Medicine Bluffs safe from development

Medicine Bluffs is located just south of Fort Sill and is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places

Written by S.E. RUCKMAN

LAWTON, Okla. – A legal victory that barred the construction of a military training facility on a site sacred to the Comanche Nation was a battle fought for their ancestors, said Comanche Tribal Chairman Wallace Coffey.

“We had to take a stand…” he said. “It‘s something our ancestors would expect us to do.”

Coffey made the remarks following a Sept. 23 injunction that was granted in federal district court

to protect Medicine Bluffs, a site sacred to the 14,000-citizen tribe.

The tribe took the U.S. Army to court in August, asking that an alternate site be chosen for a

multi-million training facility to be located on Fort Sill.

Coffey said the cultural sovereignty of the tribe was at risk in building on the Medicine Bluffs

site and that he advocated for an alternate training facility location.

The issue of questionable consultation and violation of federal statutes regarding historic

preservation were key in the case. A review of correspondence between tribal and Army officials

show Comanche officials voicing alarm from the project’s onset that was brushed off by Army officials.

Army officials, including Fort Sill commanding officer Col. Robert Bridgford, said in several

memos that contacting the tribe by letter and announcing intent qualified as substantial notice

since the tribe did not respond, court documents show.

“The Comanche Nation chairman’s decision not to reply to our 106 consultation letter…are

sufficient to satisfy me that the Comanche Tribe was given ample opportunity to comment on

this undertaking,” Bridgford wrote tribal officials in a July memo. “Fort Sill has fulfilled its

responsibility to make a reasonable and good faith effort to consult with the Comanche Nation.”

In his decision, federal District Judge Timothy DeGuisti said the tribe exercised its right to

protection under the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act. He said the tribe adequately

established that the Medicine Bluffs site is sacred to the Comanches, according to the decision.

“The traditional religious practices of the Comanche people are inextricably intertwined with the

natural environment. Their sacred ceremonies are intensely private,” De Guisti said in his decision. “

The federal judge said the tribe showed “sincere exercise of religion” regarding the site and the

Army did not adequately show that an alternate site would be restrictive to military interests.

Any harm incurred by halting the project and adopting an alternate site “paled in comparison” to the

cultural damage experienced by the tribe.

“Defendants (Army) did not consider Plaintiff’s (Comanche Nation) religious interests at all when

selecting the site…” he said in the Sept. 23 decision.

Medicine Bluffs is located just south of Fort Sill and is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places.

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