Community Members Receive Indigenous Peoples Day Awards

On Monday, October 13, Indigenous Peoples Day event took place at Lawton City Hall in Lawton, Oklahoma.

Comanche Nation Princess Isabela Rameriez, Kiowa Comanche Apache Indian Veterans Princess Mercedez Banderas and Comanche Little Ponies Princess Arlene Schonchin signed the Lord’s Prayer.

A city official read the proclamation, and awards were presented for Indigenous Woman and Man of the Year, as well as Educators of the Year.

There were several keynote speakers, including Cornel Pewewardy and Cindy Famero.

Yolonda Ramos was named Indigenous Woman of the Year for her work at Fort Sill Indian School.

She said it was an honor to have received the award and was surprised. Her speech focused on Indigenous Peoples Day as a whole.

“It's very important to take this opportunity to talk about Indigenous people and to talk about why we celebrate who we are as people,” Ramos said. “You know, we, and not us of course, but our ancestors fought so much through the treaties and with our land, and it's important that we continue celebrating our language and our culture and making sure that we're teaching the kids these things so that they can carry these traditions on for years and through more generations to come.”

She said being someone young Indigenous and Hispanic girls look up to means a lot to her.

“So I always remind myself to lead by example, but that also means that there are a lot of little ones watching me, and as a woman, I have a lot of girls watching me as well, and it's not always easy being in a room full of old white men, sometimes in which I've had to go through those struggles,” Ramos said. “It's not always easy being in the same room as men, but still being a strong Indigenous woman. And I've had to get comfortable with being uncomfortable, and that was kind of the hardest thing, and I always remind myself that sometimes you have to…get comfortable with being uncomfortable.”

She’s currently working on several projects at the Fort Sill Indian School.

“We must remember that these things it's not about the recognition, it's about the community service, it's about service to our people, and it's about standing up for who we are as people and always trying to do the right thing,” Ramos said.

Because of his work in Culture, Travis Komahcheet was recognized as Indigenous Man of the Year.

He spoke about his father and growing up without his native roots, to discovering them later on.

“It just hit me when I went up there, and our first duty as children is to honor our mother and our father, and that's most important to me…the most important thing to me definitely is honor and creator,” Komahcheet said. “That is what I went up there prominently to talk about, you know, I kind of, I just winged it. I didn't have anything planned to say, but it wasn't until I got behind the podium where just memories of my mom and dad, my upbringing, hit me, and that's what makes me what I am today.”

He is also a small business owner, and it ties into his culture and beliefs.

“So, for a lot of years, since I've been down here, you know, as you know personally, that we have basically just dove into launching a company,” Komahcheet said. “That was never my intention to do that. It was just to prove a point to say, ‘Well, if you treat people amazing and you do amazing work and you put creator first, then these things will happen,’ and I think I've proven that point. So, we've put a lot of time into doing a lot of custom work, doing a lot of, you know, volunteer [work], and I never speak of any of the sponsorships we do or the volunteer work. You just do it because you do it. So, with that said, our company is based on a lot of custom, and what I really love doing, you know, my wife and I just talked about it, is what really encompasses me these days is, I don't even want to say minister, you know, ministry, you know. It's basically, it's important for me to learn the complete truth of why we're here and to share that in the right way, and I know that creators bless me with a lot of talent to do that, you know. So, I'm more spiritual based than political based, you know. I'm more, you know, art and music than, I must confess, business-minded.”

He said his connections inspire him.

“Make new friends, you know, and to be able to share music and art…through any means necessary in order to share the truth,” Komahcheet said. “So that's what I mean. I've been getting a lot more musical performance opportunities, and I've been diving more into wanting to do faith-based apparel and…making a lot more time for bible study and just to learn what I can do to inspire others, just to be a better man. That's it, you know. It's as simple as that, you know. When I was little, I seen it and I still see the same thing today, where it's needed to just set the example, you know. I do my best to set the example, to show the results of what happens when you do that full-heartedly.”

Komahcheet said it’s inspiring to keep going and finding the blueprint of how people can be their best.

Comanche Academy Charter School Superintendent and Principal Shannon Foye said the school staff being named Indigenous Educators of the Year was a blessing.

“Everyone was thrilled because this is our first honoring of this capacity, just to be recognized for our work and the love we pour into the students. It was amazing,” she said.

Foye said many of the educators came to the school to revitalize language through preservation.

“To make sure our students, our kids here, become the next language speakers because we don't want the language to die,” she said. “We want our culture to continue to thrive, and here at our school, we get to do that, and it's many of the teachers here's dreams to you know teach the language and culture while still teaching them academically. So, this school is a dream school not only for the students and the families but also for every educator in the building.”

Foye said being an Indigenous educator allows for authentic communication.

“The students, the teachers, my co-workers, they look like me, they understand my culture, they understand my language, they understand, you know, the native slang we have,” she said. “If you say ‘aye’ or ‘buh,’ they know what you're talking about, and they know how to laugh and tease because that's what we do as natives, is we joke. And that was one of the biggest draws for this school is I get to come teach that, come be around that and come inspire others to just authentically live our lives.”

The school offers a family literacy night every month, and November’s will be Native American-focused.