Sharing history

Toni Hopper
The Duncan Banner

DUNCAN September 29, 2008 01:25 pm

— This week, many events occurred that will eventually become historic moments for the Comanche Nation. And in the middle is a quiet, humble man.
Videll Yackeschi sat down at The Banner on Monday to share some of his life’s story and in the process, he talked about a lawsuit that was filed on behalf of the Comanche Nation to stop construction of a training center by the U.S. Army on Medicine Bluffs, which is considered sacred land.
“We won round one,” he said Thursday. A federal judge ordered the injunction Tuesday under the possibility that the Comanche Nation would win under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the National Historic Preservation Act of 1996.
“Every time I cross that place, I’m reminded to pray. I don’t know why, but I am,” he said. “It’s sacred.”
Yackeschi works at the Comanche Nation headquarters in Lawton in the education department. He helps youth get scholarships, but spends the majority of his time translating and sharing his tribe’s history.
Calls generate from around the country asking him to share the meaning of words.
For example, officials from Yellowstone National Park called and asked him how to say the park’s name in Comanche. He also has helped developed several children’s books that feature both the Comanche and English languages and serve as educational tools.
“We have three books out so far, children’s stories, nursery rhymes and an animal book,” he said.
“Evidently, there’s a renewed interest in the Comanche language,” he said proudly.
He’s one of less than 100 Comanche Indians that know the native language, but he’s not boastful of that and said there are many others who know it more fluently.
And while these events unfolding are important to his heritage, it was another event that Yackeschi was a part of that holds deeper meaning.
On Thursday, a special ceremony was held honoring the Comanche Code Talkers. Yackeschi was at the event and was presented with a Pendleton blanket and award, to honor the service his brother gave during World War II as a Comanche Code Talker. His brother, Willis Yackeschi, died in the 1980s, but with the presentation, his legacy can live on. It is believed that there were 17 Comanche Code Talkers who served in WWII. The Pendleton blanket company has a rich history dating back to the turn of the 20th Century.
“It was a beautiful ceremony. I was honored to be there,” he said.
Yackeschi said that he and his brother were not close, but that isn’t surprising considering there were 11 children in the family and Yackeschi, 72, is the next to the youngest. He said Thursday that he would be giving the blanket to his brother’s daughter this weekend during the Comanche Nation Fair that continues today in Lawton.
“This is a blessing,” Yackeschi said. The Indian tribes have been fighting to earn a Congressional medal for their role in the wars and with a ruling this week by the U.S. House, another historic victory was achieved.
Thinking of these things, Yackeschi gets teary-eyed.
Growing up in a large family, with his mother, Suam Yackeschi at the head of the household, he has many memories that include both good and bad times. He’ll be 73 on Nov. 15, but reflects back to his childhood and the tests put upon him. His father, Woody, died when he was young.
Yackeschi’s name means “One Who Cries” but for Yackeschi, there wasn’t time for tears. He contracted tuberculosis when he was 5 and didn’t appear to be improving in a hospital.
“My mom and my aunt took me out of the hospital and figured they could care for me just as good. My aunt would always come in and read the Bible. I had The 23rd Psalm memorized and some missionaries who would come in and build churches would come to hear me recite The 23rd Psalm. They would say, “he’s going to be a preacher.”
He knew he would be a preacher. It wasn’t because the adults had all claimed it, but something he said, that came from the heart.
Before his father’s death, the Yackeschis were granted a 150-acre tract of land near Walters. A creek on that land became a refuge for Yackeschi during his youth.
“I would go off by myself and begin to have a wonderful relation with God. I would pray,” he said. “It was peaceful.”
Yackeschi might have had better opportunities than many of his siblings. He said most of his brothers attended the Fort Sill Indian School, but at some point, Yackeschi was fortunate enough to attend Walters grade school and Temple High School, from where he graduated. His mother was Comanche and while she would talk to him in their native language, he would respond in English many times.
“The kids, back then at the school, were not allowed to talk in their own language,” he said. He attended college and education played a main role in his life, even now in his job at the Comanche Nation Complex.
