Comanche Nation Entertainment Celebrates 40 Years of Gaming
On July 22, Comanche Nation Casino hosted a concert featuring The Gatlin Brothers to celebrate Comanche Nation Entertainment’s 40th Anniversary of gaming. The event was attended by several CBC members, Tribal Administrator Julia Mantzke, Comanche Nation Chairman Mark Woommavovah and Lawton Mayor Stan Booker.
CEO of Comanche Nation Entertainment Mia Tahdooahnippah said Comanche Nation Entertainment was excited to celebrate the occasion.
“That's a great accomplishment to the Comanche people to be in gaming for 40 years,” she said. “We started High Stakes Bingo 40 years ago, July 22nd, 1983. The passage of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act in 1988 set forth the law for tribes to have gaming which started with high-stakes bingo for rural tribes to be self-sufficient and create jobs. It's still about growing our tribe and giving back to our people and providing jobs, building roads, providing infrastructure, whether that be water, education, child care centers, all the things that our tribe and our nation has. That was the goal of gaming and having self-sustaining industries so that we don't have to rely on the federal government.”
Tahdooahnippah said bingo began 40 years ago, on July 22, 1983, and since then, the tribe’s budget has grown from $10,100 to $20,000. Then after the 2005 passage of compact gaming, which allowed class three gaming, grew the budget to $60 to $70 million.
Guest Service Representative at Red River Casino, Faith Carol Shico-Martinez, was one of the first to have seen the growth.
She said she’s worked at the casino for 16 years and started as a cashier, and one of the most significant changes has been the technology.
“When we had the bingo, we started with the cards, and then we went to the paper, so that was a lot easier,” Shico-Martinez said. “We didn't have to stack all the cards up like we did, and then the paper would just go away after they got through with it. So that's kind of like the difference, whenever everything changes and the technology that we have now is a lot better. But I know some things can mess up too, you know. And I know when they do mess up, then you have to go back the old way.”
Shico-Martinez said she started at the bingo hall in 1986.
“My fondest memories is like, well, it's just like going to work, you know. You feel excited because you go to see them because, you know, they're your work family, you know, and they're your friends too,” she said. “And you know, you're going to go and be with the people that come, the customers, and then you got them, and you're just there with them. And you just have fun, you know, when you're at Bingo.”
Shico-Martinez said she misses some of her time at bingo, but the family sentiment is reflected at Red River Casino.
“And it's really going to affect me whenever I get ready to leave,” she said. “So, and I don't know, that maybe be a couple years, you know, I don't know. But you know, that's just like my family too. And some of the kids, you know, I mean, some of the ones I work with are younger than me. You know, it's just like my kids, too.”
Tahdooahnippah said they’ve seen their gaming grow over the years.
“In the last few years, we've had some great projects come up,” she said. “We've added two new properties to our casino family, which is great because we hadn't done any renovations or expansion since 2014. So that's been significant that we're starting to grow, and we hope to continue growing. We're finishing a property in cash, and we hope to just continue our expansion.”
Tahdooahnippah said there’s much tourism for customers and guests, focusing on beautiful scenery and Comanche culture.
“There's a lot of room for expansion and growth, that we can become a target market,” she said. “And we can, worldwide, we can bring people to Oklahoma and other parts of the state, they're doing just that.”
Tahdooahnippah said this includes the Red River casino, which has many people from West Texas and visitors.
“We need another hotel wing. We need more space for our guests to come in and stay,” she said. “We want to be a world-class destination and bring worldwide travelers to showcase and teach them about our culture and what we have.”
Tahdooahnippah has had several accomplishments over the years. One of them was in 2019 when Tahdooahnippah received the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association’s Chairman’s Award for her contributions to the success of Indian Gaming.
Comanche Nation Entertainment was recognized in Oklahoma Journal Record’s Beacon Award for Charitable Influence in 2022.
