Comanche National Museum Opens "One Day in March" Exhibit
Comanche National Museum and Cultural Center’s current exhibit, “One Day in March,” tells the story of the Council House Fight, which took place in San Antonio, Texas, in 1840.
According to Director Candy Taylor, the exhibit focuses on the Comanche perspective.
“One hundred eighty-five years ago this month, there was a meeting that took place in San Antonio, Texas, at the Council House,” she said. “And during that meeting, it was between a Texas delegation and a group of Penateka Comanches, and the story and the Texas history books and other history books is a little different than what the Comanche oral version is, the Comanche oral history of the story is.”
Taylor said it’s important for people to visit since it offers a different perspective from textbooks, which was brought forth by Carney Saupitty Sr.
“Comanches were there, Comanches were involved, yet you don't ever hear anything about what really happened from their point of view,” she said. “And so, because of oral history stories, important stories that are passed down from generation to generation, we were able to work with an elder who came forth and said, ‘Hey, I've got the story. Let's work on an exhibit,’ and that's how this all started.”
Taylor said the museum gives Comanches a platform to share their history.
“For the longest time, tribal history was not told from a tribal perspective, and this museum and other museums are important because it finally gives us a platform, it finally gives us a voice to say, ‘Hey, this is what we say. This is what we know happened.’”
Collections Manager Nikki Carlstrom, who manages loans and designs the exhibits, said they reached out to one of the elders in the Saupitty family and a Comanche artist.
“And they did bring in items for this exhibit that were from the time frame that you know the Council House Fight happened,” she said. “We also have items in our collection that are of that time frame as well and a lot of NAGPRA items that we have received. So, that's one of the main things that we use for artifact-wise. For artwork, we did reach out to Ed Hoosier. He is a Comanche artist, and he gifted us drawings that he did to go with...the oral history.”
Carlstrom said working with those involved in the exhibit, which began in the early planning stages about a year ago and building sometime in mid-November.
“I like to work with the artists and again with our elder and just the museum staff in general. You know, none of this could…happen without them,” she said.
Taylor said the success of the museum depends on the community sharing stories and artifacts, which can be loaned or donated to the museum and held in a safe and climate-controlled storage area.
