COMANCHE INDIANS

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


THE BAND WAS THE PRIMARY SOCIAL UNIT TO COMANCHES. THE BAND MIGHT HAVE ABOUT 100 PEOPLE. SOME OF THE BANDS BROKE AWAY THEM. A GROUP OF ARAPAHOS MOVED INTO THE COMANCHERIA. THE SOUTHERN GROUP BECAME KNOWN AS PENATEKAS. THEY USED JOKES AND INSULTING NAMES TO NAME VARIOUS BANDS. THEY DID NOT NECESSARILY GET ALONG WITH THE SETTLERS. THEY FEARED THEM BECAUSE THEY RAIDED THE INDIANS. THE COMANCHE HAD WARS WITH THE STATE OF TEXAS. HOWEVER, THEY FINALLY AGREED TO A PEACE TREATY WITH THEM THAT HAS LASTED OVER 150 YEARS!


BY THE MID 1800'S THEIR POPULATION DECREASED DRAMATICALLY. DUE TO EUROPEAN DISEASES AND CHOLERA, SMALL POX AND MEASLES. IN THE 1860'S THE ARMY BEGAN MOVING THE COMANCHE INTO THE RESERVATIONS. THEY BUILT CHURCHES, SCHOOLS, AND GAVE THEM MONEY FOR THEIR LANDS THE U.S. ACQUIRED (ABOUT 100,000 SQUARE MILES). THEY WANTED THEM TO STOP HUNTING THE BUFFALO ALSO. IN 1875 THE LAST FREE BAND OF COMANCHE WAS LED BY QUAHADA, A WARRIOR, TO SURRENDER AND MOVE TO FORT SILL. THEY HAD COUNCILS TO MAKE DECISIONS.

WOMEN SOMETIMES GAVE BIRTH TO THEIR BABIES ON THE TRAIL. SOME OF THE WOMEN WOULD HELP HER AND AFTER A FEW HOURS OF REST, SHE WOULD PUT THE BABY IN A CRADLEBOARD AND REJOIN THE THE GROUP! THE CRADLE BOARDS WERE MADE WITH A FLAT BOARD FOR THE BABY'S BACK AND A BASKET FROM WILLOW WAS WOVEN TO KEEP THE BABY INSIDE. IF IT WAS A COLD DAY THEY WRAPPED THEM IN A BLANKET. DRY MOSS OR LICHEN FROM TREES WAS USED FOR DIAPERS. THE WOMEN KEPT THEIR BABY IN A CRADLE BOARD FOR ABOUT 10 MONTHS. THE FATHER ASKED A MEDICINE MAN TO NAME HIS CHILD.

THEY LOOKED AT THEIR CHILDREN AS THEIR MOST PRECIOUS GIFT. THEY WERE RARELY PUNISHED. BOYS LEARNED TO HUNT AND GIRLS TO GATHER FOODS, COOK MEALS, PREPARE HIDES, AND MAKE TIPIS, AND SEW. THEY TYPICALLY USED BUFFALO HIDES. LATER THEY USED DEER HIDES. THEIR CLOTHING WAS MADE OF DEERSKIN. THEY USED MANY DESIGNS TO TATTOO THEIR BODY.

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