Prospects and Possibilities at Cameron University
On Thursday, March 9, Cameron University invited the City of Lawton and tribal leaders and community members to Civic Partnerships with Native American Nations: Prospects and Possibilities at Ross Hall.
Comanche Nation Chairman Mark Woommavovah, Chairman of the Kiowa Tribe Lawrence Spottedbird, and Lawton Mayor Stan Booker were in attendance.
Woommavovah focused on building relationships with the City of Lawton, Fort Sill and Cameron University.
“We all live in the same communities, we interact with each other; not only that, there's …advantages of economic development with the tribal nations,” he said. “There's an opportunity for our students to attend Cameron. [There are] opportunities for us to build those relations that were strained with Lawton, Fort Sill and we're on the road to recovery. We're doing it. This is the first step, coming together and talking about it, having that cooperation and working out our differences, and we were able to achieve that.”
Woommavovah said the relationship with the City of Lawton is in a great place because tribal members are on the United Way and the Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.
“We're able to join organizations such as Rotary, USO, so we're getting out in the community, and we're making it known we want to be part of the community, and we want to be leaders in the community,” he said.
Woommavovah said his idea to create a voice for Native Citizens is to have someone active within the City of Lawton.
“We need to get people; we need to get Native people on the City Council that live in the City of Lawton District,” he said. “We need to have our voices heard, and right now we're at a good spot where we can do that. We can achieve that because of the relationship we have built with the City of Lawton and the surrounding communities, so we need to take advantage of that.”
Woommavovah said there are current developments with the City of Lawton through the KCA Intertribal Land Use Committee to work on different projects to bring economic development into Lawton.
“On our land that…all of our nations, the Kiowa, Comanche and Apaches, can take values of," he said.
Woommavovah said relationships have improved with the City of Lawton.
“The mayor has actually gone out and engaged with tribal leaders. He invited them in, and we've had…a sit-down talk,” he said. “We've had lunch together, we had coffee together, we play golf together, so it's just interacting with each other, and the mayor was a big part of that initiative.”
Woommavovah said non-natives who want to become more involved with the tribe are encouraged to ask questions.
“We've got a Comanche Cultural Center and gift shop; they can visit that,” he said. “They can come to our powwows. Our powwows are open to the public. They can come in, they can ask questions, what's proper, what's not proper, and just make that connection.”
The event was a step in the right direction, according to Woommavovah.
“With Cameron University leading the way, wanting to have this forum together, and this panel, it's step one,” he said. “Step two is we're going to have another panel, and we're going to involve the community and the community leaders.”
Cameron University will host a Native American Cultural Studies Conference, open to the public, from Thursday, March 23 through Saturday, March 25, at the McMahon Centennial Complex McCasland Ballroom.
