Vice Chairman, Daughter Receive Awards at Conference

On Saturday, February 10, Vice Chairman of the Comanche Nation Cornel Pewewardy and his daughter Chantel Pewewardy received awards at the Oklahoma Native American Students in Higher Education (ONASHE) Conference at the University of Oklahoma (OU).

Cornel received the 2024 Outstanding Role Model Award. The accolade recognizes those who have displayed lifelong contributions to teaching, research and community. Cornel was nominated by students, colleagues and community leaders.

“I'm very honored to receive this award because it comes from the students, the native students, and mostly in the state of Oklahoma, that are mentored by their faculty and their staff,” he said. “And just to be acquainted with them, because I'm associated with the University of Central Oklahoma, and I've talked to many students at Cameron University, the native students, and USAO, and to also Rose State College. And I got acquainted with them, so many of them, over the last five years. And just to get to be nominated by so many of them and their faculty and staff; it's a remarkable award that I did not expect.”

Cornel said the award was focused on those in higher education and practice. Cornel said he’s been doing this in public schools and universities.

“Just knowing that I could offer my voice and experience in not only just in education but tribal government,” he said.

Cornel said there was a network of those who helped put on ONASHE.

“A lot of former students of mine, colleagues that we've worked over the decades to try to advance Indian education here in the state,” he said. “Not just state, but the Midwest, because there's people here from Kansas and Texas, New Mexico. A colleague I'm going to be presenting with is from Southern Oregon, so they flew out here. So, they're all over the United States.”

Chantel received the Bradley H. Wahnee Award, which is given to a nominated student. She’s studying for a bachelor’s in social work at East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma. Chantel also works with Native youth in Oklahoma City for the Tribal Education Department National Assembly.

“I'm at the point where I'm realizing that people are watching what I'm doing. Like before, I never really, I just did it,” she said. “And so, to receive an award for something like that's even more special because it's like, oh, ‘So, you know, I'm doing it.’ What I'm doing is not unseen.”

Chantel said the award came as a surprise. 

“I got an email, and I was like, ‘What?’ So, I was like, ‘Oh, my God.’ And so, I asked, you know when I said I accepted the award, I was just like, ‘I humbly accept the award’ because I had no clue that I was going to get this award.”

Students and faculty from Oklahoma Universities were in attendance at ONASHE.

“I want all the kids to see that they can do it. It doesn't matter what struggles they go through,” she said.

Chantel said she’s working on getting her Master’s and advocates for mental health.

Cornel said OU served as a base for many nations to come together and discuss issues of settler colonialism.

“One of the efforts, and I tell a lot of young people to get to know themselves, this is about identity, identity construction and creating safe places in public institutions where you can do that. In my day, that was, you didn't do that,” he said. “And, you know, I could not wear my feather for graduation in high school and college. Now that I can do something with my scholarship, I'm able to advance that through policy. And we're changing that now for another generation. They don't have to go through a racist society and school systems like I did. So, we're trying to break the glass ceiling for faculty and staff so they can have people that are their role models. And they could be the ones up front teaching, helping them conduct their research.”

During the first break-out session, Cornel discussed how Native charter schools are started and the foundation of charter school learning. Then, after lunch, he helped present, with Kelly Berry, how esports can be decolonized with games such as “Never Alone,” created with help from an Alaskan tribe.

“We're looking at tribal sovereignty in the area of trying to explore scholastic gaming in education in Indian country,” Cornel said. “And we can do that through e-sports. Some of the more popular games that our Native youth are really into. So, they try to go into understanding what they can do to, you know, enhance their entertainment with education.”

During the last session, he discussed The Hunt for Red Pedagogy, which he said is the foundation of the book “Unsettling Settler Colonial Education.”

“It offers a guide to help those individual school systems to decolonize themselves. And so, the red pedagogy is really looking at who's doing it,” Cornel said. “That's what I'm looking for. I'm looking for those in the trenches, the everyday warriors that are doing the red pedagogy. They're battling colonialism every day.They're battling policy every day. They're even rivaling with their own people and trying to advance self-determination in insurgent research.”

A total of 11 panelists from all over the US helped present the session.

ONASHE began in 2008 and has been held at various universities in Oklahoma.