Cries of a People: brief history of the Comanche Indians

By Ryan McCarthy

           The Comanche- yodeling savages from a black and white movie? Maybe stern and stoic warriors who lift palms and say with a deep baritone voice ‘HOW!’ Or perhaps an injured people filled with shattered pride to have our support and condolences as we film documentaries on what they once were. Perhaps all and yet still none of the above; for who truly knows these great peoples better than our cheap movies and popcorn documentaries and cartoons? Well, most certainly not I, nor probably any of you, but through only the most diligent research, I have perhaps come closer to understanding the mysteries of these great and majestic people.

         Although our recorded knowledge of the Comanche start with Spanish exploration, before their ships ever set foot upon these shores a mighty people were beginning to unfold in a drama that would take place over the next two centuries.

           The Comanche, having divided from their mother tribe the Shoshone (Snake People) in the late 15th century rushed down out of their previous mountain dwellings into the plains whether they were previously occupied or not. Unfortunately for the Comanche, the plains were taken, namely by the fierce Apache. Although it was soon more unfortunate for the Apache who, while fighting bitterly for their native lands, were eventually routed by their skilled warlike brethren who would then continue to hold those lands against both Indian and Conquistador for nearly two hundred more years.

         Even though these people are famous for their war, in-between fighting their famous battles they were also skilled artists and poets, and even pottery and religious songs and dances. On many Comanche shields as well as bearskins and even the famous decorated teepees, there are symbol pictures representing their animal gods and goddesses. And, like many Indians of the plains and even of North America in general, the Comanche worshipped deities were the great spirit as well as the coyote, wolf, snake, and bear who the Indians believed were all part of a greater family and even the smallest insect was part of it. (And also referred to many things and creatures as ‘cousin’ or ‘brother’.)

         To communicate with these animal-like spirits and also to affirm the passage from youth to man, many Indians of all tribes sent their chiefs and warriors on ‘vision quests’ to seek higher learning or a spiritual answer. These quests could last for days on end and usually did according to ancient Indian legend. To properly be able to humble yourself to be allowed by the spirits to see a vision, one would eat or drink nothing but the smoke of tobacco and peyote (a product of the menscal cactus which is native to the southwest) for many days until the hallucination would come. Once having received, the enlightened traveler would be helped back to the village where his visions could be properly decrypted for true meaning by the tribe’s shaman.

           Also, whether you have heard of their skill or not, the Comanche were infamous for their skilled horsemanship. Stealing these beasts from Spanish settlements or capturing them in their wild habitat (after escaping the Spanish pens and breeding in the wild) the Comanche found more in the animals than just as bigger dogs to carry their travois (A hammock that was similar in usage to a cart usually tied to the animals back. The reason for their use of the travois was that not out of all the Indians in North America none had discovered the use of the wheel.) The Comanche saw not only a incredible war machine, but also yet another way to prove their undeniable skill and mastery of yet something else over other tribes.

             Today, the great Comanche have fallen from their great heights to become a working part of today’s modern society. Although, due to their extremely small numbers you may not find them many other places except on their reservation in Oklahoma, maybe you might be surprised if an office coworker were of the 11,500 still living today with Comanche blood. There are only a few thousand of them left now, and yet in the back of everyone’s mind, there will always be the brave, warlike, yodeling Comanche.