Yet, it was the Bible and the presence of faith that has shaped Yackeschi. While struggling to maintain his heritage as a Comanche, he’s also managed to blend both the Indian and white cultures through his faith.
He first preached in 1958 at the Emerson Nazarene Church west of Walters. From there, he preached at many Indian churches, he said. “But they never paid me enough so I always had to work a second job.” That’s where his education proved worthy.
Yackeschi ended up in Farmington, New Mexico and also was a chaplain in Albuquerque at one point. He returned to Oklahoma about the time President John F. Kennedy was assasinated.
After his return, his aunt shared a wish with him — that he would start up the little church they had gone to when he was a youth. That church was first formed in 1935, the year he was born.
“The church I’m now pastoring died out about 1969,” he said. He had managed to grant the wish and now, 39 years later, remains its sole pastor.
He enjoys sharing the story of the rebirth of that church.
“I found four of the ladies that belonged to the church and we found an old country school west of Temple. That’s where we started holding services.”
Eventually, the church, Westside Baptist, found a home. In the middle of renovations, it burned to the ground. So, they started over. The Southern Baptist Comanche-Cotton Baptist Association approached Yackeschi, offering assistance. Congregation consisted mostly of Indians, but nobody had any objections to the offered help. Word spread of the church needing rebuilding and carpenters came from as far away as Alabama. This was in the early 1970s, Yackeschi said.
“The biggest miracle of that church is that the Methodist Church called me up and invited our people to come worship with them. At the end of the service, they called me up and gave us a gift of $2,000,” he said. Thinking of that moment still makes him emotional. The amount of the gift was exactly what was needed to buy the pews and furniture for the rebuilt church.
“The furniture is still there. It’s beautiful,” he said. Membership has at times been well over 100, but averages around the 80s. Congregation is mostly Indian, but services are conducted in English.
“We do have two or three Comanche songs,” Yackeschi said. And he may be one of the longest running preachers around. He believes he is the only Indian preacher remaining in Oklahoma.
Yackeschi moved to Meridian years ago, to be closer to a teaching job at the Red River Vo-Tech Center (its name at that time, in the mid-1970s). He taught auto mechanics.
These days, Yackeschi has a busy schedule working at the Comanche Nation headquarters where he started six years ago. There are 14,000 registered Comanches in the United States, he said. The Comanche Nation Complex offers a variety of services, from education to health and land management.
He laughs as he remembers a call from a school in Texas.
“Their mascot is the Buffalo and the principal called me and wanted to know how to say ‘buffalo’ in Comanche. It means ‘our cattle’ but is written Numu Kutsu, (with a line drawn through the u’s in Numu and pronounced ‘ah’),” he said.
Yackeschi is married to Isabelle, who works at Victory Silks in Duncan.
“I married a Navajo lady,” he said and smiled. They will celebrate 50 years this year. They have three children, Kevin, Chad and Karen Goss. Goss and Chad both work at the Comanche headquarters. Chad is land management supervisor, Yackeschi said.
Knowing his native language has also brought unexpected surprises into his life. This summer he received a call from a young woman in Arizona who is a contemporary recording artist. She had been nominated for an Indian Grammy Award, but was told she needed more Indian history on her album. Through conversation, it was revealed they were related. Her uncle, Leonard Riddles (Black Moon) a famous Indian artist, was the brother of Yackeschi’s granddad.
“This girl, April Allen, from Glendale, Ariz., is my niece. I didn’t know her,” he said. She needed translation on some material for her album.
At that point, one of Yackeschi’s dreams was about to come true. He had told his wife that he always wanted to see New York City. The translation job resulted in Yackeschi having to fly to NYC to a recording studio.
“The guy who owns the studio is a former Beach Boy, and he was treating me like royalty,” Yackeschi laughed. He stayed busy while there, but did get a quick limousine ride through Central Park, down Broadway and other notable locations, before going back to the airport.
“I wanted to get one of those hot dogs and when I got out of the limo, there were all these people taking my picture. They thought I was famous. They didn’t know who I was, but because I was in that limo ...” he said.
As for Yackeschi, he doesn’t feel famous. He’s just content to spread the word of his heritage and also his spiritual beliefs.

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