Comanche Nation Museum Unviels National Treasure Room, Library
Comanche National Museum and Cultural Center held a ribbon-cutting for its National Treasure Room and Library on Thursday, September 18, in Lawton, Oklahoma.
Comanche National Museum and Cultural Center Director Candy Taylor said it’s a big day for the Comanche Nation.
“It's a place where those who have done extraordinary things for the tribe to promote history and culture, where they can be recognized and exhibit space for our visitors to come take a look and to learn more about these important people,” she said.
Taylor said Comanche Business Committee wanted to recognize those who have done great things in the tribe to promote history, culture and traditions.
“There is an application process so tribal members can nominate people, and then the treasures are selected from those that are nominated,” she said. “So, by the time the information comes to the museum, we don't have anything to do with you know the choosing, but we have the honor of being able to exhibit it and to let people know. So, it's my understanding that three more have been chosen already. They're going to unveil those at the Comanche Nation Fair during the powwow at the Comanche Nation Fair. At that time, the two that were named last year, Geneva Navarro and Rance Hood, will then be moved to the other side of the wall, where we've got a designated space for previous honorees. And so, they're always going to be hanging in here. And then we'll add the new the new honorees in the space that is currently being used right now by Geneva Navarro and Rance Hood.”
Taylor said they also wanted to have a place for the books the museum collected over the years.
“Some of the items that are in our library are donations that were given to the museum at the beginning, when the museum opened in 2007. And so, we've been slowly collecting them, and other books would come in,” she said. “Sometimes…we've got history teachers that will bring things in. Sometimes it's tribal members. Sometimes you've got estates that are being settled, and they've got a book collection, and they'll call and say, ‘Hey, would you like this?’ And ‘of course.’ So, we were able to put it together in the collection, and it is organized in a library form, and we brought in some nice seating and a table for researchers if they want to come and take a look at the books and sit down and do some research. So, we've got an area for that. And so, it all came together, and we couldn't be more pleased with how it turned out.”
They also opened up their new exhibit, Our Favorite Things, early for the Shoshone Language Fair.
“It’s a staff-curated exhibit. The Comanche National Museum is home to over 8,000 different items, artifacts, fine art, textiles, photographs, but we don't have space for 8,000 items,” Taylor said. “So, a lot of it stays locked up in our secured collection area, and this was the opportunity to reach out to the staff here at the museum and turn them into exhibitors. So, they went and picked out their favorite things. And so, we've got just various different items in there that speak to the staff and things that they really enjoyed seeing before or knowing that it was on the shelf and that it needed to be seen…You’re going to find artwork from Cynthia Clay. You know she sadly passed away recently, and a number of her sculptures are in there, and artwork from you know different…artists. We've got some Fort Sill school things in there, so it's a little bit of something for everybody, and so we just encourage everyone to come take a look.”
As for her favorite thing…
“We've got a life-size sculpture done by Cynthia Clay, and that was one that we obtained years ago, and it's large…you have to have a designated space for it, and so this was the perfect opportunity to unveil that,” Taylor said. “There are some Fort Sill school things because I was part of the original Fort Sill school exhibit, where we actually went to the dorms. KCA allowed us to go into the dorms to look for artifacts that people overlooked. By the time we got there, a lot of the things were gone, but there were things like books and in desks that were still available, so we were able to take those out and turn an exhibit, and so we've got some of those things. My father actually used to work at Fort Sill school, so I've got a special place for that school in my heart. And then lastly, I think my most favorite thing would be the Deyo Mission collection that we have there. As a child, I grew up going attending church at Deyo Mission, and I was baptized by the late Robert Coffey. And so, I've got great memories of the elders in that church you know that's where I learned you know Comanche hymns and you know just a great time growing up being a church kid at Deyo Mission and so we've got some of the things in there and I'm really happy that we're able to…show this to the public.”
The 2025 Comanche Nation Fair will mark 18 years since the museum opened.
