardandthebook’spublica-tion. Included in the book isa “Foreward” by Native lit-erature scholar and authorDr.Geary Hobson, which detailsthe manuscript’s trails on theway to print. Leaving Holespresents the complete award-winningmanuscriptalongwithasectionofnewwritingbyNe-vaquaya. OfLeaving Holes & Se-lected New Writings,Myskokepoet and performer JoyHarjowrites, “These poems rangefromstarmessagestappedoutonsilvercordsascendingfromthe death dreams of a dyingcountry,totributepoemsintheformofshields,givingprotec-tion to those whom they areaddressed, to reports from theedgeofbrokenness.Itistimetocelebratethearrivalofthesepoems, acknowledge the vi-sionsandgivethemtheirplacein the circle.” Rilla Askew,author ofHarpsong, declares,“From the fierce bloodlettingoftheearlypoems,throughtheelegant simplicity of the ‘Po-ems for Those Remembered’to the sly sorrowful humor of‘TheMayorofRedWasp’andthe vibrant prose ‘Poems ofNovember’s Grace,’ Leaving Holes isaworkofbreathtakingrichness.” Joe Dale Tate Ne-vaquaya, author of Leaving Holes & Selected New Writ-ings,isapoetandvisualartistwho lives in Norman, Okla.,wherehededicateshisdaystoworking with at-risk studentsin the Norman Public School
System. Nevaquaya’swrittenand visual works have beenanthologizedandcollectedna-tionallyandinternationally;heis tribally affiliated with theYuchiandComanchetribesofOklahoma. For more informa-tiononMongrelEmpirePressor to obtain review copies ofthese and other titles, to re-ceiveprint-suitable images,orto contact our authors for in-terviewsandotherpublicrela-tionsevents,contact thePressbysendingane-mailfromtheweb site: www.mongrelempi-repress.org.
Karty Family Reunion The Karty family re-unionisscheduledfor10a.m.-6p.m.,June9atElmerThomasParkatthewestpavilion. The meal will be pot-luck, so family members areaskedtobringacovereddish. Family members are
Kiowa Tribe Head Start Program
Open Enrollment for 2012-2013 School Year
TheKiowaTribeHeadStartProgramisacceptingap-plications for the 2012-2013school term.Applications canbepickedupattheLittleRab-bits Center at 1602AmericanStreet,Anadarko, Okla.; KCAHeadStartat1401N.E.LawrieTatum Road, Lawton, Okla.;and Kiowa Tribe Head Start,Kiowa Tribal Complex, Carn-egie,Okla.,from8a.m.to4:30p.m. KiowaTribeHeadStartis a federally-funded programwhichprovidescomprehensivehealth,education,nutrition,so-
cial services, parent involve-mentandotherservicestochil-drenages3to5years-oldandtheir families.HeadStart alsoprovides services to meet thespecialneedsof childrenwithdisabilities. Children who at-tend the programwill partici-pateinavarietyofeducationalactivities and enjoy playingindoorsandoutdoorsinasafeenvironment. Documents needed in-clude birth certificate, incomeverification, immunization re-cord. This program is notjustforNativeAmericans.Ev-eryoneiswelcometoapplyforenrollment. Anyone can par-ticipate! For more informationor applications call (580)654-2500 or call toll free 1-888-742-2122 or go to www.kiowatribe.org for enrollmentapplications.
also encouraged to bring anyoldpictures,aswellascamerasandchairs. For more informationcontactGeorgeKartyJr.,(580)355-1490.
Children’s Health Fair June 8th
10 a.m. – 2 p.m.Comanche Complex
Watchetaker Hall SPONSOR BY THE DIABETES
PROGRAM For more information, call the
Diabetes Program, (580) 492-3318
May 2012 9 The Comanche Nation News
There was a re-affirma-tionceremonyofthe1847TreatybetweentheGermansandtheCo-manche held onNov. 20, 2010.There-affirmationceremonywasmotivated by an action takenagainst a Comanche family –Chappabitty(Knocks His EnemyFrom His Horse)/Quassycheeky(Eagle Feather Hair Tie). Afterbeing invited to bring their fam-ilypowwowtothetownonFred-ericksburg and after ten years ofsuccessfully holding their pow-wow there, this Comanche fam-ilywas told tonot to comebackto theirownpowwow. Thisbla-tant act was initiated by a non-Indian volunteer of the powwowandsupportedbythethenMayorJerylHoover. Thiswasinretali-ation for the family asking fora financial accountability fromNick Bradford, powwow volun-teer.Thiswasfollowingthe10thpowwowheldin2008.CharlotteNiyah McCurtain, representativeoftheChappabitty/Quassycheekyfamily personally spoke withMayorHooverquestioninghisac-tion.Hepromisedtolookintothematterandensuredthatthefamilywouldbetreatedfairly.Thiswasapromisedhefailedtofulfill.Hehad the opportunity to honor the1847treatbutchosenottodoso. After an article in theMarch 2010 tribal newsletter ex-plaining what had happened tothe Comanche family, a citizenofFredericksburg,RandyRupley,contacted Larry and CharlotteMcCurtain.Rupleyisarepresen-tativeof thenon-profitFortMar-tin Scott Museum Association.It was through the assistance ofRupleythattheComanchefamilywasinvitedtobringtheirpowwowbacktoFredericksburg.Thisinvi-tationwasextendedbythenewlyelected Mayor Tom Musselman.ThisinformationwaspassedontoChairmanMichaelBurgess.Mc-Curtain and Chairman Burgessagreed that there needed to be atraditional ceremony held to re-affirmthe1847Treaty. OnNov.20, 2010 such a ceremony washeldatFortMartinScottinFred-ericksburg. Mayor Musselman,Chairman Burgess, Vice-chair-
manRichardHensen,CBCMarkWaudooah, Deputy Consul Gen-eralMargaretWendelofGermanyandmembersoftheChappabitty/Quassycheeky family as wellas other NativeAmericans werepresentfor theprivate traditionalceremony. This ceremonymadetakingtheirfamilypowwowbackto Fredericksburg acceptable forthe Chappabitty/Quassycheekyfamily.OnMay13-15,2011thefamilyheldtheir21stfamilypow-wowinFredericksburg.
Disregard for the Re-affirmation Ceremony
Between the time of there-affirmation ceremonyonNov.20, 2010 and May 2011, unbe-knownsttotheComanchefamily,MayorMusselman and a coupleof representatives of the citycouncilhadsignedaleasewithagroupknownastheFormerTex-asRanger Foundation to build amuseumonthepowwowgrounds
ontheFortMartinScottproperty.ThefamilywasnotifiedofthisafewmonthsbeforetheMay2011powwow.Sincetherehadbeennowork done on the proposed For-mer Texas RangerMuseum site,Rupley asked if the powwowcouldbeheldontheoldpowwowgrounds one last time. The an-swerwas“No”. Thismeantthatthepowwowhadtobemovedtoanadjacentfield.Reluctantlythecityarrangedforelectricpolestobesetuptotakecareofsomeofthe electrical needs of the pow-wow.Thiswasdonetwodaysbe-forethepowwow.ThisputalotofpressureontheComanchefamily.Thefamilywasverydisappointedand displeased with the lack ofsupport fromMayorMusselman.They felt that the re-affirmationceremony ultimatelymeant littletothemayor.ANOTHERPROM-ISE BROKEN BY A PAH-DA-VAH(whitemanincharge).
This proposed museum arrange-ment was made with little inputfrom the citizens of Fredericks-burg. There was a general lackof knowledge of the FormerTexas Rangers Foundation, be-ingallowedtobuildamuseumonFort Martin Scott historical site.Over the past year, there’s beennogroundbreakingactivities re-garding the proposed museum.Apparently, the Former TexasRangersFoundation is still seek-ingfunding/donationstobuildthemuseum. Over the years therehavebeenseveralFredericksburgmayors that have worked withtheComanche family in holdingtheirpowwow.Althoughthecityhas never monetarily supportedthe powwow, they have showedtheir support andappreciationofthe family bringing their pow-wow some 400miles from theirhome to share their culturewithFredericksburg citizens. Theyrecognized the importance of apositiverelationshipwiththeCo-manchestomaintaintheintegrityofthe1847Treaty.Manyofthesemayors have expressed their re-spectforthefamilyholdingtheirpowwowatthebirthplaceoftheirgreatgrandmother–TakeyYetchy(StandsandSpeaks).Oneofthesepastmayors,promisedtobuildapowwow grounds for the annualpowwow.Anarchitectwasactu-ally paid by the city to draw upplans for a permanent powwowgrounds.Unfortunately,thiswastobeanotherbrokenpromise.
