Email   Print   Share By Gil Eckrich, Outreach Coordinator, Natural Resources Management Branch

Facebook Digg Delicious June 14, 2012 | Leisure

Twenty-five elders of the Comanche Nations traveled to Texas from their homes in the Lawton/Fort Sill area of Oklahoma in response to an invitation by the Fort Hood Cultural Resource Management Team to view historic tribal sites on the installation. The visit included field site visits to selected sites, such as the Comanche Nation Indian Cemetery, and presentations. il Eckrich, Outreach Coordinator, Natural Resources Management Branch

Fort Hood Garrison Commander Col. Mark Freitag presents a shawl to Beverly Isaacs during a visit to the installation by 25 elders of the Comanche Nation who traveled from Oklahoma to visit tribal sites on Fort Hood and view Fort Hood’s efforts in caring for the historic places. Gil Eckrich, Outreach Coordinator, Natural Resources Management Branch

Elders of the Comanche Nation came to Fort Hood last month to see where perhaps some of their ancestors had ridden in centuries past.

The 25 tribal elders traveled to Central Texas from their homes in the Lawton/Fort Sill area of Oklahoma in response to an invitation by the Fort Hood Cultural Resource Management team.

The Fort Hood team has been actively identifying and managing historic properties that have the potential to be eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.

More than 2,200 sites have already been identified by archeologists while conducting surveys and inventories within the installation.

As part of this effort, FHCRM initiated an inventory of Traditional Cultural Properties or sacred sites. The significance of a Traditional Cultural Property is derived from the role the property plays in a

community’s historically rooted beliefs, customs, and practices.

For Native American Tribes, these beliefs are commonly passed down through the generations via oral histories or storytelling.

Examples of properties possessing such significance include:

• Locations associated with the traditional beliefs of a Native American group about its origins, its cultural history or the nature of the world.

• Locations where Native American religious practitioners have historically gone, and are known or thought to go today, to perform ceremonial activities in accordance with traditional cultural rules of practice.

Since 2010 Fort Hood has been striving to identify such sites for the Comanche Nation, one of the installation’s seven federally recognized tribal stakeholders.

“The Cultural Resource Management team believes this project exemplifies Fort Hood’s strong commitment to complying with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended, which identifies TCPs as a site type that may be determined eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places,” Rich Jones, chief archaeologist, Fort Hood, said.

Dr. Dan Gelo, a University of Texas at San Antonio anthropology professor and dean of the school’s College of Liberal and Fine Arts, is a leading scholar on the Comanche Tribe and has a leading role in this endeavor .

As part of this project, the 25 representatives from the Comanche Nation, including Jimmy Arterberry, Comanche tribal historic preservation officer, visited Fort Hood to conduct a field visit of selected sites and also attend a lecture on the project by Gelo. Sites visited during the field tour included a prehistoric rock art site, springs, and potential landmark features on the installation and the Comanche Nation Indian Cemetery.

One of the highlights at the conclusion of the two-day visit was the presentation of blanket shawls by the Garrison Commander Col. Mark Freitag.

Participants rated the visit a success.

Gelo was struck by the mutual respect between the tribal elders and the garrison command and staff and said he considers this to be a pioneering model project that “is bringing together archaeology, archival history, Native oral history and the knowledge of present-day tribal elders.”

Arterberry, echoed Gelo’s comment.

“The Comanche Nation Elders were extremely impressed with the generosity and respect they were afforded by Fort Hood representatives. They also enjoyed the field site visit and presentation given by Dr. Gelo, and hope to have the opportunity to return soon. The Comanche Nation Historic Preservation Office wishes to thank all of those involved with the visit to Fort Hood for such a rewarding experience,” he said.

It is anticipated that the results generated from this project will be a significant contribution to the history of Fort Hood and the Comanche tribe.

Officials hope the project will become the model that shows how to effectively conduct relations with tribal stakeholders and conduct TCP surveys; one that other federal installations will adopt.