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Comanche Nation

A brief look into the lives and history of the fearsome Comanche tribes.

The Comanche (Nʉmʉnʉʉ)

When white settlers began their trek into the western frontier, they had no clue exactly what they were about to get into; the Comanche nation, the most powerful Native American tribe on the plains, lay ahead of them, and they had no intentions of letting strangers onto their land.

In the late 1800's, the Comanche would finally begin to fall, crumbling into pieces. For white settlers, this was a triumph, the same as all their others. But who was this tribe that resisted all advances for so long, who has been mostly lost to history despite their triumph?

www.texasindians.com, Comanche Migration

The Comanche migrated from place to place, since they were a nomadic tribe.

The Comanche were warriors, through and through. From a young age, boys were taken to learn the art of horseback riding, and when they were teenagers, they'd be fully-fledged warriors. The horse was everything to the Comanche; they had first gotten some from the Spanish down south, and they had learned to breed and ride them with expert skill. Some tribes possessed tens of thousands of them.

The Comanche was made up of five main tribes--there were others, up to thirteen, but they were quite small--known as Yamparika (Yam Eaters), Kotsoteka (Buffalo Eaters), Nokomi (Wanderers), Penateka (Honey Eaters), and Quahadis (Antelopes). Of these, the Quahadis are perhaps the most famous. They were the most ruthless and battle-hardened, willing to do anything to survive, even if that meant drinking the contents of a dead horse's stomach, and they were also rich. To the Comanche, horses were currency, and the Quahadis had thousands of them.

legendsofamerica.com, Comanche Painting by Brummett Echohawk

Because they were so focused on fighting, the Comanche had no religious practices, no specialized arts, and were not fond of socializing with other tribes. The Apache tribe was almost wiped out by the Comanche, and they were forced off their land. In all aspects of the word, they were kings; there's a reason they were referred to as such. No other tribe was able to fight on horseback, which made the Comanche an utterly terrifying force, not to mention the fact that they fought to the death with all enemies, so women and children were not spared.

legendsofamerica.com, Comanche Hunting Buffalo by George Caitlin

The Comanche traded in one thing, and that was buffalo. Buffalo were essential to their lifestyle--not only could the meat be eaten, but their hides could be used for all sorts of things, such as clothing, bags, and tepees, which they needed to be able to remain nomads. Their bones and tallow had other uses yet. Unfortunately, when the white settlers began hunting buffalo in the millions, this practice suffered greatly, and eventually, the killing of buffalo led to the end of the Comanche empire as it was known, with the last of the starving Comanche surrendering in 1875.

Pictured above is a painting of Comanche warriors hunting buffalo.

While the structure of Comanche society and government is vaguely described, it can be inferred that they often traveled in bands with relatives, with a "core" family at the center. The head of this family would be the leader. These bands were united in a loose "division", a group which all shared the same political opinions, and of the headmen, one would be elected to lead the division. It was a very fluid structure, which is the likely reason for the general uncertainty in accounts.

npr.org, The Rise And Fall of the Comanche "Empire".

Quanah Parker, a chief of the Quahadis division.

Saying that the Comanche were territorial would be an understatement; any intruder on their land would be swiftly, and brutally, dealt with. This, of course, included the white settlers, who were trying their best to follow Manifest Destiny to the west coast, and who could not advance past Comanche lands. Despite their resistance, however, the Comanche did invite some colonists into their tribe--although kidnap would be a more appropriate word to describe it. Cynthia Ann Parker, who was kidnapped at a young age by the Quahadis, is a notable figure in the tribe, since she refused to return to western society, instead learning the native language, forgetting English, and marrying a member of the tribe. This was a shock to the settlers, who believed their lifestyle was much better than the "barbaric" ways of the Natives.

Cynthia Ann Parker's oldest son, named Quannah--half Native, half white--was the last, and greatest, Comanche chief. He has never been described to have lost a battle.

Once again, we return to the year 1871, when the expedition into Quahadis land began. The United States' government was so frustrated by the tribe halting their advances, that they enlisted an army of time-servers to go deal with them.

As they would quickly learn, this was a very bad idea.

After getting lost in the unimaginably harsh land that the Quahadis occupied, the army found themselves being tracked, stalked, and watched by their warriors. While they had no clue where their enemy was hiding, the Comanche knew precisely where they were.

On the second night of their journey, the army was attacked, not just by Comanche, but by their own horses. Using their skill with handling the animals, Quanah, the current chief, set them loose into the camps, mutilating all who got in their way. Once the chaos died down, Quanah himself appeared, dressed in clothing one witness described as "satanic". He shot a private to death, and led his men away without another word.

The message was quite clear: do not encroach on the Quahadis' land.

And the army never succeeded. Nobody could make them surrender except for themselves, which they finally did in 1875, 4 years later, due to a lack of food. They allowed themselves to be moved onto a large reservation.

Today, the Comanche tribe has around 17,000 members, and lives in Southwestern Oklahoma. All members over 18 may vote for who will run the Comanche Business Committee (CBC). The goal of the Comanche Nation today is to preserve their culture as well as increase the life quality of its members through aid. The Comanche Nation fair is celebrated yearly, with people of all ages along with dancers and elders coming to enjoy festivities with a few other tribes, including the Shoshone, whom they descended from.

The 2019 Comanche Nation Fair.

Bibliography

Comanche, The Editors of Encyclopedia, Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Comanche-people, 5 May 2020.
About Us, Comanche Nation, Comanche Nation, https://comanchenation.com/our-nation/about-us, 2021.
Comanche., Thomas W. Kavanagh, Oklahoma Historical Society, https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=CO033, 1999.
The Rise and Fall of the Comanche Empire, S.C. Gwynne, NPR, https://www.npr.org/2011/05/20/136438816/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-comanche-empire, 20 May 2011.