Former Texas Rangers Association
TheFormerTexasRang-er Association is not associatedwith the state recognized TexasRangerMuseuminWaco,Texas.The Waco Texas Ranger Asso-ciationhasdeniedanyassociationwiththisgroup.Thismakesonewonderhoworwhythe“FormerTexasRangersFoundation”wanttobuildamuseum.Will it beofhistoric value? Orwill it be fo-cusedontourism?Willitrealis-tically portray the history of theTexasRangers? AsComanches,weknow that theTexasRangerswerecreatedtokillNativeAmeri-cans,inparticular,theComanche.Comanche presence and domi-nanceinterferedwiththestateofTexasgainingcompletecontrolofvaluable land. TheTexasRang-ers were charged with the taskofcapturingandeliminating theComanche. Theywanted to putan end to the Comanche travel-ingtoMexico,somethingthattheComanche did for decades. AtthesametimetheTexasRangerswent after other Tribes such astheDelaware,Kiowa andLupanApache.Theirfocusdidnotstopthere.TheywentafterMexicansand Negro slaves. German set-tlers of Fredericksburg, who be-friended the Comanche also be-camevictimoftheTexasRangersrampage.Ithasbeendocumentedthat approximately 40 Germansettlerswerekilled. PerhapstheFormerTexasRangersAssociationwant to de-signtheirmuseumtoromanticizetheactionsoftheTexasRangers.AnyComanchethatknowsalittleoftheirtribalhistorymustrecog-nizethattheTexasRangerswerenotourfriend,butourenemy,outtodestroyour ancestors. Ironi-cally,some12yearsago,aformerTribalChairmanwasgoingtoin-vitearepresentativeoftheTexasRangerstocometotheComancheNationFair.Plansweremadetoexchange gifts and blankets in agestureofforgiveness.Thankful-ly, the Comanche elders steppedforwardandputastoptothispro-posedshow.AletterwaswrittenbytheEldersCouncildisinvitingtheTexasRangers.Thankgood-nessforelderwisdom.
Fort Martin Scott Museum Association
Randy Rupley of thisnon-profit organization was in-strumental in getting the pow-wowback in2011. Hecommu-
nicated with Mayor Musselmanduringtheearlyfallof2010aboutwhat happened to the powwowafter 2008. There was no pow-wow in2009or2010. At thattime he thought the mayor wasgoing to fully support the returnof the powwow. Like the Co-manche family, he has been dis-appointed.Inbehalfofthe1847TreatyandtheComanchefamily,he has been making regular ap-pearances at the Fredericksburgcitycouncilmeetings.AtthelastMarch city council meeting, hewastoldthattheHoteltaxmoneythatheapplied for (for thepow-wow),wasdenied.Theexplana-tiongivenwasthat theorganiza-tionandComanchefamilyhadnoplacetohavethepowwow.Itwassuggested that the organizationshouldlookforanotherplace(outoftown)tohavethepowwow.
Comanche Business Committee Support
McCurtain has beenmeeting with Sec/Treas. BobTippeconnie keeping him awareoftheChappabitty/QuassycheekyPowwow in Fredericksburg. Hehas been made aware of all theproblems the family has beenhaving. He is awareof the sup-port and effortmade by Rupley.In support of Rupley’s effort tomake sure the powwow contin-ues, the CBC signed a letter ofsupport in February 2012. Theletter states that the ComancheNation supports the Fort MartinScott Museum Association’s ef-fort tomemorialize thepowwowgrounds.
Takey Yetchy (Stands and Speaks)
TheChappabitty/Quassy-cheekyfamilyhasbeenaskedonseveraloccasionswhythefamilydon’tgiveuponhavingourpow-wow in Fredericksburg becauseof the problems they have en-counterd.The answer is becauseof their great-grandmother. Shewas born outside of Fredericks-burgmanyyearsago.Thefamilyfeelsthathersurvivalwasrelatedtothehospitableenvironmentbe-tweentheGermansettlersandtheComanche.Thiswasproclaimedthrough the 1847 Treaty. Eachyear the family honored TakeyYetchy and the 1847Treaty. Asa young lady,TakeyYetchywasknown to travel, on foot andhorseback.ShetraveledtoMexi-cowithotherComanchesonsev-eraloccasions.Shewasforcedtotravelfleeingcapturebythemili-tary. The family honor her sur-vivalandbravery.Howcanthefamily, as her descendants, justgiveuponsomethingtheybelievein?
What’s next for the Fredericksburg Powwow?
Due to not having a sitefor this year’s powwow, theChappabitty/Quassycheeky fam-ilyhadtocanceltheir2012pow-wow. The family plans to havetheirannualpowwowbackhomeafterthesummer.Adatewillbeannounced at a later time. Thefamilywouldliketoexpresstheirappreciation to those that sup-ported fundraisingeffortsof thefamily. The town of Freder-icksburg ishavingacitycouncilelectionthesecondweekinMay.Mayor Musselman is up for re-election. One candidate runningagainsthimdoesnotlikehowhehandledthisarrangementwiththeFormer Texas Ranger Associa-tion. He supports the powwowand theFortMartinScottMuse-umAssociation. The familycanonlyhope thathegetselectedasmayor. If you have any ques-tions, please contact CharlotteNiyah McCurtain at (580) 483-1221.
2012 Chappabitty/Quassycheeky Powwow at Fredericksburg Texas CancelledTreaty Re-affirmation Ceremony
Submitted by Charlotte McCurtain/ Chappabitty/Quassycheeky Powwow Committee
Dance Ground Blue Print
May 2012 10 The Comanche Nation News
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April Showers Bring May Flowers..and TornadosExpect the Unexpected: Getting Prepared for Oklahoma’s Severe Weather
As the season haschangedandSpringishere,theweatherhasalsochanged. Severe thunderstormsandthethreatoftornadoshavebecomemore frequent, whichis common forOklahomaandTexas. Watches andWarningsare put out by the NationalWeather Service in Norman,Okla.,toalertpeopleofstormsapproachingtheirarea,townorcity. Tobetterprepareyour-selfandyourfamily,youmustfirst know the difference be-tweenawatchandawarning.
WATCHES Awatchmeans condi-tions are right for dangerousweather. In other words, a“watch” means watch out forwhat the weather could do.For events that come and goquickly, such as severe thun-derstorms, tornados or flashfloods, a watch means thatodds are good for dangerousweather. Whenaseverethunder-storm, tornado or flash floodwatchisineffect,itmeansyoushouldwatchtheskyforsignsof dangerousweather. Some-times a severe thunderstorm,atornadooraflashfloodhap-pens so quickly thatwarningscan’tbeissuedintime.Manyareas don’t have civil-defensesirens or otherwarningmeth-ods. People who live nearstreams that quickly reachfloodlevelsshouldbereadytofleeatthefirstsighsofaflashflood.
WARNINGS A warning means thatdangerousweatheristhreaten-ingthearea. For severe thunder-storms, tornados and flashfloods, a warning means theeventisoccurring. A tornado warning
meanstobereadytotakeshel-ter immediately if there areindications a tornado is ap-proaching. If a tornado warninghasbeenissued,peopleinmo-bile homes need to evacuate,NOMATTERWHAT,becausemobile homes, even if tied
down offer little to no pro-tection from tornados. Theyshouldgototheneareststormshelter or a house that has asturdyfloor. People in houses andother buildings who do nothaveaccess toa stormsheltershouldgototheinteriorofthe
building,awayfromwindows.Often a bathroom is a goodchoice. Ifyou’redrivingwhena tornado hits, get out of thevehicle immediately and seekshelter. If there is no shelteraround, do not get under anoverpassorbridge.Youwouldbesaferinalow,flatlocation.Never try tooutruna tornado.
Always watch out for flyingdebris. People should alwaysmakeemergencykitandafam-ilycommunicationsplan. Here are some recom-mended supplies to include inabasickit:• Water, 1 gallon of water
person per day, for drink-ingandsanitation
• Food, at least a three daysupply of non-perishablefood
• Battery-poweredradioandaNationalOceanicandAt-mospheric Administration(NOAA) Weather Radiowith tome alert, and extrabatteriesforboth
utilities• Canopenerforfood• Prescription and non pre-
scriptionmedications Tornado intensity ismeasuredbyasetofmeasure-ments known as the FujitaScale.Itisbasedontheamountofdamagethatisdonebyator-nado onmanmade structuresanddamagetovegetation.Theofficial Fujita Scale categorythat is assigned to a tornadois determined after a groundand/or aerial damage surveyandvariousotherdatasuchasground-swirl patterns, radartracking, eyewitness testimo-nies and others. The originalFujitaScalehasbeenreplacedbytheEnhancedFujitaScale. The Enhanced FujitaScalealsoratesthestrengthoftornadosinmuchthesamewayastheoriginalFujitaScale.
