Schools Compete at Riverside Handgame Tournament

On Wednesday, November 13, schools gathered at Riverside Indian School to compete in a handgame tournament.

Timothy Yeahquo, a Riverside math teacher who helped organize the event, said the Native Heritage Club hosts events for students during Native American Heritage Month.

He said there were seven teams at the handgame, including six schools.

“The students are interested. It's just finding other schools that will come and that has the availability because, you know, trying to see if they can get permission to come,” Yeahquo said. “And so, we're fortunate this year to have six schools come. It was Carnegie, and they brought 50 students, so they had two teams. Elgin, then we had Apache, Fort Cobb, Broxton and then Weatherford, and then, of course, us.”

This is the second year Riverside has hosted the event.

“Last year, we had four teams. This year, we have seven, so hopefully, next year, we'll be able to invite Anadarko or some of the other local schools; Cache…the ones that have a big Native population,” he said.

According to Yeahquo, they host events for students to understand their heritage.

“And that's what we're trying to do, is try to get the youth to understand this is their heritage. Don't lose it. So, they need to start young,” he said. “You know, our students here…a lot of them go to powwows, so they don't know the handgame songs. And we have some good singers. Well, we're telling them, well, learn these songs. And so, they're here playing, and so they can just listen to the other singers, you know. So, I had to invite singers to come, the ones that…that sing these songs, and then hopefully our younger students will be able to learn those songs also.”

Yeahquo also said it’s a universal game for tribes across the nation.

“And this is part of their heritage. And so, and I mean, the Crows play it. They come down from Montana to play. We take a group up to Montana and play handgame. And so, we just wanted our students to experience…handgame and other activities that they can do as native students,” he said. “And so…it's not just powwows, and it's not just, you know, contests and dancing, but there's other things. You know, the Mississippi Choctaws…they have stickball that they're students and, well, their tribe participates in. And so, this is just one aspect of what different tribes. So…we have all the Comanches, Kiowas, you know, Wichitas…all the different tribes are here.”

 Yeahquo said the event is for the students and he enjoys watching them become involved with their heritage.