Comanche Nation citizen Nivy Chibitty holds her ground on Oklahoma’s sidelines
By Troy Littledeer | @kituwahpunk
The noise inside Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on a Saturday afternoon is physical. Eighty thousand voices ring off concrete and become something you feel before you hear it. It is the kind of sound that swallows everything around it.
Down on the grass at Owen Field, Nivy Chibitty is already there.
Chibitty, a junior studying Health and Exercise Science and a citizen of the Comanche Nation, stands on the sidelines as a member of the RUF/NEK Lil’ Sis spirit squad. Her presence on the field at a university built within Indian Territory — on land that carries its own long memory — is not incidental. It is a statement made simply by standing there.
“As a Native student, having a public-facing role on game days is an amazing opportunity to show that we as Native people are still here and still going strong,” Chibitty said.
Chibitty said she also carries Mvskoke, Seminole, and Cheyenne and Arapaho lineage. Those affiliations are hers as stated.
She grew up in Moore, Oklahoma, in a predominantly white community, where staying connected to her Comanche heritage required deliberate effort rather than proximity. She found that connection through the Moore Johnson O’Malley program and traditional dance, crossing that bridge consistently and refusing to let distance do what policy had attempted.
“Even though I did not live near my tribal jurisdiction areas, I made a strong effort to remain engaged with my culture,” she said.
She came to the spirit squad as a lifelong athlete — 12 years on the basketball court — looking for a way to stay inside the sports atmosphere while stepping into a different kind of leadership. What she found on the other side of the application process was something she did not fully anticipate.
On game days, the crowd regularly dissolves into individual moments of recognition. Other Native people stop her not for a photo but to acknowledge something shared — a persistence that predates the stadium, the university, and the state itself.
“It’s great to know my presence and culture can be seen in this club and people support me because we are connected through our culture,” she said.
Her work extends past the sideline. Chibitty serves as vice president of Gamma Delta Pi, the University of Oklahoma’s first and only Native American interest sorority, and participates in the American Indian Student Association. As a Student Engagement Intern, she works directly with low-income and first-generation students navigating the admissions process — helping open access to a university that was not built with them in mind.
As she moves toward graduation and a career in physical therapy, she plans to stay rooted in the Native community that grounded her — supporting Gamma Delta Pi as an alumna and returning for the AISA Spring Powwow.
But for now she is on the field.
“I will continue to represent our Native people in a good light to show we are still here and proud,” Chibitty said. “Not just as a Lil’ Sis, but as a Native American woman.”
Troy Littledeer is a Stilwell-based journalist, photographer, and member of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma. Recipient of the 2025 Tim Giago Free Press Award, he is the founder of Candy Mink Springs Media LLC. His work centers on tribal sovereignty and community accountability across Giduwa Cherokee News and Kituwah Punk. A dedicated supporter of local music and high school and NCAA sports, Littledeer lives in Adair County with his family, driven by the mission: For those who came before us, and those who come after.
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