Little Ponies Society Hosts Annual Powwow
On Saturday, May 11, the Comanche Nation Little Ponies Society held its annual powwow at the Comanche County Fairgrounds in Lawton, Oklahoma.
New members were inducted into the society, and several honorings were held before supper break.
Afterward, there was a special cloth event and several competitions.
Comanche Nation Princess Bluesky Tosee and Jr. Princess Arlene Schonchin were at the powwow. There was also royalty from about a dozen different organizations who also participated.
According to Little Ponies Chairman Lowell Nibbs, the society is based on Comanche History.
“A long time ago, when our people were on these lands, there was a society called Little Ponies, Teh-da Puku Nu, Little Ponies,” he said. “That society actually existed amongst the Comanche people, and this is where this is derived from; when it was revived by some Comanche men in the early 70s.”
Nibbs said it takes a lot of work and finances to put on the powwow.
“We received help from the tribe. We got on the budget this year, and we're thankful for that. But it takes, this is the most expensive one we've put on,” he said. “It's probably going to run somewhere in the neighborhood of $20,000, just because of how expensive things are nowadays, like food, and we get hotels for our guests and make sure all of our head staff gets gifts and money. It's very expensive, but we have people that contribute within the society that contribute. And we have people outside the society that help us. They're not even members, but they help us.”
Nibbs the powwow is important because it’s the culture of the people.
“This has been going on for 50 years. This is probably the oldest society that's still active after all this time,” he said. “So, it's important because if you look in the arena, you see all these kids. So, they're coming up in this, and we want them to participate and be active in their culture and their society.”
Nibbs said he enjoyed the event, and people from all over the United States were there to join.
“It's always stressful this time of year,” he said. “Someone commented, though, how everything is so organized here. But that happens because it takes months of coordinating and planning to do this. We do it every year, so we kind of know what we're doing, but it does take an army of people to pull this off and feed 500 people.So, it's good. It seems to go seamless. You don't really see any problems, but I'm feeling good. I'm feeling good. I'm happy to see all the people here. There's people here from many different states.”
Nibbs wanted to thank the Comanche people for allowing them to be on the budget.