A EF3 tornado on the ground in a rural area, approaching a road and electrical high lines.
By Paula Karty/New Staff
May 2012 11 The Comanche Nation News
Alongwith storm sea-soncomefloodseason.Some-times the two come in hand-in-hand, but other times adownpourofheavyrainswithnotornadopotentialcanwreakdamageofitsown. According to the RedCross,inthelongterm,floodskillmorepeopleintheUnitedStates than other types of se-vere weather. In recent years,onlyheatsurpassedfloodfatal-ities. Floods can roll bouldersthesizeofcars, tearouttrees,destroybuildingsandbridges,andposeasignificantthreattohuman lives. Somefloods de-velopslowly,sometimesoveraperiodofdays.Butflashfloodscan develop quickly, some-timesinjustafewminutesandwithout any visible signs ofrain. Flash floods often havea dangerous wall of roaringwater that carries rocks,mud,andotherdebrisandcansweepaway most things in its path.Everystateisatriskfromthishazard.
Flash Floods Aflashfloodisarapidriseofwateralongastreamorlow-lying urban area. Flashflooddamageandmost fatali-ties tendtooccur inareas im-mediatelyadjacenttoastreamorarroyo,duetoacombinationofheavyrain,dambreak,leveefailure, rapid snow melt, andice jams. Additionally, heavyrainfallingonsteepterraincanweaken soil and cause mudslides,damaginghomes,roads,andproperty.Flashfloodscanbe producedwhen slowmov-ing ormultiple thunderstormsoccur over the same area.Whenstormsmovefaster,flashfloodingislesslikelysincetherainisdistributedoverabroad-erarea. Almosthalfofallflashflood fatalities occur in vehi-cles. Contrary to popular be-lief,manypeopledon’trealizetwo feet ofwater on a bridgeorhighwaycanfloatmostve-hicles. If thewater ismovingrapidly,thecar,truck,orSUVcan be swept off the bridgeand into the creek.Water canerode the road bed creatingunsafedrivingconditions.Un-derpassescanfill rapidlywithwater,whiletheadjacentroad-way remains clear. Driving
into a flooded underpass canquicklyputyou in5-6 feetofwater.Manyflashfloodsoccuratnightwhenfloodedroadsaredifficulttosee. When you approach afloodedroad,TURNAROUNDDONTDROWN!
Flood Watch If your area is under aFlashFloodWatch, rememberaWatchis issuedwhenflood-ingispossiblewithinthewatcharea.Whenafloodwatchisis-sued, you should be aware ofpotentialfloodhazards. Everyone in a Watchareashouldbereadytorespondandactquickly.• Have an evacuationplan in placeBEFOREflood-ingoccurs.Floodedroadsmaycutoffyourescape route.Re-member-justsixinchesofrap-idly flowing water can knockyou off your feet. For infor-mation on how orwhat to doifyouareadvisedtoevacuate,visit theAmericanRedCrossWeb page at: http://www.red-cross.org/services/disaster/beprepared/evacuation.html• Know your flood riskandtheelevationabovewhichfloodingoccurs.Dostreamsorriversnearyoufloodeasily?Ifso, be prepared to move to asafeplace.Knowyour evacu-ationroutes.• Findout if youare lo-cated in a high, medium, orlowfloodriskarea.Checkwithyour city or county govern-ment tofind out if your com-munity is participating in the
NationalFloodInsurancePro-gram. Start with the BuildingorPlanningDepartment to re-viewtheFloodInsuranceRateMaps, published by the Fed-eral Emergency ManagementAgency.• Developanevacuationplan. Everyone in your fam-ilyshouldknowwheretogoiftheyhavetoleave.• Discuss flood planswith your family. Everyoneshouldknowwhattodoincaseallfamilymembersarenotto-gether.Discussingflood plansaheadoftimehelpsreducefearand anxiety and lets everyoneknowhowtorespond.• Determine if the roadsyou normally travel to reachyourhomeorjobwillbeflood-ed during a storm. If so, lookfor alternative routes to useduringflooding.• KeepaNOAAWeatherRadio, a battery-poweredpor-table radio, emergency cook-ingequipment, andflashlightsinworkingorder.• Haveaprofessionalin-stall check-valve in plumbingto prevent flood waters frombacking up into the drains ofyourhome.• Keep your automobilefueled;ifelectricpoweriscutoff, gas stations may not beabletooperatepumpsfordays.• Storedrinkingwaterinfood-grade containers. Waterservicemaybeinterrupted.• Keep a stock of foodrequiringlittlecookingandnorefrigeration; electric power
Flood Warning When you receive aFloodWarning: If advised to evacuate, do soimmediately! Families shoulduse only one vehicle to avoidgetting separated and reducetraffic jams. Move to a safeareabeforeaccessiscutoffbyfloodwater.Continuelisteningto NOAAWeather Radio, ra-dio, or television for informa-tionconcerningtheflooding.• Don'tdriveifyoudon'thaveto.• Getoutofareassubjecttoflooding.Thisincludesdips,low spots, canyons, washes,etc. Do not attempt to crossflowingstreams.• Never try to walk,swim, drive, or play in floodwater.Youmaynotbeabletosee how fast the flood waterismovingorseeholesorsub-mergeddebris.• Do not camp or parkyourvehiclealongstreamsandwashes, particularly duringthreateningconditions.• Beespeciallycautiousat night when it is harder torecognizeflooddangers.• Donotattempttodrivethrough a flooded road. Thedepth of water is not alwaysobvious.Theroadbedmaybewashed out under the water,and you could be stranded ortrapped.• Do not drive around
a barricade. Barricades arethereforyourprotection.Turnaround and go another way!Rapidly rising water may en-gulf the vehicle and its occu-pants sweeping them away.Vehiclescanbesweptawaybyaslittleas2feetofwater.• ChildrenshouldNEV-ER play around high water,storm drains, viaducts, or ar-royos. It is very easy to beswept away by fast-movingwater.• If you come upon aflowing stream where wateris above your ankles, STOP!Turn around and go anotherway. Climb to higher ground.If it is moving swiftly, evenwater6inchesdeepcanknockyou off your feet.Many peo-ple are swept away wadingthroughfloodwaters,resultingininjuryordeath.
After the Flood• Get necessary medicalcareatthenearesthospital.TheAmericanRedCross canpro-videshelter,food,andfirstaid,aswellasameanstopurchasenewclothing.• Donotvisitdisasterar-eas.Yourpresencemightham-perrescueandotheremergen-cyoperations.• Ifthepowerisout,useflashlights,notcandles.• Use flashlights, notlanterns, torches, or matches,to examine buildings. Flam-mablesmaybeinside.• Report broken utilitylinestoappropriateauthorities.• Boil drinking waterbefore using.Wells should bepumpedoutandthewatertest-edforpuritybeforedrinking.Ifindoubt,callyourlocalpublichealthauthority.• Iffreshorcannedfoodhascomeincontactwithfloodwaters,throwitout.• Take steps to reduceyour risk of future floods.Make sure to follow localbuilding codes and ordinanc-es when rebuilding, and useflood-resistant materials andtechniques to protect yourselfandyourproperty fromfutureflooddamage.• Do not visit disasterareas following a flood. Yourpresence may hamper urgentemergency response and res-cueoperations!
May 2007 Flash Flood Flash back
Flash flooding threatened to submerge the Comanche Nation Casino in Lawton, Okla. on May 8, 2007 when a downpour of heavy rains flooded the casino area. The waters rose to the doors of the casino, and the area around it was flooded. Tribal employees from the casino, tribal complex, and tribal housing authority worked together May 9 to fill sandbags and pile mounds of sand to build a barrier to stop the rising water from swamp-ing the casino.
