Indigenous Peoples Day: Nocona Burgess

On Monday, October 9, Indigenous Peoples Day was celebrated across Oklahoma. But so were individuals such as Nocona Burgess, whose portrait of Doc Tate Nevaquaya was unveiled at the Oklahoma Capitol Building in Oklahoma City during the Oklahoma Arts Council Indigenous Peoples Day Tour.

Nevaquaya was the first Native American man to be Oklahoma Treasurer.

“It means a lot to me, not only because I have a relationship with Doc and his family, but you know, I was kind of telling my son, who's 14 and really doesn't get it just yet, but you know, I said, ‘This thing's going to be here forever.’ I said, ‘So I'm going to have grandchildren and great-grandchildren that will be able to see this painting, you know, and it will last,’” Burgess said. “So, it's very important for me, this commission, and it means a lot to me, not only because of the personal relationship and also being Comanche, but you know, like for generations to come after me, that they'll be able to, that it'll be here.”

He said Indigenous Peoples Day is important because of the recognition.

“Kind of moving away from kind of Columbus Day and understanding that, you know, we're a part of the history, we're important, in all of our contributions, in everything,” Burgess said. “From wars to politics to inventions, music and arts. And so, it's important, especially for a state like Oklahoma, where you have, I think it's like the second largest populated state with Native American people. So, there should be Indigenous Peoples Day here. And I just think it's really good for the state to recognize that. And I appreciate it.”

Apache High School art students and Miss Mexico were also in attendance. Burgess said he is from the Apache and Lawton area, and it’s important for stories to be shared among the younger generations and the artists to be recognized.

“And for them to see someone like a local guy…make it to this point, because, you know, this is kind of one of the high points in my career…being in the state of Oklahoma,” he said. “So, it's just good. And for people to hear to support it, support the art, support the artists, and just kind of, you know, learn. I think people are here to learn. And that's what we're all trying to do.”

Burgess said he grew up always drawing as a kid, but not with the intent of being a professional. He attended the University of Oklahoma to study architecture before moving to New Mexico.

“Kind of one step at a time, I start, I finished University of Science and Arts here in Chickasha with my bachelor's degree,” Burgess said. “Then I moved out to New Mexico to try to be an artist. And I thought ‘I'm going to give it a run and see how it happens.’ And, you know, 28, 30 years later, I'm still at it.”

He was glad the Oklahoma Arts Council found his art, which was given to them by a recommendation, and they received sketches from Burgess for his portrait.

“It feels good. It feels like appreciated,” Burgess said. “And however they came across my name to do this, to this particular portrait, it means a lot to me. Like they knew I was out there, they knew my artwork and the quality of the artwork. And it just feels like appreciated. And the fact that your own, your home state…recognizes that an opportunity, it means a lot.”

Sonya Nevaquaya, the daughter of Doc Tate Nevaquaya, was at the event and said it was a blessing to have the portrait at the capitol.

“His name will be carried on. It will be remembered as tourists go through,” she said. “His name will be said amongst, amongst, you know, the people that come in here and learn some of Oklahoma history, not just Oklahoma history, but more importantly about the Comanche history, the Numunu. So, he was very proud of being a Comanche man.”

She said Doc Tate taught her family about the Comanche history.

“Being Indian person particularly. And he did it through his teachings with taking us to social gatherings,” Sonya said. “He taught us, you know, what his paintings were meant. We were learning something that was cultural. He was always about us learning. And he'd become a perfectionist in his artwork. So…it was very, very awesome to see that this come to fruition.”

She said reading history books questioned who she was.

“Everything that was taught to us, it was almost like made me question who I was. The things that we learn in our history books like to become, you know, that our ways are paganistic or whatever,” Sonya said. “But he told me, he goes, ‘Listen,’ he goes, ‘You were born an Indian baby. God made sure when you were born, you was a Comanche baby.’ He goes, ‘It's a brown skin.’ He goes, ‘It's beautiful.’ He goes, ‘We get to have it naturally because other people want to sit in that box.’ That's what he used to call them. ‘And they want this skin.’ He goes, ‘We have it, we have it naturally.’ He goes, ‘We're beautiful people.’ He goes, ‘You, you can sing in your language. You can speak a little bit. As you go to powwows,’ he goes, ‘you know what the teepee is about.’ And he really made me think, he goes, ‘And you're going to go throughout your whole life. You're never going to be any other race. You're never going to be white. You're going to be black, Chinese. You're always going to be an Indian person. And even if you choose to marry outside of being an Indian person, you marry someone that's non-native, it does not make you, their race. You're still going to be an Indian person.That's who you are. Doesn't carry that with pride because we're beautiful.’ And so, with that, it just made me like realize, ‘Oh my gosh, you know, I'm never going to question, you know, being an Indian person.’”

Sonya said the portrait looks like her father.

“That was something that he really took pride in is, you know, dancing, getting in the arena, putting on that regalia,” she said. “I remember being a little girl and helping him sometimes put on his bells and, you know, learning their songs. He wasn't just to say, ‘I'm just an Indian.’ He lived it. You know, he lived that life and he was very respectful of, you know, the elders and the things that he had learned.”

Sonya said the arts have always surrounded her family.

“We did beadwork. I mean, just all those things to make sure that, you know, we were culturally sound and that we knew, you know, who we were,” she said. “So, to see this today, it's everything to see him in his regalia, you know, Comanche is Numunu. And that's something that, you know, I'm very proud of. He was just not like I said, an Oklahoma treasure, but he was a treasure to our tribe. He was a historian and ambassador. He represented very well. And he was a treasure to our family more than more so than anything.”

The Oklahoma Arts Council Indigenous Peoples Day Tour featured other artists, and attendees walked the capitol building to see different works.