Comanche Youth Compete at Language Fair

On Monday, April 7, Comanche Nation Child Care and Comanche Academy Charter School competed at the Oklahoma Native American Youth Language Fair at Sam Noble Museum in Norman, Oklahoma.

Comanche Language and Culture Curriculum Specialist for Comanche Academy Allyson Thrash said her journey began at the Comanche Nation Language Department.

“Now that I've been in this position, we actually didn't get started prepping for this event until January,” she said. “Because we had been working on making sure we were developing the curriculum, we had things to do in the classroom. So, we learned our lesson, but we're going to start much earlier so we can go bigger and broader because there's a lot more new categories.”

Thrash said she enjoyed the language fair.

“It has been outrageously fun,” she said. “I could not be more proud of each and every grade.”

Thrash said the event allows them to debut the work done in a classroom.

“It gives the people an opportunity from other tribes to see the work that's going into other schools like their own, and it can be a fun place,” she said. “It can be a place of joy and connection, and yeah, there's going to be pain and trauma that we have to heal from this, but these kids are our only hope to do so. I mean, I could teach community classes, I could teach elders, I could teach like-minded individuals like myself all day long, but the next generation is who will carry it to the next generation.”

Thrash said they expanded into new categories, such as a skit and modern song, “Stand by Me.”

“Ms. Gabby and myself just taught them the lyrics,” she said. “But we did initially start with making sure that they could understand what was being said first, so initially, what they were introduced to wasn't the lyrics; it was the lesson of learning Numu.”

Thrash said she doesn’t want the students to memorize what they’re learning but to know what they’re saying.

“Because it is nothing more uncomfortable than standing there and having someone ask in front of you, ‘Well, what does that mean?’ And they don't know,” she said. “And that's not their fault. That's not their fault at all. However, I want to help them get to a place where that will no longer have to be a reality.”

Both the child care and charter school won several group and individual awards.