Comanche Nation Fair Celebrates Princesses,...

Comanche Nation Fair celebrated 100 Years of Comanche Nation Princesses.

Cultural events included a Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples walk, a horseback ride, a hand game and a powwow. Other events were a parade, a car show, beautiful baby contests, a baby crawl, a three-on-three basketball tournament and a rodeo.

This year’s celebrity was Martin Sensmeier, who had a meet-and-greet with the OKC Thunder Girls, and Morgan Tosee was this year’s National Treasure.

Oklahoma Governor candidate Cyndi Munson also made an appearance.

Fair Board President Anthony Nauni said this year’s fair went well.

“This role is really kind of an all-in-one. We do a lot of things, from planning to organizing the monthly meetings, but we also all have a part as a fair board. There's nine of us total, but the fair president is the one that's in charge with getting everyone organized, getting everything in order,” he said. “But it's been a true honor, and it's been an opportunity to grow and learn and how we could best fit, best plan for something for the people.”

Nauni said the Comanche Fair has become a destination.

‘It's one of the bigger, probably the biggest event for the Comanche Nation, and it's only growing. You know, as we have encountered a lot of obstacles this year, we've overcome a lot of things together, and one of the things that I really enjoy is that component of problem-solving,” he said. “You know, being able to overcome those…it makes you feel accomplished when you overcome something like that. But, you know, we stay vigilant. That's the only way to be successful in something like this, because there [are] ever-changing obstacles. But, you know, we go through it with prayer, and we try to follow those components that we have, that we use to help us, guide us, and make a path forward.”

Nauni said he loves the fair and the atmosphere. He said there are visitors from all over the world, including Canada, Poland and France. Nauni said it’s an opportunity to meet new friends and create new traditions and relationships.

“Being able to learn and meet new people, but regardless…the fair has just been something that I enjoy, just because of that atmosphere and all the, you know, it's just like the scenery. You know, when you start your day, everyone's slowly moving, but…throughout the day, it just gets more packed, and people start coming, and it's just awesome to be able to see that,” he said. “And being able to be on this side of things is a completely different world, but…I enjoy every part of it. I look at it as a service to the people, being able to be able to come in and try to find a way we can best meet the needs of our people, but also have fun with it. And I've been grateful that we have a fair board of nine individuals. That is including me, but that we can come together and do something good for the people, and it's fun. All of our fair board are fun to work with, and I've just been really enjoying being with them, learning with them, and they all bring something good to the table.”

Nauni said the fair started during a time of hardship for the Comanche people.

“Going back to its roots has become just that in itself, a way to express their traditions, their culture to our own people. When the fair was started in the early 90s, it was said at a time where there was, the morale was down. The people seemed to be low, and that's why the fair was started, was to kind of highlight who Comanche people are, be able to have that sense of tradition to be instilled in the people, and also learn from. You know, every year people know about the fair, but every year they have an opportunity to learn something, especially with all the non-natives coming here, and it's just a turned into a time where it's kind of like a family reunion, you know, a component of family, time to meet new friends, but what I like about it is the fair is growing. There [are] new opportunities with new events,” he said. “Our culture is transforming into things that are implementing other things that are not have been in history, but you know, that's just a, you know, we're a people that keep growing in our own traditional ways, but I think more so the fair is an awesome opportunity to highlight that, and it's the platform that it's been created for, to be able to express who we are as a people.”

Nauni said the Comanche Nation has been a place where the fair board can come and serve.

“For the Comanche people who were there through tough times, we really want to acknowledge you for the success of the fair, and also the weather. I think the weather was the biggest factor. Everyone was happy…I remember the fair being at a time of like triple-digit heat. Man, everyone was fussy, but you know, this year was very tolerable, and it's just, it's just awesome to think that it's, that it has grown to what it is, but at the same time, it's bittersweet because I'm kind of sad,” he said. “I wish it didn't end, you know, just, I guess it's just that rewarding aspect, you know, the idea of coming together all year long, and then boom, it's over, and it's like, ah, but you know, that's, that's what it is. That's just way of life, I guess…We all have our, we all go through our phases and everything, but we are excited for another year. And like I said, we want to, we want this; this fair board wants this to always be an open channel for the people. We want the people to know that we hear them. And we will always have that open communication with them, because that's the reason we're here, and so if anyone out there is listening, I encourage you: if you have any ideas, any feedback - bad, good, great feedback, anything - share it with us at fair at ComancheNation.com, and we also have our Comanche Fair Facebook page, and if you want to add positive stories on there, do that; you know, we want to see your story. We want that; we want this to be an opportunity where people can share their part from the fair, share pictures of your family, share pictures of things, of highlights of your weekend; that's what we want this to be, and because that's the ultimate goal, that's the root of this Comanche Nation Fair, is to give this platform an opportunity to promote the people, and so that's the way we want it.”

This year’s fair board will be back next year, and everyone does have term limits, but the board is excited and ready for next year. Nauni said they are a group of problem solvers.

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