Funeral services for Belva Jean Naranjo Gould Hicks, 86 year-old Weatherford resident, will be held Wednesday, May 27, 2020, 2:00 P.M. at Indian Baptist Church with Gerald Watson officiating. Burial will follow in Greenwood Cemetery under the direction of Lockstone Funeral Home.

Belva was born on August 25, 1932, at Concho, Oklahoma to Lula Lone-Lodge Naranjo and Jose Santos Naranjo. She was raised around the Santa Clara Pueblo, Canton, and Concho areas among three brothers and five sisters, all deceased, and one surviving sister, Bernice Bull of Clinton. She attended Concho Boarding School for nine years from the age of eight to seventeen, completing her sophomore year. She married twice and had twelve children of which six are living. She had eighteen grandchildren, 48 great-grandchildren, and twenty-nine great-great-grandchildren.

Belva retired from food services with Southwestern Oklahoma State University of Weatherford. She spent most of her adult life in the Weatherford area, living briefly in Angleton, Texas. She was an active member of the Weatherford Indian Baptist Church where she served as the secretary. She was also was a member of the Clinton War Mothers Organization.

She was a self-taught seamstress and her sewing artistry is known and valued for her expert workmanship and creativity. She was often called upon to make items such as ribbon shirts and shawls, and her work is appreciated not only locally, but by other tribal people, such as the Santo Domingo Pueblo of New Mexico. One of her shawls has been exhibited in the Crazy Horse Museum, located in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Belva was well-known for her strong, beautiful voice and singing ability. She was well respected for her knowledge of powwow songs and could be found behind the drum at most local pow-wows and dances. She has been featured in a booklet published by the State Arts Council of Oklahoma entitled Remaining Ourselves: Music and Tribal Members: Traditional Music in Contemporary Communities. She provided an invaluable service to both Arapaho and Cheyenne families at funerals and was one of the few remaining Arapaho who have this knowledge. Her family was included in an August 28, 1993 taping produced by the Oklahoma Historical Society featuring a memorial dance that she sponsored in memory of her late son, George. True to her heritage, she strived to teach and pass on to her family members her knowledge of traditional songs and sewing talents.

Belva was an enrolled member of the Southern Arapaho Tribe, and descendant of the Santa Clara Pueblo. Her maternal grandparents are Yellowhair and Lone Lodge of the Arapaho; her paternal grandparents are Rosita Pena, San Ildefonso Pueblo and Alojeo Naranjo, Santa Clara Pueblo.

Belva’s children are thankful to have been blessed by the unconditional love of their mother. Her tireless contributions to her church, community, and fellow Tribesman will be missed. She was truly a living treasure.