File Photos
FURY OF THE FLOOD
Red Cross Flood Safety Brochure
By Jolene Schonchin/News Staff
May 2012 12 The Comanche Nation News
MilitarySubmitted by Lanny Asepermy
The Comanche IndianVeterans Association (CIVA)Court of Honor consists of anumberofgranitemonumentshonoringComancheWarriors,pasttopresent,byname,rank,branch and dates of service.The very first monument in-stalled starts with the nameChebahtah, followed by thenames of 18Comanche listedasTroopL,7thCavalry.ThesenameswereoriginallyprovidedbyTowanaSpiveyintheearly1980stoMr.AlbertClarkandotherCIVAmembers,manyofwhomarenowdeceased. New and updated in-formationhasagainbeenpro-videdbySpiveytoCIVAHis-torian LannyAsepermy aboutour early Comanche Soldiers.Thispreliminarylistingisstillbeing scrubbed andmay con-tainsomeerrorsinspellingortranslations. However, as hisresearch continues toward amajor publication on “NativeAmerican Soldiers, Scouts,Marshals and Police”, addi-tionalupdateswillbeprovided.
listedasKiowa)PrivateWe-he also listed asWay Hayor“ButcherKnife”PrivateNan-i-mahor“Belly”PrivateNas-cha-na-nior
“YellowBuffalo”PrivatePahsitaorW. Heran-
pittyor“Hairless”Comanche Indian Scouts,
Fort Sill DetachmentEs-sa-tow-yah-be or“GrayMountain”(EnlistedDecem-ber1,1874,dischargedMarch1,1875)
Comanche Indian Scouts, Fort Sill Detachment(En-listedMay11,1875,served3monthsattheCheyenne
Agency)SergeantComancheGeorge (Ant-Po-Te-qirp?)To-ba-tos-sa (listed as botha Private and Corporal)PrivateTich-a-ma-chaPrivateCheeversPrivateNam-a-war-va
PrivateGu-no-lPrivateKan-a-wa or Kam-a-wahPrivateTi-va-quaPrivateTis-o-ro-quthPrivateTis-o-ro-quth-tiuPrivateNan-no-yi-ropePrivateKos-ou-nyor“Pard”Pah-ha-mum-soop or“PlentyHair”Toh-wehor“Bumper”PrivateSoaut-teor“Morn-ingStar”,enlistedDecember1,1875anddischargedMay1875 InanemailfromSpiv-eyhestated“I found multiple spellings of many names and it is difficult to know what is correct or preferred. I have seen the spellings and even translations change over time and one objective of the re-search is to show those chang-es”. He added “I initially pro-vided a list of names of Troop L soldiers to the CIVA a long time ago. I am not sure if they added more to the list or what after that.” Spiveycontinues“They were regular army soldiers in the strict sense of the word. The Sioux and Cheyenne were quick to enlist in the northern plains since they were suffer-ing from bad economic condi-tions and needed the money. The Comanche and Kiowa were slow to get started be-cause everyone thought these tribes were pretty well off (ec-onomically) compared to the northern tribes. It was stated that many of the Comanche and Kiowa had as many as 200 horses and did not need soldier pay. This reluctance was noted by the army and the recruiting officer from the northern plains came to Fort Sill to talk to the Comanche and Kiowa about enlisting. The leaders told him they had already been told about this by Captain Hugh L. Scott so they told the visiting officer they were not interested. However, within a week they changed their minds and began enlist-ing at Fort Sill. At the time this service was looked upon by the army as an economic opportunity, a chance to make money. It was not generally recognized by the army that the military service was actu-ally a substitute for the “war-rior tradition” that had bro-ken down with the close of the Indian Wars. It was a matter of RESPECT, HONOR and STANDING. Asepermy notes thatSpivey is a member of theChickasaw Nation and wasborn in Madill, Okla. He en-listed in the OklahomaArmyNational Guard in 1960 andserved with the then 45th In-fantryDivision.Hehashelpedpreservemorethan50frontierbuildings, united the TroopL descendants, and served asa historical adviser for ma-jor motion pictures such as“Geronimo” and “Wind Talk-ers”,aswellasmanytelevisiondocumentaries. Spiveywillberemem-beredinComanchehistoryasamanofintegritywhenhetesti-fiedonbehalfoftheComancheNationagainsttheUSArmy–his employer – in September2008abouthisrepeatedwarn-ings to haltmilitary construc-tionnear theMedicineBluffs,whichareconsideredsacredbyvariousPlainsIndiantribes.Hedid so despite warnings fromformercommandersto
RESPECT, HONOR AND STANDING
Continued on page 13
besilentandwiththesoberingrealizationthatthejobhecher-ishedwouldbejeopardized. IntheendtheUSDis-trictCourtissuedarulingthatprohibited the Army frombuilding a $7.3millionTrain-ingServicesCenterwarehouseand other buildings south ofthe historic bluffs. The judgechastised post officials who“turnedadeafeartowarnings”recognizing Spivey’s candidtestimonyascrucialtohisde-cision. Spivey simply said“it was the right thing to do”. Spivey will be fea-tured in an upcoming editionof Oklahoma Today maga-zineandwillbe inducted intothe Chickasaw Hall of Fameon May 3rd. He is currentlyretired and living in Duncanwith his wife Phyllis, of overfortyyears.Shesaid,“I don’t think he’ll be remembered for all the things he has done at Fort Sill, but I think he will be remembered as the man who saved the Medicine Bluffs. Iwillrememberhimasafriendof the Comanche, Kiowa andApache, who as ComanchememberWahnneClark stated,“stood against tremendous odds to do the right thing”.
Towana Spivey in the Warriors Journey exhibit.
CIVA Hosting Two Events In May
The Comanche IndianVeteransAssociationishostingtheir7thAnnualArmedForcesDay Banquet, beginning a 1p.m., May 19 at WatchetakerHall.Comanche veterans andtheir guest are invited. Asit-downmealwillbeprovided. On May 28 they willhosttheir36thAnnualMemo-rialDayCeremonyattheCIVACourtofHonorinfrontoftheComanche Nation Headquar-ters beginning at 11 a.m. Intheeventofinclementweatherthe ceremony will be held inWatchetakerHall. Thepublicis invited. Refreshments willbeprovidedaftertheceremonyinWatchetakerHall. HonorstoselectedCo-manche veterans will be pre-sentedatbothevents. Honorees for theArmed Forces Day Banquet will beMaster SergeantLon-nie Torralba Henderson, USAirForce,VietnamWar;SGTAlexander Karty, US Army,GlobalWaronTerrorism-Iraqand Afghanistan; SpecialistBaliente Herrera, US Army,GlobalWar on Terrorism andAirman 1st Class Patterson “Pat” Tahdooahnippah, USAirForce,VietnamWar.
MSgt Henderson receiving an Air Medal at Offutt AFB.
Master Sergeant Lon-nie Torralba HendersonservedintheOklahomaArmyNational Guard from 1956-59andtheUSAirForcefrom1956-86.WhileintheNation-alGuardheservedinAnadar-kowithBatteryB,158thFieldArtillery, 45th Infantry Divi-sion as a Cannon Crewman.He enlisted in the Air Forceand served in the IntelligenceFieldasaVoiceLinguist. He is qualified Russian, Vietnam-ese and German linguist. MSgtHendersonsawdutyinVietnam,Germany,GreatBrit-ain, Greece, Japan and Pana-ma and flew reconnaissancemissions in the Baltic, Ber-ants, White, Mediterranean,Adriatic, Ionian and AegeanSeas, the Gulf of Tonkin andoverVietnam,Thailand,Laos,Cambodia,theGulfofMexico,against Grenada and variousareasofCentralAmerica.HisonlystatesidedutywasatOf-futtAFB, Neb. He has over 1,000 combat flight hours and over 5,000 hours of combat and combat support hoursonC-130andRC-135Reconnais-sanceAircraft. His awards includethe Meritorious Service, Air (19), Commendation, Com-bat Readiness (4),ArmyGoodconduct,AirForceGoodcon-duct (7), National DefenseService, Armed Forces Ex-peditionary (Grenada), Viet-namServicewith/3CampaignStars,VietnamGallantryCrosswith/Palm andVietnam Cam-paignwith/1960DeviceMed-als, theAirForceOutstandingUnitAward(9)includingValorDevice,Air Force Long Tour(6),NCOProfessionalEduca-tionGraduateandSmallArmsExpert Rifle Ribbons and theChief Air Crew and CombatCrewBadges.He is the most decorated Comanche veteran with 58 Decorations, Medals, Badges, Citations and Cam-paign Ribbons.
AIC Pat Tahdooahnippah in 1967 Airman 1st Class Pat-terson D. “Pat” Tahdooahnip-pahservedintheUSAirForcefromMay10,1967toMay7,1971. He took his BasicTrainingatLacklandAirForceBase,TXandOntheJobTrain-ing, as a Security Policeman,atLittleRockAirForceBase,Ark. In late September 1969he deployed to Dong Maung Royal Thai Air Force Base with the 825th Security Police Squadron. His duties includedflight line,perimeter,baseen-trance and cantonment securi-ty.AICTahdooahnippahspent11monthsand26daysinThai-landinsupportoftheVietnamWareffort. Hecompletedhisservicewiththe443rdMilitaryAirlift Command atAltusAirForce,Okla.
