The Comanche were once the masters of the great plains. And while they may have been defeated by the U.S. in the 1870s, the Comanche Nation still exists, and continues to live by many codes established hundreds of years ago.
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00:00The Comanche were once the masters of the Great Plains, and while they may have been
00:04defeated by the U.S. in the 1870s, the Comanche Nation still exists and continues to live
00:09by many codes established hundreds of years ago.
00:13The Comanche remained nomadic, never settling until they were forced onto reservations by
00:17the U.S. government. Mobility was power. It gave them the advantage over their enemies,
00:21the Apache, who ruled the southern plains between the 1720s and the 1750s. But the Apache
00:26were farmers with land to protect. While the Comanche didn't have time for any gardening,
00:30they would simply swoop in, make mayhem, and ride off to fight another day.
00:35This smash-and-grab approach to warfare also worked against non-native enemies. The Comanche
00:40outfought Spanish colonial armies sent by Mexico City to handle them, and once Mexico
00:44earned its independence in 1821, they were even less effective at controlling the tribe.
00:49Meanwhile, the mobile nature of the Comanche society meant that they weren't just superior
00:53They were also successful traders, transporting goods — and, unfortunately, enslaved populations
00:58— between colonial powers and other native groups.
01:01While the exact details are lost in history — probably because history is written by
01:05the winners — the Comanche became expert horsemen in the late 17th century. And that's
01:10underselling it a bit.
01:11What is known is that they first acquired horses through the indigenous horse trade
01:15after the 1680 Pueblo Revolt. That's a fun little story. In short, the Spanish tried
01:20to settle the area, got demolished, and the Pueblo got horses out of it to boot.
01:24Soon after, the Comanche migrated south, probably to get closer to the free-roaming but feral
01:29Mustangs of the Southwest, descendants of horses left behind by the Spanish. The Comanches
01:34captured the tough little horses for riding and maintained large herds on the prairie
01:37grasslands. This was a game-changer for the tribe.
01:41Everything you see and everything you saw yesterday is my home!
01:45It's hard to put into perspective today, but the horses were what made the Comanche what
01:49they were — a killing machine that wreaked terror everywhere they went.
01:54With the Apache gone and French colonists eager to re-up on horses, buffalo hides, and
01:58meat, the Comanche were able to trade for European products, including guns. They also
02:03traded with northern tribes who also needed horses in exchange for products from British
02:07Columbia.
02:08To the Comanche, horses — whether caught, bred, or stolen — were gold. The tribe were
02:13also willing participants in the teeming trade in enslaved people, initially selling captured
02:17Apaches but then expanding into other populations as they raided New Spain and Mexico, some
02:22of whom arrived with their own African-descended enslaved people in tow. Morality aside, the
02:27Comanche recognized the desire for enslaved workers and were willing and able to meet
02:31the demand.
02:33The Comanche's strategy against the Apache was simple — destroy them. Them means everyone,
02:39literally. By night, they raided Apache camps to steal or kill livestock, start fires, and
02:44destroy their food supply. By day, Comanche warriors made savage frontal assaults designed
02:48to kill as many Apache men as they could and capture women and children they could sell
02:52into slavery. But if there was no buyer's market, they just killed them, too.
02:57By 1750, the remaining Apache had fled the territory. In the meantime, the Comanche acquired
03:02a better class of gun through trade with French colonists and fur traders in the Louisiana
03:07Territory. And just like they had with horses, the tribe quickly became expert marksmen.
03:12These new guns, and their newfound skill with them, enabled the tribe to plunder Spanish
03:15settlements nearly at will and resist all attempts by the government to subjugate them.
03:21In a martial society like the Comanche, whose way of life relied in part on their fearsome
03:25reputation, bravery was key to becoming a valued and respected member of the tribe.
03:30One of the ways for a Comanche warrior to earn prestige was a combat ritual called Counting
03:34Coup, practiced by a number of Plains tribes. To count coup, a warrior would get close enough
03:39to an enemy to kill, then merely touch or strike them with a hand, bow, or other weapon,
03:44leaving them unharmed, except in the all-important pride department. This was extremely dangerous.
03:49If you were close enough to kill, you were close enough to be killed.
03:53Counting coup and other victories wasn't just for bragging rights. The best and bravest
03:57fighting men were most likely to marry well and to rise to positions of leadership in
04:01the fluid Comanche hierarchy.
04:02While the Comanche were a coherent cultural unit with shared interests, the tribe's most
04:07important political divisions were smaller. These bands were groups of extended families,
04:12related by blood, marriage, or both, traveled together and functioned as a unit, and these
04:16smaller groups could align to form larger alliances. When circumstances dictated, or
04:21interests were no longer shared, bands would merge, reorganize, or split — another benefit
04:25of staying mobile.
04:26With the extended family serving as a key subunit of Comanche society, it mattered who
04:31you married — even more so than in European-style cultures. You really were marrying the whole
04:36family.
04:37The ideal arrangement was polygamous — one man with multiple wives. But monogamy still
04:42existed. And there are also records of polyandry — one woman with multiple husbands. Sisters
04:48made ideal co-wives, but direct marriage between relatives was wisely forbidden. Not a lot
04:54of Hapsburg Jaws among the Comanches.
