Comanches Come to Trade at Blues Alley

OK, so I have a great life... Sometimes my wife really needles me. While she toils in the schools with the stubborn and the learning disabled, and yes, ocassionally even with some school children... :) I am galavanting off on another wonderful adventure.. and sometimes they come to me...

Tuesday two Comanches from Oklahoma came and gave a presentation... Tim Nevaquaya played his native-made flutes and showed his striking paintings, and Eleanor McDaniel sang original Comanche hymns. They both had CDs to sell and other nice things... which a small but mesmerized group enthusiastically received.

Years ago, when I was young and crazy about things Comanche, I took Linda up to Oklahoma on our belated honeymoon, (it was good for me!) to see the place where Quanah Parker, the last Comanche chief to surrender, spent his last days after being removed from Texas. Half White and half Red, Quanah was not only the most feared Indian on the southern plains, but he became a prominent District Court Judge in the Indian Territory; Perhaps the only man in American History to find success and dominance in these two completely different cultures. I spent several years exploring and painting him and Comancheria, until eventually my mentors suggested focusing on my own cultural roots. But before the love affair was over, I had painted the great Comanche chief numerous times.

Lo and behold, in walk these two into Blues Alley, reminding me of this long lost passion. Amazingly, I had met Eleanor's brother back then while at an art exhibit in Oklahoma City, and even more amazingly, I remembered his name... He had met me and liked my work and invited me up to see a peyote ceremony firsthand... even as I was being directed down a different artistic path. I never saw him again.

And then the icing on the cake... they not only knew my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, but sought to serve and glorify Him in their endeavors. Eleanor proudly served her Country in the U. S. Army, and has been especially honored by her people,(they call themselves the Nermernuh) as she is allowed to dance the Warriors Dance with the Comanche warriors, most of whom are men. She and Tim showed us the official Flag of the Comanche Nation. I hazard to guess that this is one of very few appearances here of this fierce amd legendary tribe since they raided Grimes County in 1840.

A big fat tear filled my eye as she sang with such beauty and dignity to her Lord, my Lord, the Lord of Lords, who so graciously won her heart, and in time, arranged to bring her and Tim to us, on this memorable day.

Oh yea, and Tim left some of his work to show and sell in Blues Alley! Way cool!