Sergeant Alexander “Alex” KartyservedintheUSArmy from August 1995 toSeptember2005.Hecomplet-edhisBasicandAdvancedIn-dividualTraining, as aHeavyEquipment Operator, at FortLeonardWood,Mo. His first assignmentwas with the US MilitaryAcademy atWest Point, N.Y.Heserved the reminderofhisservicewiththe82ndAirborneDivision at Fort Bragg, N.C.,asaHeavyEquipmentOpera-torandPlatoonSergeant. SGTKartydeployedwiththe82nd,to Af-ghanistan for eight months in 2002-03andforanothereight months to Iraq in 2004-04 insupportofthe505thParachuteInfantryRegiment.Hegradu-atedfromthePrimaryLeader-ship Development and BasicNCOCourses. HisawardsincludetheBronze Star, Army Commen-dation (2), Army Achievement,Good Conduct (3), NationalDefense Service, Afghanistanand IraqCampaignandGlob-alWar on Terror Medals, theCombat Action, Airborne and Air Assault Badges and theArmy Service, NCO Profes-sional Development with/Nu-meral2andOverseasRibbons.
SPC Baliente Herrera in Iraq
Specialist Baliente Herrera served in the USArmy from December 27,1997toOctober10,2004.Hecompleted Basic Training atFortSillandhisAdvancedIn-dividual Training as a Petro-leumSupplySpecialistatFortLee,Va. SPC Herrera was alsostationed at FortBragg,N.C.,and in theSunni Triangle re-gion of Iraq, northwest of Baghdad, with BatteryA, 1stBattalion, 12th FieldArtillery(MLRS), 17th Field ArtilleryBrigade from April 8, 2003toApril 12, 2004 -his duties included ground search and patrols, transporting prison-ers of war, tower and perim-eter guard, escort missions, preparation of captured ene-
FIGHTING FOR SACRED GROUND
May 2012 13 The Comanche Nation News
Continued from Page 12
my caches for destruction and training the Iraqi National Guard forces. He graduatedfromAirborneSchoolin1998and the primary LeadershipDevelopmentCourseinMarch2003. His awards includetheArmy Commendation (2), Army Achievement (2), Na-tionalDefenseService,GlobalWar on Terror, Global WarTerror Expeditionary and IraqCampaignwith/2ServiceStarsMedals,theNCOProfessionalDevelopment with/Numeral 1andArmyServiceRibbonsandtheParachutists Badge. Honorees for the Me-morial Day Ceremony willbeLtColDave S. Portillo,USMarineCorps,GlobalWar onTerrorism - Iraq and SergeantMalcom Taunah, US MarineCorps,andOklahomaNationalGuard, Vietnam and PersianGulfWars. Special Recognitionwillbepresentedtothefamilyof the late Colonel RaymondPortillo, US Marine Corps,World War II. Col Portillo was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with Valor Device for action between April 1-15, 1945 on Okinawa.
LtCol Dave S. Portillo
Lieutenant Colonel Dave S. Portillo served in theUS Marine Corps from De-cember 1989 to June 2011.HisassignmentincludesQuan-tico Va., twice, NAS Dallas,Texas, NAS Pensacola Fl.,Marine CorpsAS Camp Pen-delton,Cali., three times,Ma-rineCorpsASMiramarCali.,NASCorpusChristi,TexasandoverseasinJapantwice,KoreatwiceandthePersianGulf. LtColPortilloconclud-edhiscareerastheS-1Admin-istrationOfficerandS-5FuturePlansOfficeratMarineCorpsAir Station Lwakuni, Japan.He graduated from numerousschoolsincludingOfficerCan-didate School, Naval Flight Training School and theMa-rine Corps Command and Staff College. He served as a heli-copterpilotwhilebasedatAliAl SalemAirBase inKuwaitand austere forward operatingbases throughout Iraq in2003withtheMarineLightHelicop-ter Squadron 369, 3rdMarineAircraftWing. LtCol Portillo is credited with successfully completing 41 combat sor-ties from April to July 2033 in support of coalition ground forces. HisawardsincludetheMeritorious Service, Air (2), USN/USMC Commendation (2), USN/USMC Achievement,National Defense Service (2),Armed Forces Expeditionary,GlobalWar on Terror, GlobalWar on Terror ExpeditionaryandIraqCampaignMedals,theUSN/USMC President Unit Citation and Naval Aviator Insignia.
SGT Malcom Taunah in Iraq
Sergeant Malcom Tau-nah served in theUSMarineCorpsfromJuly2,1969toJuly2, 1971 and March 12, 1976to March 11, 1978 earning
Col Raymond C. Portillo Colonel Raymond C. Portillo served in theUSMa-rineCorpsfromMay29,1941toJuly1,1961.Heisthesec-ondknownComanche toearntherankofColonel. Col Portillowasdeco-rated with the Bronze Star and
therankofCorporal. HealsoservedintheOklahomaArmyNationalGuardfromMarch5,1978toMarch1,1996. Corporal Taunah tookhis Boot Training at the SanDiegoMarine Corps TrainingDepot and his Infantry Train-ingatCampPendeltonCali. Hearrived in Vietnam in January, 1970andwasas-signed to 2nd Battalion, 1stMarinesand laterwith the1stBattalion,7thMarinesandthe3rd Battalion, 1stMarines allof the 1st Marine Division.HewasbasedaLZBaldyandMarbleMountain.In October, 1970 he was wounded from a gunshot wound in the left shoulder and sharpnel in the right hip and lower leg.Cor-poral Taunah served one yearinVietnam. During his second en-listment in the Corps he wasassignedwith1stMarineDivi-sionagain.Afterhisenlistmentinto the OklahomaArmy Na-tional Guard he was assignedtothe180thInfantryBattalionandlaterwiththe1stBattalion158th FieldArtillery based atWalters. He took his AnnualTrainingatFortChaffee,Ark.,FortCarson,Colo.,FortRiley,Kan.,FortPolk,La.,FortSillandKorea.WhileintheGuardhe served as an Infantryman, Scout and Cannon Crewman (MLRS). SGTTaunahgradu-ated from the US Army Pri-maryLeadershipDevelopmentCourse.HeservedinthePer-sianGulfinsupportofOpera-tionsDesertShieldandDesertStormfromJanuary15toMay5,1991. HisawardsincludethePurple Heart, Army Com-mendation, Army Achieve-ment, Army Good Conduct,Army Reserve Component Achievement, National De-fense Service (2), VietnamService with/3 Service Stars,SouthwestAsiaServicewith/3Service Stars, Armed ForcesReserve, Vietnam Campaignwith/1960 Device, KuwaitLiberation (from the Kuwaitgovernment), Kuwait Libera-tionwith/Palm(fromtheSaudiArabia government), Okla-homa Southwest Asia Ser-vice,OklahomaLongService,VietnamGallantryCrosswith/Palm, Vietnam Civil ActionandOklahomaArmyNationalGuard Desert Storm ServiceMedals and the Combat Ac-tion,NCOProfessionalDevel-opment,Army Service,ArmyOverseas Service and ArmyReserve Component OverseasTrainingRibbons.
Combat Valor Device for ac-tion from April 1 to June 15, 1945 against enemy Japanese Forces during the Battle of Okinawa. ThefamilyofColPor-tillowereunable toattend theNumuPukutsiAwardCeremo-nyandwill bepresentedwiththe Gallantry, Heroism, Valor(Numu Pukutsi), Combat Ser-vice(Numu Tekwaniwapu)andHonorableServiceMedallionsandNumu PukutsiCitation. Col Portillo passedaway,atage85,onSeptember24,2003inIrving,Texas. A Roll Call of the 13FallenWarriors of the Nationwill be conducted during theMemorialDayCeremony.The Fallen Warriors are: CPLJohnnie Rivas,killedinactiononJune6,1944;SGTMelvin“Hawkeye” Myers, killed inactiononJune14,1944;PVTEli Hosetosavit, killed in ac-tion onAugust 1, 1944; PVTBen Trevino, killed in ac-tion onAugust 3, 1944; PFCThomas Chockpoyah, killedin action onAugust 7, 1944;PFC Gilbert Vidana, killedin action on September 16,1944; PVT Henry “Dutch” Kosechata, died of woundsonMay 1, 1945; PFCHenry William Conwoop, died ofwoundsonMay3,1945;CPLDennis King Karty, died incaptivity on March 30, 1952;LtColMeech Tahsequah, de-clared dead while missing inaction on February 28, 1954;Pfc Russell Eugene “Rusty” Pesewonit, killed in actiononJuly22,1966;Pfc Robert Car-los Pahcheka,killed inactiononOctober 22, 1968 and CplJoshua Jerald Ware,killedinactiononNovember16,2005.
