Because of their location, the Penatekas played the most prominent role in Texas history. These three divisions are sometimes referred to collectively as Middle Comanches. Still farther north was the range of the Kotsotekas, or "Buffalo-Eaters. The northernmost band was known as the Yamparikas, or "Yap-Eaters," a name derived from that of an edible root.
Their range extended north to the Arkansas River. The fifth major band, known as Quahadis "Antelopes" , roamed the high plains of the Llano Estacado. The Comanches remained a nomadic people throughout their free existence. Buffalo, their lifeblood, provided food, clothing, and shelter. Their predominantly meat diet was supplemented with wild roots, fruits, and nuts, or with produce obtained by trade with neighboring agricultural tribes, principally the Wichita and Caddo groups to the east and the Pueblo tribes to the west.
Because of their skills as traders, the Comanches controlled much of the commerce of the Southern Plains. They bartered buffalo products, horses, and captives for manufactured items and foodstuffs. The familiar Plains-type tepee constructed of tanned buffalo hide stretched over sixteen to eighteen lodge poles provided portable shelter for the Comanches. Their clothing, made of bison hide or buckskin, consisted of breechclout, leggings, and moccasins for men, and fringed skirt, poncho-style blouse, leggings, and moccasins for women.
Buffalo robes provided protection from cold weather. But it was the horse that most clearly defined the Comanche way of life. It gave them mobility to follow the buffalo herds and the advantage of hunting and conducting warfare from horseback.
Horses also became a measure of Comanche wealth and a valuable trade commodity. In horsemanship the Comanches had no equal. Children learned to ride at an early age, and both men and women developed exceptional equestrian skills. Democratic principle was strongly implanted in Comanche political organization.
Each tribal division had both civil or peace chiefs and war chiefs, but traditionally the head civil chief was most influential. Leaders gained their positions through special abilities or prowess, and retained their power only so long as they maintained the confidence of band members, who chose their leaders by common consent. Tribal decisions were made by a council of chiefs presided over by the head civil chief, but individuals were not bound to accept council decisions.
Comanche society permitted great individual freedom, and that autonomy greatly complicated relations with European cultures. By the early eighteenth century, Comanche bands had migrated into what is now North Texas. In Spanish officials in New Mexico documented the presence of numerous Comanches on the northeastern frontier of that province. As the Comanches moved south, they came into conflict with tribes already living on the South Plains, particularly the Apaches, who had dominated the region before the arrival of the Comanches.
The Apaches were forced south by the Comanche onslaught and became their mortal enemies. The first documented evidence of Comanches in Texas occurred in , when a small band, probably a scouting party, appeared at the Spanish settlement of San Antonio seeking their enemies, the Lipan Apaches. No hostilities occurred, but it was obvious that the Comanches believed that the Spanish and Apaches were allies. However, fifteen years passed before the Spanish learned the true strength of Comanche presence in Texas.
In a force of some 2, Comanches and allied tribes attacked a Spanish mission built for the Apaches on the San Saba River near present Menard. A year later, a Spanish punitive expedition led by Col.
Diego Ortiz Parrilla also met defeat at the hands of the Comanches and their allies in a daylong battle on the Red River near the site of present Spanish Fort. By the mid-eighteenth century, the armed and mounted Comanches had become a formidable force in Texas. Spanish officials, lacking the resources to defeat them militarily, decided to pursue peace with the Comanches. A peace policy that utilized trade and gifts to promote friendship and authorized military force only to punish specific acts of aggression was inaugurated and remained in effect, with varying degrees of success, for the remainder of Spanish rule in Texas.
Continued Apache aggression made it impossible for the Comanches to keep their promise, and ultimately led Spanish officials to advocate a Spanish-Comanche alliance aimed at exterminating the Apaches. The Comanche chief Povea signed the treaty in at San Antonio, thereby committing his band to peace with the Spaniards. Other bands, however, continued to raid Spanish settlements. Comanche attacks escalated in the early s, and Spanish officials feared the province of Texas would be lost.
To avoid that possibility, the governor of Texas, Domingo Cabello y Robles , was instructed to negotiate peace with the warring Comanches. The mission was successful, and the emissaries returned to San Antonio with three principal Comanche chiefs who were authorized by their people to make peace with the Spanish. The result was the Spanish-Comanche Treaty of , a document that Comanches honored, with only minor violations, until the end of the century.
As Spanish power waned in the early years of the nineteenth century, officials were unable to supply promised gifts and trade goods, and Comanche aggression once again became commonplace.
Comanches raided Spanish settlements for horses to trade to Anglo-American traders entering Texas from the United States. Those Americans furnished the Comanches with trade goods, including arms and ammunition, and provided a thriving market for Comanche horses. Though Mexican authorities in Texas continued the Spanish policy of pursuing peace with the Comanches, the unstable government in Mexico City failed to provide the resources necessary to accomplish the job with any permanence.
Comanches continued to dominate much of Texas, both in trade and warfare. In the late s several principal chiefs, including Paruaquibitse, Yncoroy, and Yzazona, established a tenuous peace with Mexican officials-possibly because of pressure from Osage Indians and other hostile tribes on their north.
However, when two of the major peace chiefs died in the early s, Comanche-Mexican relations deteriorated once again, and Mexican officials began encouraging Shawnees, Cherokees, and other tribes to make war on the Comanches. The Mexican Colonization Law of encouraged foreign immigration to Texas, and settlers from the United States poured into the province.
When a man married, he left his family and went with his wife's family. The Comanche traveled in many bands, with many of these bands still referenced today when Comanche talk about their family background. The honoring of warriors and medicine people still continues to this day within the Comanche Nation. Organizations such as the Comanche Indian Veterans Association serve as co-hosts at powwows and serve as color guard not only for Comanche celebrations but also at funerals of Comanche veterans and active military.
The Comanche people have a high degree of respect for eagle feathers and their use in prayer. Sia is the Comanche Nation Ethno-Ornithological Initiative that works to study and rehabilitate eagles from all over the world. Every four years, the Comanche Nation hosts the Shoshone Reunion. A black velvet dress with cowrie shells was a dress for "the only daughter" because shells were a trade item and not common on the plains. Music is central to Comanche life. At the Comanche Nation Fair, gospel and rock concerts also have a stage during the week.
Everyone from historians to novelists to Hollywood directors try to depict or re-enact the Comanche in battle. Yet, can any of them truly do the Comanche justice? However, there is an anecdote that puts this in perspective. The Comanche Business Committees' main objective is to carry out the mission of the Constitution of the Comanche Nation. The mission of the Comanche Nation is to define, establish and safeguard the rights, powers and privileges of the tribe and its members, to improve the economic, moral, educational and health status of its members and to cooperate with and seek the assistance of the United States in carrying out mutual programs to accomplish these purposes by all possible means and to promote in other ways the common well-being of the tribe and its membership.
All the while working to improve economic status, protect and manage the Nation's natural resources and cultural heritage. The Comanche tribe currently has approximately 17, enrolled tribal members with around 7, residing in the tribal jurisdictional area around the Lawton, Ft Sill, and surrounding counties. Skip to main content.
Please participate in our survey here.
0コメント