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The Comanche /kəˈmæntʃi/ or Nʉmʉnʉʉ (Comanche: Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people"[3]%29 is a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in Lawton, Oklahoma.[1]
The Comanche language is a Numic language of the Uto-Aztecan family. Originally, it was a Shoshoni dialect, but diverged and became a separate language.[4] The Comanche were once part of the Shoshone people of the Great Basin.[5]
In the 18th and 19th centuries, Comanche lived in most of present-day northwestern Texas and adjacent areas in eastern New Mexico, southeastern Colorado, southwestern Kansas, and western Oklahoma. Spanish colonists and later Mexicans called their historical territory Comanchería.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, Comanche practiced a nomadic horse culture and hunted, particularly bison. They traded with neighboring Native American peoples, and Spanish, French, and American colonists and settlers.
As European Americans encroached on their territory, the Comanche waged war on the settlers and raided their settlements, as well as those of neighboring Native American tribes.[6] They took with them captives from other tribes during warfare, using them as slaves, selling them to the Spanish and (later) to Mexican settlers, or adopting them into their tribe.[5] Thousands of captives from raids on Spanish, Mexican, and American settlers were assimilated into Comanche society.[7] At their peak, the Comanche language was the lingua franca of the Great Plains region.[8]
Diseases, destruction of the buffalo herds, and territory loss forced most Comanches on reservations in Indian Territory by the late 1870s.[5]
In the 21st century, the Comanche Nation has 17,000 members, around 7,000 of whom reside in tribal jurisdictional areas around Lawton, Fort Sill, and the surrounding areas of southwestern Oklahoma.[2] The Comanche Homecoming Annual Dance takes place in mid-July in Walters, Oklahoma.[9]
Notable Comanche
Please use Geni naming conventions - native Americans for profiles.
Historic Comanche people
These are notable Comanche people from the 18th and 19th centuries, prior to allotment.
- Mo'o-wai ("Pushing aside" or "Pushing-in-the-middle"), aka "Shaking Hand", chief of the Kotsoteka
- Amorous Man (Pahayoko) (late 1780s – c. 1860), Penateka chief
- Black Horse (died ca. 1900), second chief of the Quahadi band
- Buffalo Hump (Potsʉnakwahipʉ) (c. 1800 – c. 1865/1870), war chief and later head chief of the Penateka division
- Carne Muerto, Tehcap (1832–1860s), Quahadi war chief
- Tavibo Naritgant, Cuerno Verde (died 1779), war chief
- Horseback (Tʉhʉyakwahipʉ) (c. 1805/1810 – c. 1888), chief of the Nokoni band
- Iron Jacket (Puhihwikwasu'u) (c. 1790 – 1858), war chief and later head chief of the Quahadi band; father of Peta Nocona
- Isatai (c. 1840–c. 1890), warrior and medicine man of the Quahadi
- Mow-way (Shaking Hand, Pushing-in-the-Middle) (c. 1825 – 1886), Kotsoteka chief
- Old Owl (Mupitsukupʉ) (late 1780s – 1849), Penateka chief
- Peta Nocona (Lone Wanderer) (c. 1820 – c. 1864), chief of the Quahadi division; father of Quanah Parker
- Quanah Parker (c. 1845 – 1911), Quahadi chief, a founder of Native American Church and rancher
- White Parker (1887–1956), son of Quanah Parker and Methodist missionary
- Piaru-ekaruhkapu (Big Red Meat) (ca. 1820/1825 – 1875), Nokoni chief
- Sanapia (1895–1984), medicine woman
- Santa Anna (c. 1800 – c. 1849), war chief of the Penateka Band
- Spirit Talker (Mukwooru) (c. 1780 – 1840), Penateka chief and medicine man
- Ten Bears (Pawʉʉrasʉmʉnunʉ) (c. 1790 – 1872), chief of the Ketahto band and later of the entire Yamparika division
- Tosawi (White Knife) (c. 1805/1810 – c. 1878/1880), chief of the Penateka band
- Yellow Wolf (Isa-viah) (c. 1800/1805 – 1854), war chief of the Penateka division
Comanche Nation citizens
These are 20th- and 21st-century citizens of the Comanche Nation.
- Comanche Code Talkers, Heroes of World War ll
- Charon Asetoyer (born 1951), activist and women's health advocate
- Blackbear Bosin (1921–1980), Comanche/Kiowa sculptor and painter
- Charles Chibitty (1921–2005), World War II Comanche code talker
- Karita Coffey, Tsat-Tah Mo-oh Kahn (born 1947), ceramic artist, professor, sculptor
- Marie C. Cox (1920–2005), founder of the North American Indian Women's Association and foster care reform advocate
- Jesse Ed Davis (1944–1988), guitarist and recording artist
- LaDonna Harris (born 1931), political activist and founder of Americans for Indian Opportunity
- Janee' Kassanavoid (born 1995), athlete (hammer throw)
- Dorothy Sunrise Lorentino (1909–2005), educator, activist, sister of Morris Tabbyyetchy.
- Doc Tate Nevaquaya (1932–1996), Flatstyle painter, Native American flautist, NEA fellow
- Sonny Nevaquaya (d. 2019), Native American flute-player
- Diane O'Leary (1939–2013), artist, nurse
- Lotsee Patterson (born 1931), librarian, educator, and founder of the American Indian Library Association
- Paul Chaat Smith, Comanche/Choctaw author, curator
- George Tahdooahnippah (born 1978), professional boxer and NABC super middleweight champion
- Josephine Wapp (1912–2014), professor, regalia maker, textile artist
- David Yeagley (1951–2014), classical composer, political writer
References
- Wikipedia contributors, "Comanche," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, < link > (accessed February 11, 2024).