GONZALEZ AWARDED BRONZE
STAR
Sergeant Joseph D.Gonzalez was awarded theBronze Star Medal for hisservicewith the 45th InfantryBrigade Combat Team. Hiscitation reads “For excep-tionally meritorious service in support of Operation En-during Freedom, Afghani-stan from 15 June 2011 to 7 March 2012. Your personal courage and commitment to mission accomplishment in a combat zone, under the most extreme circumstances, greatly contributed to the suc-cess of Operation Enduring Freedom. Your performance reflects great credit upon you, Task Force Thunderbird, Combined Joint Task Force-1 and the United States Central Command.” The award wasdatedFebruary19,andsignedby Daniel B. Allyn, MajorGeneral,USArmy,Command-ingandJohnM.McHugh,Sec-retaryoftheArmy. SGT Gonzalez wasalso awarded theCombat Ac-tion Badge“forperformingas-signeddutiesinanareawherehostile fire pay or imminentdanger pay is authorized,was
Joseph Gonzalez receiving hon-ors, in May from CIVA Com-mander George Red Elk prior to his deployment to Afghanistan.
personallypresentandactivelyengagingorbeingengagedbytheenemy”;the Combat Medi-cal Badge “forbeingengagedin active ground combat” andthe Purple Heart Medal “forwoundsreceivedinactionon6August2011inAfghanistan”. SGT Gonzalez is thehusbandoftheformerTshante
GoingSnakes,thesonofCla-riceandthelateOscarGonza-lez and thegrandsonofCaroland the late LaVerne Atison.He has five children and asof this writing is at theWar-riorTransitionFacilityatFortSamHouston,Texasreceivingtreatment forTraumaticBrainInjury.
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May 2012 15 The Comanche Nation News
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Dear TCNNLetters to the Editor
DearTCNN,
I wrote the following poemaboutQuanahParker:
TheStarHouse
Big white house with some stars on topMoved down here to an amuse-ment parkSitting in the lot and falling down . . .
The Parker girl would come of age when her family fell in that Comanche raidadopted by the Quahada tribe doing woman’s work - tanning buffalo hidesoon to be Chief Nacona’s only brideCynthia Ann was now Nahadu.
Nacona died of a broken heartand some old wounds from an Apache dart“I killed Nacona” young Ross would saybut It was mostly squaws that died that dayat the salty Pease River they took his wife awayto a white man’s world forgot-ten.
When the soldiers came she tried to runbut the long knives with the re-peating gunsweren’t showing any mercy.
No father now, his mother gone
- young Quanah’s path was long and drawnFrom Palo Pinto to old Mexico they soon would know his nameAt Adobe Wells he gained some fameWith unmatched courage this warrior cameTaking vengeance on the white man.
No army could these warriors match - but food and shelter - there’s the catchSheridan and Sherman both warriors greatCould only chase and hide and waitand bring to the Plains un-charted gatesThe skinners and the hunters.
And taking in the awful sight, Quanah lost his only fightThe Buffalo slaughtered only for their hideOr a cure for boredom on a long train rideAnd so they starved and so they criedAnd in bitter cold their spirits died.
So in return for their surrender - moldy flour and whisky bend-ersHe brought them to the agency and touched the pen for all to see.But their defender still was heComancherias last war Chief
With help from former foes in
fight - like Burkburnett and Charles Goodnighthe moved into this house of whiteand from it beamed a glorious lightto the poor and sick at day’s twilightThey gathered in it’s shadows
And He painted stars on that old roof - and he thought about the old daysThey say he never slept insideAnd how he still could speak with prideAnd dream of days he used to ridethe Llano Es-tacado
Great war-rior of the Q u a h a d a tribeLast chief of the Coman-che prideC o t e s - E -Wyne* - he now em-bracedThe Eagle to his resting place Waiting till the new day breaksand all the shadows fall
Big white house with
some stars on topMoved down here to an amuse-ment parkSitting in the lot and falling down
* A sort of ‘last rites’ given by a spiritual/medicine man - imi-tating the sound of an eagle in flight and moving his hands simulating the wings of the ea-gle in flight. Died Feb 23 1911
DearTCNN, The family of Nipperand Cora Tiddark would liketoexpresstheirthanksandap-preciationof allwhoattendedtheir memorial powwow. Itmade the family feel good toknow how much Nipper andCora were appreciated andloved.A special thanks to allwho helped with the supperand thosewhowere theHeadStaff.
SincerelyThe family of Nipper and
Cora Tiddark
May 2012 16 The Comanche Nation News
Milestones
Obituaries
Tiddark
Buddy Richard Tiddark Funeral service forBuddy Richard Tiddark, 60,Lawton,OklahomawasMarch13, at the Comanche NationComplex, with June Sovo of-ficiating. Prayer service wasMarch 12, at the ComancheNationComplex. Burial was at LittleWashita Cemetery, Fletcher,Okla., under the direction ofLawton Ritter Gray FuneralHome. Tiddark went to hisheavenlyfatheronMarch9,inLawton,Okla. Tiddark was bornon July 25, 1951 in Lawton,Okla., to Napoleon “Nipper”
Laurenzana Whitecrow
Geretta Ann Laurenzana Whitecrow FuneralserviceforGe-retta Ann Laurenzana White-crow,57,LawtonwasMarch,22 at the Comanche NationComplex with Rev. DelfredWhitecrow,Sr. andRevSam-uelWareofficiating. BurialwasatHighlandCemetery under of LawtonRitterGrayFuneralHome. Prayer service was
TiddarkandAliceMunoz.Hegrew up in Lawton where heattendedlocalschools.Hewasa member of the ComancheNation. Hewas active in hisyounger years in Rodeo as aBarebackRider andbecameaNational Champion, hewas aavidboxerwiththeBoysClub.Hewasveryactiveinfastpitchsoftball formanyyearsdatingbacktotheKellyThomasParkdays.TiddarkwasalsoanavidGolfer,knowntohisfriendsas“LeeTrevino.”Heworkedasarooferformanyyearsuntilhewasforcedtoretireduetohishealth. Tiddark is survived byhis children, Debra Tiddark,Lawton; Michael Tiddark,Lawton;GracieTurnerandhus-band,Joey,Norman;SamanthaTiddark,Lawton;SarahCarterand husband, James, Cache;nine grandchildren: AnthonyMcDaniel, Cache; JesseAgu-liar, Alicia Aguliar and Cele-na Aguliar, all of California;ShaylaScott,KelseyKeining-ham,bothofCache,Okla.;Jo-seph Turner, Norman, Okla.;HaleyCarterandJamesCarter,Jr.,bothofCache,Okla.; fourbrothersandfivesisters: TimTiddark, Indiahoma, Okla.;Patricia“BabyDoll”andhus-band, Byron Apauty, Cache,
Okla.;RoseRidgwayandhus-band,David,Cache,Okla.,Al-ice “Sugar” Tahdooahnippah,Cache,Okla.,BarneyTiddark,Kansas, Sam Tiddark, Law-ton, Okla., Jim Tiddark andwife, Lynn of Lawton, Okla.,andSabrinaBunoz,Arkansas;and a special sister BarbaraCook,Lawton,Okla.;aspecialbrother,JohnnyTiddark;andaspecial friend, JoeBrady; anda host of loving family andfriends. Tiddark is precededin death by his father,NipperTiddark,ason,RichardHearn,grandparents, Gracia TiddarkandJohnPahdopony,agrand-mother,CecillaWiley,aspecialsister,BrendaEdwards, and alife long companion, RaylynnCoosewooon.