04:57Marriage typically required the approval of a woman's male relatives, especially her brothers,
05:01who would be given gifts of horses and possibly bride service or physical labor from the groom-to-be.
05:07Comanche weddings weren't really a thing, however. They just moved in together. Generally,
05:10a man would live in a tipi with his senior or favorite wife, while his other wives lived
05:14nearby in their own tipis. Divorce was possible, but while a man could simply declare himself
05:19divorced, a woman had to put herself under the protection of her brothers or a new husband.
05:24Those male protectors could then either fight or pay off the starter husband to dissolve
05:27the marriage.
05:30Comanche religious practice was a personal, even private, matter. They believed in a creator
05:34who some sources said was one with the sun, while others described them as a distinct
05:39entity. Like many societies in the Plains and Rocky Mountains, the Comanche believed
05:43in a world full of sources of spiritual power called Puha. This power could be gifted to
05:48an individual by animals, other aspects of nature, or human beings, alive or dead.
05:54This morning in the sky, I saw a sign. The Thunderbird.
06:00Possums, skunks, wolves, bears, bison, cedar, and peyote were considered to have high amounts
06:04of intrinsic power for one reason or another. And possums and cedar accepted, many people
06:09today would likely agree.
06:11Some Comanche men and women could be possessed by a strong or significant power, becoming
06:15what was called a Puhacatl. This power could be transferred, inherited, or learned, or
06:20could be sought in a vision quest, during which a young person would go to a higher
06:23altitude — where spirits were believed to dwell — and fast, remain awake, and keep
06:28themselves isolated. If the spirits chose to grant Puha to the seeker, they would then
06:32be able to practice spiritual medicine to help their fellow Comanche, either alone or
06:36as part of larger medicine societies.
06:39When it came to selecting leaders, Comanche society was democratic. Prominent men would
06:43gather to elect leaders of a band or a larger group by consensus. Those leaders were chosen
06:48for their particular skills, the respect they commanded, and, of course, personal charisma.
06:53And they could be replaced if they lost the confidence in the men who'd chosen them.
06:57Comanche groups tended to elect both a war chief and a peace chief who oversaw civil
07:01matters. The peace chief was generally higher-ranking. These sub-chiefs could meet and counsel to
07:06make decisions on matters affecting larger groups, or the Comanche as a whole. Although,
07:10during his time in the Comanche zeal for personal freedom, decisions weren't binding
07:14on individual Comanche. This libertarian-style freedom to act complicated matters with outside
07:19groups, especially European powers, who expected everyone to be under some sort of government
07:23rule.
07:24The Comanche people are a beautiful, strong, proud people, and they're still a nation.
07:28They still have 15,000 members.
07:31The Comanche continue to have a democratic government today. The modern Comanche nation
07:35is run by an elected tribal council, which regulates tribal membership, administers federal
07:39programs, and fulfills the responsibilities and priorities of the modern Comanche people.
07:44During the Comanche heyday, their language, Numa Tekwap, was widely spoken across the
07:48plains, to the extent that it sometimes served as a common language among the regions. Unfortunately,
07:54after the Comanche were forced onto reservations, United States efforts to crush Native identity
07:58led many speakers to switch to English. The children stopped learning the language.
08:02Nevertheless, several young Comanche men were among the code talkers of World War II. Indigenous
08:07men who used their languages unknown to German or Japanese intelligence to transmit sensitive
08:12military information.
08:14Machines developed by the military would take four hours to translate codes that could be
08:19decoded by the Comanche code talkers in three minutes.
08:23For a time, it seemed the Comanche language might be forgotten, but the tribe have pushed
08:27back and are actively working to preserve it.
08:31It's hard, but, I mean, if we don't learn it as a young generation, then it's just going
08:36to eventually die out.
08:38The Comanche Nation offers language-learning materials and translation services for tribal
08:42members, though, heads up, they will not translate your tattoo. Don't ask.
08:47After the Civil War ended, the U.S. government had more resources to dedicate to crushing
08:51resistance to westward expansion, and the Comanche were in the crosshairs. A concentrated
08:55military campaign in 1874-75 forced the Comanche onto a reservation in Oklahoma that they shared
09:02with the Kiowa and their former foes, the Apache, which was later broken up and allotted
09:06to individual residents, with the rest sold to white settlers between 1901 and 1906.
09:12A Kiowa-Comanche-Apache Inter-Tribal Business Committee was formed in 1936, which served
09:17as a consolidated tribal government until the Comanche broke off, wrote their own constitution,
09:22and formed their own tribal nation in the late 1960s.
09:25Today, the Comanche Nation has nearly 15,000 enrolled tribal members and operates a tribal
09:30government from offices near Lawton, Oklahoma. The government provides services and cultural
09:35resources to enrolled members, ensuring that the Comanche retain both their sovereignty
09:39and their identity as a distinct native nation. The current Comanche flag still calls them
09:44the Lords of the Southern Plains.