INSIDE OKDHS FEATURE STORY, DECEMBER 2014 - NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE CELEBRATION

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Caddo County Department of Human Services
Native American Heritage Celebration
November 13, 2014

Fred Idard
County Director - Caddo and Grady County

Fred Ikard: We've had this celebration now for several years. It just seems like in the last three or four it's grown and expanded. We were actually going to have it outside this year. Of course, the weather did not cooperate, so we had to scramble for a plan B, and we had it in this venue, but it all worked out. Again, we do it every year. 

Caddo County, the name of the county comes from the Caddo tribe. Anadarko actually is named after a branch of the Caddo tribe. So, we have a lot of Native American ancestry and culture here in this county.
 
Currently there are six tribal complexes in Caddo County. We had representation from all of them today. That includes the Apaches, the Ft. Sill Apaches, the Kiowa, the Caddo, the Wichitas, and the Delaware. We also have a large contingent of Comanches here in Caddo County, as well as Cheyenne Arapaho. Anadarko is known as the Indian capitol of the world. 

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Paula Moore
AFS Supervisor - Event Coordinator

Paula Moore: I think we were just really hoping to accomplish that everybody could just come in and see some Native history and culture, and see some of the things because believe it or not, even though we live here in Anadarko, there are lots of people that have never attended a Native American pow-wow, and they really don't know a whole lot about their culture, or their regalia, or their ceremonies. I think that's really important to keep that going and for people to know that they still cherish that, and it's still really, really important to them. 

Fred Ikard: As far as the performances, of course, you've got all the regalia, the beadwork, the headdresses, and then, you get the songs and the dances and the drums. It's really pretty magnificent - something to see - especially for people that haven't ever seen it before. 

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Sydney Prince
Miss American Indian Expostion
Little Sisters Performance Group

Sydney Prince: It's inspiring because you get to learn things from other people, different aspects of different cultures. You can see different viewpoints, like backgrounds, like how he was talking about fancy dancers and how they come from horses and stuff. You don't always know that, and then you hear it from other people, and then you're able to tell your children or grandchildren stories. 

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Dorla Yeahquo
Adult Protect Services - Worker Event Speaker

Dorla Yeahquo: You see, we live in two worlds actually. You know, you hear that all the time, but that's true. You know, we have to not forget our culture, not forget who we are, and then we have to go out and make a living for ourselves. You know, but, we're taught at home to be honest, and to learn how to work hard, and then we can get out in the public and do those things. So, it's real important that when strangers meet us, when other people meet us they don't just look at the color of our skin, or just say, "Oh well, that's an Indian. That person is nobody." People have to realize that we have a lot of good people also just like you do. 

Fred Ikard: Caddo County has the highest population per capita of Native American population of any county in Oklahoma. It's right at around 25%. I think the statewide average is around 7% or 8%. 

So, we have many employees here at the Caddo County office that are Native American or have Native American descent. A lot of the folks that we provide services for here are of Native American descent. So, it's all interwoven. We have this symbiotic relationship between our employees that work here and the clients that we have, the customers that we have. There's just a strong sense of community here. Pride and a strong sense of community is very important to the Native American population. 

Paula Moore: Of course, we're really familiar with a lot of them. Anadarko High School - their dance troupe was here, and they do a wonderful job. They catered the meal for us, and they had their kids here to dance. The Fire Dancers - one of our receptionists is related to them, so that's how we got those involved. One of the other committees, Shelly Prince, is the mother of Sydney, the Wichita Princess and the Expo Princess, and they do the Little Sisters. So, that's how we got that. 

Sydney Prince: Soon there's not going to be many Wichitas because we only have one fluent speaker. I'm trying the best I can, and I know that a lot of other people are. So, it's important just to remember these people and cherish the moments we have with our elders. 

Paula Moore: I would just like to say that I am so thankful that I work in Caddo County and I have a great group of people that I work with, and I could not have pulled this off without each and every single one of the committee members. Everyone just jumped in and lent a hand and did a great job.

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NAHC Committee Memebers and Tribal Affiliations
Shelly Griffiths - Wichita
Samantha Parker - Comanche, Caddo
Kay Hokeah - Kiowa, Cheyenne, Otoe, and Wichita
Paula Moore - Cherokee
Shawna Blevins - Cherokee, Potowatomi
Robin Gooday - Kiowa, Comanche and Fort Sill Apache
Brooke Stephenson - Wichita, Caddo and Apache
Dorla Yeahquo - Kiowa
Rebecca Salazar - Kiowa
Kathy Mallow - Cherokee
Sunny Black - Prairie Band Potowatomi
Brooke Horn - Delaware
Stephanie Dubcak - Delaware
Ashley Hollingsworth - Kiowa, Apache and Delaware