March 21, at the ComancheNationComplex. Whitecrow was bornonApril 28, 1954 in Lawton,Okla., to Leon and Marion(Seahmer) Laurenzana. Shegrew up in Lawton, Okla.,wheresheattendedFortSillIn-dianSchool.ShemarriedSul-livanWhitecrowonJanuaryof1975 inWichita Falls, Texas.Hediedin1997.SheworkedasaNurse’sAideinAnadarkofor several years beforemov-ingtoSpokane,Wash.Shere-turnedtoLawtonin2005.Sheattended Lawton Indian Mis-sion. She is survivedbyhercompanion, RicardoAyala, ofthe home; her children, Ga-brielWhitecrow,Sr.,Spokane,
Wash., Sullivan Whitecrow,Jr., Lawton, Okla., RachelWhitecrow,Lawton,Okla.,andAlfred Whitecrow, Clinton,Okla.; her sisters, Alice Pad-dyaker, Elgin, Okla., MarilynMestellandhusband,Charles,Anadarko,Okla.,SissieFleet-wood, Duncan, Okla., MaryWoodard and husband, Noot-sie Nauni, Carnegie, Okla.,Pearl Edge and husband, Ju-nior, Jay, Okla.; her brothers,Rudolph Seahmer and wife,Martha, Duck Valley, Nev.,Thomas Laurenzana, Anadar-ko, Okla., Bert Laurenzana,Lawton,Okla.,GordonWood-ardandwifeDeanna,Lawton,Okla., Thomas Woodard Jr.,Carnegie, Marc A. Seahmer,Cali., Willis Woodard, Carn-egie,Okla.;heruncle,ThomasWoodardSr.,Carnegie,Okla.;her half sisters and brothers,Tim Laurenzana-Tieyah, To-peka,Kan.,GeorgeLaurenza-na,Elgin,Okla., FernBrown,Colony,Texas,ValorisStroup,Irving,Texas,andJewellLau-renzana-Tieyah, Elgin, Okla.;hergrandchildren:Gabriel,Jr.,Sheniece,Chante’,Ronald,Joe(YoYo)Elijah,Dillion,Nathan,Sarcee andTabbetha; andonegreatgrandson,babyLorenzo;and a special friend,Kathleen
Happy Belated Birthday
Raven Ciara RedElk, March 5Frances Mowatt, April 23
Happy Birthday
Trinity Pewewardy, May 2Jeff Codynah, May 4Natalie Pekah, May 8Lesley Boyden, May 10Ricky Gene Toho, May 11Alyssa Bravo, May 12Ansleigh Mowatt, May 12 Kim Kopaddy May 12Anita Viddaurrie-Manh, May 12Charles Lewis Jr., May 13Jon Evans RedElk, May 13Sonny RedElk, May 13Lottie Deere, May 14Amiya DeVine-Tonips, May 15Micheal Pekah, May 15Modesto Schonchin, May 17Erick Postoak, May 19Ethel Boyden, May 20Jimi Tahdooahnippah, May 20Julia Mantzke, May 21Kevin John Codynah, May 23Angel Tahdooahnippah, May 26Harlequin Ototivo, May 28Carmelita Wynkoppt, May 31Stacy Bravo, May 31
Don’t Forget to submit milestones for those
Special loved ones; Just married, Birth Announcements, Birthdays,
Born: March 20, 20128lbs’ 3oz’ &22in’ To: David Gardner & Jessica Tahah
David Kenneth Gardner
Happy BirthdayKevin Codynah
May 23
Happy BirthdayJulia Mantzke
May 21
Happy BirthdayKyla-Jo Aitson
May 19
Continued on Page 17
May 2012 17 The Comanche Nation News
PocowatchitCleta Marie Pocowatchit Funeral service forCleta Marie Pocowatchit, 58,FletcherwasMarch24atLit-tleWashitaMethodistChurch,Fletcher,Okla.,withRev.Da-vidHarjo,Pastorofficiating. Burial was at OtipobyCemetery under the directionofLawtonRitterGrayFuneralHome. Pocowatchit passedaway on March 21, in Okla-homaCity,Okla. Prayer service wasMarch 23, at Little WashitaMethodistChurch. Pocowatchit was bornon April 18, 1953 in Law-ton,Okla.,toJamesandMary(Monetathchi) Pocowatchit.She grew up in the MountScottareabeforemovingwithherfamilytotheFletcherareawhere she remainedallofherlife.SheattendedFletcherPub-licSchoolsandFt.Sill IndianSchool inLawton,Okla. Shethenattendedtwoyearsofcol-legeatHaskellJuniorCollegeandtwoyearsatBaconeJuniorCollege. Shewas a CertifiedNurse’sAssistant and workedat local nursing centers. Sheenjoyedreading,watchingT.V.andcaringforherfavoritekit-ty-cat, “Precious.” She lovedspendingtimewithherdaugh-terandthree-month-oldgrand-daughter. Shewas amemberof the ComancheTribe and amember of the LittleWashitaMethodistChurch. She is survivedbyherdaughter and son-in-law, Jes-sica and Martin Williams,Cyril, Okla.; her granddaugh-ter, Mary ElizabethWilliams,Cyril, Okla.; four brothers,Vincent Pocowatchit, Elgin,Okla., Roderick Pocowatchit,Lawton,Okla.,DennisPocow-atchit,Lawton,Okla.,andGer-aldPocowatchit,Cache,Okla.;four sister, Martha Jackson,Coweta,BessieRobbins,Trac-ey,Cali.,MildredLong,Okla-homa City, Okla. and GloriaPocowatchit,of thehome;heraunt,JeanMonetathchiandheruncle, Eldrige Tahdooahnip-pah;andnumerousniecesandnephews,includingherspecialnephews, Thomas Mihecobyand Vincent Charles Pocow-atchit. She was preceded indeath by her parents, MaryMonetathchi and James Po-cowatchit; and two broth-ers, Harold Pocowatchit andCleatisPocowatchit.
Hoahwah
Roderick William Hoahwah, Sr.
Funeral for Roderick
Burgess
Elton Angel Burgess FuneralforEltonAngelBurgess, 37, Elginwas at theComanche Nation ComplexwithRev.VidellYackeschiof-ficiating. Burgess passed awayonApril7, inOklahomaCity,Okla. BurialwasatHighlandCemetery under the directionof Whinery-Huddlestion Fu-neralHomeService. Burgess was born onJune8,1974,inTuscon,Ariz.,toTeddyBurgessandRamonaPahcheka. Hewas amemberof the Comanche Nation ofOklahoma and Mt. Scott Co-manche Methodist Church.Burgess was raised at Elgin,graduating from High Schoolin 1992. He attendedCaddo/Kiowa Technology Centerwhere he obtained a certifi-cateinTechnologyEducation.Burgess was employed withComanche Nation Casino asa black jack dealer. Burgesshasapassionforon-linevideogaming where he was knownby on-liner gamers as “AngelBoy3000.”Helovedtospendtime visiting his family andfriends. Survivors include hisparents:TeddyBurgess,Law-tonandRamonaPahchekaandhusband Paul, Cache, Okla.Two brothers, Gary BurgessandTeddyJr.bothofLawton,Okla.Twonephews:TreBur-gess,Lawton,Okla.,andBran-donBurgess,Bethany,Okla.;aniece, Aubrey Burgess, Law-ton, Okla. and a companion,Jenny Smith, Apache, Okla.He had many uncles, aunts,andcousins. Burgess was precededin death by: Maternal grand-parents Melvin and YvonneWahahrockah and paternalgrandparents Earl and DaisyBurgess.
Kern,Spokane,Wash.;andnu-merousnieces,nephews;andahostoflovingfriends. She was preceded indeath by her mother, MarionSeahmer Laurenzana; her fa-ther, Leon Laurenzana; herhusband, SullivanWhitecrow;her sisters, Shirley Pribbleand JuanitaGracia; her aunts,Bertalee Seahmer WoodardandMinnie Seahmer; and heruncles, Clifford Seahmer andRayTenequer.
