LAWTON, Oklv. – The Comanche Nation Tribal Historic Preservation Office will host a Buffalo Meat Exchange event from 9 AM to 2 PM (or while supplies last) on January 25th, 2025, to benefit students in need at Riverside Indian School.
Riverside Indian School, located on Wichita, Caddo and Delaware land near Anadarko, hosts nearly 500 students grades four through twelve every year. The student body comprises 75 different Native Nations. The school has been in operation since 1871 and is operated by the Bureau of Indian Education. Currently one of Riverside’s top cross country runners is running, and winning, while wearing jeans and a pair of borrowed crocs.
It’s not just students that will benefit from this exchange according to Martina Minthorn, Comanche Nation Director of Historic Preservation.
“You know, when these kids come back [from Winter break] from their reservations, they end up giving all their items to their siblings who are without and so they come back with nothing. They come back with empty bags.No socks, nothing for winter.”
Participants will receive ten pounds of buffalo for a donation of a new hoodie in sizes 10/12 up to 2X adults and one each of either socks, hats/gloves, or hygiene items. All hygiene items must be non alcohol based. Spray deodorant, pointed combs or brushes, and razors will not be accepted. You do not have to be enrolled Nʉmʉnʉʉ to donate and receive buffalo but you must show your CDIB to qualify. There is a 10 lb limit per household.
“We opened it up to all tribes because these kids come from all tribes as well. It’s tribal because the intention was for us to change the diet of our people, going back to our traditional Foods,” states Minthorn. “Our main goal is to be able to one day establish our own herds and be able to create that back into our daily lives and have a healthier substance of eating and living.”
The Comanche Nation, whose people are called Nʉmʉnʉʉ and known as Lords of the Plains, is a federally recognized Native Nation located in Oklahoma that boasts an enrollment of approximately 18,000 citizens.The buffalo was obtained as part of the Department of Interior Buffalo Indian Management Act. The Comanche Nation is a member of the InterTribal Buffalo Council (ITBC), an organization with 80 Native Nations as members across 20 states, that are working to reestablish buffalo herds on Native lands. ITBC member Nations hold 32 million acres, 1 million acres of which have had buffalo herds restored to Native stewardship.
The Buffalo Meat Exchange will take place at the Comanche Nation Historic Preservation Office located at 6 SW D Avenue, Suite C, Lawton, Oklahoma 73502. For more information contact (580) 492-1153.
