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TWG Projects to Assist the Comanche Language and Cultural Preservation Committee
One reason for the lack of Comanche publishing is due to their unique alphabet. Until 1994, Dr. Alice Anderton was the only person with a keyboard able to support the new alphabet. If any Comanche reading material needed to be produced, Dr. Anderton willingly created it on her Apple Macintosh. Because oral transmission of the language was of higher priority to the tribe than written language, this issue was not seen as an immediate problem to overcome. In 1994, Randi Nott (one of the founders of TWG Productions) approached the Comanche Language and Cultural Preservation Committee in an attempt to combine her MALS studies with practical experiences in the field. Because she has a 20-year background with computers, she felt this was an area in which she could make a contribution to the Committee. Understanding that Comanche literacy was a long-term goal of the tribe but one not yet staffed, she asked if she might apply her background to create language tools for preschool children using a personal computer. Given the "go ahead" by the Committee, she wrote software macros for the IBM personal computers found in the Comanche tribal office and reconfigured their keyboards into "Comanche keyboards". Through corporate donation, Randi was able to secure 6 more IBM compatible PCs and the necessary software to produce a Comanche desk top publishing system. To demonstrate what type of learning tools could be produced by their newly revised computers, Randi developed a set of language flash cards. Twenty-eight words were chosen by the Committee which represented words common to preschool children (i.e. mouse, dog, cat, rabbit, bird, frog, cow, fish, bear, pig, horse, duck and numbers 0-9). Computer graphics were combined with the words. The 56 cards were divided into English and Comanche versions. Within a year, 250 decks of cards were printed and distributed to Comanche families, with requests to have additional decks of cards printed at a later date.
Corporate donations and private grants have played an important role in providing the Comanche Language Committee with language tools. During a visit to Naperville, Illinois, a corporation underwrote the cost of video taping Roderick and Ronald Red Elk demonstrating the language flash cards. Ron read the card in English and Roderick translated the word into Comanche. The language card was superimposed over the shoulder of Roderick so the viewer could see the picture and note how the word was spelled using the Comanche alphabet at the same time watching how Roderick pronounced the word. This video tape has been reproduced and distributed to Comanche families throughout the area known as "Comanche Country" or the 5 counties in southwestern Oklahoma where the majority of Comanche people live today.
Grants and corporate donations have also underwritten the cost of producing the first Comanche picture dictionary. In 1995, Randi Nott (one of the founders of TWG Productions) developed the picture dictionary based on the Comanche dictionary developed by Dr. Anderton for her adult Comanche Language classes and secured the donations necessary to get the picture dictionary published. AT&T provided funds for printing, Random House Publishing Company donated the illustrations found in the dictionary and North Central College (Naperville, Illinois) printed 250 copies of the dictionaries at cost. Grants from the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee provided the necessary funds to stay with Comanche friends in the Lawton, Oklahoma area so Randi could input for the dictionary from the Comanche Language Committee.
Comanche Kids Television Program
During the first quarter of 1996, Debbie Rennie and Randi Nott (founders of TWG Productions) enrolled in the studio class at Naperville Community Television (NCTV) and their goal was to produce a prototype version of Comanche Sesame Street. They found out that ninety percent of Comanche homes have cable television and public access to two local stations are available to Comanche residents living in the areas surrounding Lawton and Anadarko, Oklahoma. They wrote, produced and directed two television shows, one based on the previously published picture dictionary and one base on a popular children's book. The idea of producing Comanche-made television has been accepted by the Comanche Language Committee and TWG Productions is now in a search for funds to underwrite the first year of television programs.
Our mailing address is TWG Productions Ltd. Our e-mail address is [email protected]
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