William Hoahwah, Sr., 77,Lawton,wasApril5,attheCo-mancheNationComplex,withBishop JohnPearson,officiat-ing. Prayer service wasApril4, at theComancheNa-tionComplex. BurialwasinHighlandCemetery under direction ofLawton Ritter Gray FuneralHome. Hoahwah was bornNovember 14, 1934 in Law-ton,Okla.,toJessieCableandQuanahAbeHoahwah.Heat-tendedFortSillIndianSchooland joined the U.S. Army attheageof18asaPFCE-3(t)52ndArty,ABtry,1stMalBn,inCampHanford,Wash., andwas honorably discharges in1959. He thenmarriedChar-leneCoosewoonandtheywerehappily married for over 50years. He served in the U.S.Army Reserves until 1963.HewasawardedafewmedalsandbadgesincludingtheGoodConduct medal, a launcherbadge, Expert (Carbine), 2ndClassArtillery. Hewaslateremployedby Meads Bakery as a bakerandwasacookatFortSillIn-dianSchoolandtheLawtonIn-dianHospitalwhereheretiredin2001after26yearsofgov-ernmentservice. Hoahwahwas amem-ber of the Comanche NationTribe and a Comanche veter-an. He boxed in his youngerdays. Inhis retirementyears,helovedwatchingNascarrac-ing, classicmovies and goingtothecasinowithhiswife.Heenjoyedfishingalonewithhisfamily. Survivors include hiswife, Charlene, of the home,sevenchildrenandtheirspous-es: LaleciaandRobertWells,Geronimo,Okla.,MelissaRe-nee Castillo, Lawton, Okla.,Miranda Cintron-Hoahwah,Geronimo, Okla., Myra Me-dina, Lawton, Okla., Rolandaand Eduardo Santiago, Elgin,Okla., Roderick William Jr.Hoahwah, of the home, andTerence (T) Hoahwah of thehome;hisbrothersandsisters,CarlTahah,VeraGooday,andJocille Eveans; his grandchil-dren: Jeremiah Teeter, GaryChasenah, Jr., Joseph Coose-woon, Melissa Castillo-Nun-ley, Jonathan Hoahwah, Mar-cusMedina,MarianaCastillo,Ryan Cintron, Mari Medina,JorgeGarcia,LisaCastillo-Ro-sado, Samantha Cintron-Lo-pez, Roberto (Peanut) Medi-na, Tasha Hoahwah, Brianna(BriBri)Hoahwah, JalynSan-tiago, Juliana Santiago,AngelVasquez, Desiree Trent-Cin-tron, and Wilson Cintron Jr.;his five great grandchildren:Leticia and Valencia Nunley,Yanez Moore, Hokeah Hoah-wah,DustinSilverhorn. He is also survivedbyspecial brothers and sisters:Benny (Uncie Guy) Tahmah-kera, Betty Lou Chasenah,Jolene Tahah, Barbara AnnChasenah,andLahomaKnight.
He was preceded indeath by his parents, broth-ers Benny Kassanavoid andCarltonHoahwah,Sr.andsis-ters Lucille Wallace, RowenaKomahcheet and Elaine Noy-abad, two grandsons, DanielWilliamsHoahwah and JevonLynn Santiago and one greatgranddaughter Kelicia Nun-ley, and special sister, PhyllisMowatt. Wermy
Leatrice Wermy Funeral for LeatriceWermy, 75, was April 18, atthe Comanche Nation Fu-neral Home Chapel in Law-ton,Okla.,withRev.NicholasTahchawwickahandRev.Mat-thewAsatamyofficiating. Prayer servicewas theatthefuneralhomeonApril17 Burial was at CacheKCACemeteryinCache,Okla. Wermy passed awayfrom thisearthlyhomeon themorningofApril14.Shewasborn to John Donald WermySr.andAgnesAtauvichWermy
one brother, George Wermyand wife Jeri, Cache, Okla.;one sister, Peggy Tahchaw-wickah and husband Nick,Cache, Okla.; one brother-in-law, Veron Cable Sr., Cache,Okla. and one sister-in-law,RobertaWermy,Clinton,Okla.A special taui (sister), Mar-leneAsenapJamesandseveralnieces, nephews, cousins andmanyotherrelatives.
Rafey Wallace Youniacutt Jr.
Graveside service forformerLawtonresident,RafeyWallaceYouniacutt, Jr.,69,ofLubbock,TexaswasMarch30,atCementCemeterywithJuneSovo,officiating. Burial followed atCe-mentCemeteryunderdirectionofLawtonRitterGrayFuneralHome. Youniacutt was bornon June 27, 1942 in Lawton,Okla.,toRafeyWallaceYouni-acutt,Sr.andCharlene(Davis)Youniacutt.HegrewupintheLawtonareawhereheattendedlocalschools.HeworkedasacabdriverwhilelivinginCali-fornia. Hetraveledtovariousplaces during his life beforemoving to Lubbock, Texas tobenearhissonandhisfamily.HemarriedSueCountsinMay1999. He is survived by hisson anddaughter-in-law, JohnW. and KatherineYouniacutt;his mother Charlene Younia-cutt, all of Lubbock, Texas;hisgrandchildren,RockyMar-tinez, Michael Martinez, andIsabelYouniacutt. He was preceded indeathbyhisfather,RafeyWal-laceYouniacutt,Sr.;hisdaugh-ter, Michelle Youniacutt; andhiswife,SueCounts.
onMarch 1, 1937 inLawton,Okla.ShewasmemberoftheComancheNation. She attended schoolsinCache,Okla.,andLyndrethNazarene School, Lyndreth,NewMexico. She worked for FritoLay in Fall River,Mass., andalso worked in the gallery atFort Sill Army Base for sev-eralyears.ShewasacertifiedNurse Assistant and workedin several nursing homesthroughoutLawtonandSnyderformanyyears. She attended theWestCache Nazarene Church inCache,Okla., formanyyears.She looked forward toattend-ingeverychurchevent. Wermy was a verycaring and loving mother toher children, grandchildren,and great grandchildren. Shehelpedthemineverywaypos-sibleandmanytimessacrificedherownneedsfortheirs. She is survivedbyherchildren:SandraCaddo,Law-ton,Okla.,JamieLeeandShir-ley Jo,Cache,Okla.;MichaelRay and wife Paula, Chicka-sha, Okla., Mark Caddo andwifeTrina,RedWing,Minn.,23 grandchildren: Queen,Robert,Allen,Monica,Stepha-nie, Steven, Crystal,Wintson,Amanda,Timothy,Joseph,An-twoine, Justin,Andrea,Leroy,Verdell,Alicia,David Jr.,An-thony, Jennifer, Tessa, Carter,Reina;34greatgrandchildren;
Continued from Page 16
May 2012 18 The Comanche Nation News
On Your Mark! Get Set! GO!!!!
It was a scene remi-niscent of an Olympic trackmeet, as the Comanche Na-tion Prevention & RecoveryCenter (CNPRC) hosted theannual Easter celebration fortheLawton/Ft.SillcommunityonMarch31,attheComancheTribal Complex. This marksthe28thyear that theComan-cheNationhas sponsoredandrecognizedEasterwith an an-nualeventasanestimated500childrenandcommunitymem-bersenjoyed theday’s festivi-ties. Amid smiles, grins,laughter and an early springheatwave participants dashedin hopes of finding the prizeegg.Ahuntwasheldforev-ery age with prizes rangingfrombicycles for the youngerchildren, electronics for theteenagers, andPendleton’s fortheadultsandelders.AKindle
Firewasgivenawayasagrandprize. Participantswereaskedtofilloutaquestionnairestat-ing the true meaning of Eas-ter andwhathad they learnedfrom the day. After that theonly requirementwas to droptheirquestionnaireinthehop-perforachancetowin. Thethemeofthisyear’seventwastobringawarenesstotheeverincreasingproblemof“drunkdriving.” Before eachhunt participants were taughtthedangers and consequencesof receiving a Driving Underthe Influence (DUI) charge.The preteenswere taught thatthereisbasicallynodifferencebetween a 12oz glass of beer,an8ozglassofwine,ora1.5oz shot of 80 proof alcohol.Each drink raises the BloodAlcoholConcentration (BAC)by2percent,or.02.Building
on that foundation the teenag-ersweretaughtthatitmayonlytake an average adult weigh-ing 160 – 200 lbs four drinkswithin two (2) hours to reachthelegallimitof.08.Afterthatone runs the risk of receivingaDUIwhichcan result in thesuspensionofadriver’slicenseand jail time, while spendingseveral thousand dollars onfines,courtcost,as-well-asat-torneyandreinstatementfees. A very special “ThankYou”isextendedtoPatPewe-wardyandSo-SoLylesof theMaintenancestaff.Theirgen-erous donation of time andeffort always aids in makingCNPRC’s events a success.ThestaffatComancheNationPrevention&RecoveryCenterwouldliketosay“ThankYou”to all who attended and wehopethewinnersareenjoyingtheprizes.
May 2012 19 The Comanche Nation News
There are times only when a Mother's loveCan understand our tears,
Can soothe our disappointmentsAnd calm all our fears.
There are times when only a Mother's LoveCan share the joy we feel
When something we've dreamed aboutQuite suddenly is real.
There are times when only a Mother's faithCan help on life's way
And inspire in us the confidenceWe need from day to day.
For a Mother's heart and a Mother's faithAnd a Mother's steadfast loveWere fashioned by the AngelsAnd sent from God above...
Happy Mother’s Day To All Mothers, Grandmothers, Aunts, Sisters, and Godmothers
