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Native American Tribes (Comanche)
A Native American tribe can be defined as any historical tribe or its sub groupings of indigenous residents of America. The history of man on American soil can be dated back to the ice age where there were many incursions for resources by hunters and gatherers of Serbian origin. However, for the purposes of this report the study scope will be limited to the post Colombian period, after AD 1492. The original people of the continent were Indians; one of these native tribes was the Comanche. The Comanche are Native North American Plains Indian tribe belonging to the Shoshonean group. The name is derived from the Spanish language to mean “on who wants to fight me.” Prehistorically they were hunters and gatherers with a deep horse culture. The Comanche social organization consisted of several bands that included the Kewatsana, Kotsai, Kwahadie, Motsai, Nokoni, Patgusa, Penateka, Pohoi, Tanima, Wasaih and Yamparika (Waldman : 74). This report looks into the history of the Comanche, their current and historical population demographics, their contemporary lifestyles, the challenges they face and the possible solutions they can implement.
As stated earlier they belong to the Shoshonean subgroup of the Uzo-Aztecan group of the Aztec-Tanoan linguistic stock. Their migration history can be dated back to late 1600 where it is documented that they broke off from Shoshone territory, currently Wyoming, and moved southwards parallel to the front of the Rocky Mountains. They then settled to the southern Great Plains in a territory spanning from the Arkansas River to central Texas. This period can be defined by an exponential increase in population because of presence of large herds of buffalo, influx of migrants of Shoshone origin, adoption of numerous prisoners of war who mainly were children and women. Later that century, they acquired their horse culture through raids and trade with the Pueblo Indians after the Pueblo revolt. The horse culture originally came from the Spanish then later was transferred to the Pueblo Indians. The adoption of the horse culture was defining moment for the Comanche culture. It helped to increase their mobility to facilitate their hunting and gathering lifestyles. Records show that the Comanche had settled in present day Kansas by 1719. During this era, 1700-1800, they operated as hunters and raiders on horses roaming through the territory that now is Texas, western Oklahoma, Southeastern Colorado, eastern New Mexico and northern Mexico. Among the tribes that lost their territories during this hostile invasion was the Apache. By 1740, they had lost their territory in now New Mexico despite their fruitful resistance lasting the first quarter of the eighteenth century (Waldman: 75). . This trend continued up to the nineteenth century were they created a reputation as ruthless and tactful cattle and horse rustlers.
In the eighteenth century, the population of the Comanche was approximately forty five thousand. This is can be attributed to large herds of buffalo, influx of migrants of Shoshone origin, successes on wars increasing the number of prisoners of war, and good weather and health of the community. Today, the population has reduced drastically to fifteen thousand and two hundred members, according to 2011 enrollment figures (Waldman: 75). This drastic fall in population numbers can be related to the challenges the Comanche faced during the emergence of the Western economy during the transition between the ninetieth and twentieth century. It is estimated that about half of them have land parcels in Caddo, Comanche, Cotton, Grady, Kiowa, Tillman, and Washira counties in Oklahoma whereas the rest are concentrated in California, New Mexico and Texas (Waldman: 76). They currently have diversified their sources of livelihoods to include farming, royalties from mineral rights, and managing gaming recreational centers.
They settled in their current locations after loosing a long contracted battle with the colonizers. The Comanche war with the colonizers dates back during the seventeenth century where they blocked the Spaniards from developing Texas. Later on in 1790, they formed alliances with Kiowa, to strengthen their forces to overcome the Spaniards. This continuous struggle led to Mexico achieving independence in 1821 and the Texas region fell under the Mexican territory (Waldman: 76). However, the Comanche continued to raid and kill Mexican-American and Anglo-American settlers in Texas. During the 1830s, the battle of Alamo erupted .This led to the formation of Texas Rangers whose mandate was annexation of Texas and protection of the settlers from attacks from the hostile Indians. The Comanche resistance lasted up to 1875. The Texas Rangers crushed the mutiny because they possessed superior weapons and were guided by skillful military tactician, General Phillip Henrys Sheridan (Waldman: 76). With pressure, piling on the ‘alliance’ weak and half-starved group members surrendered to the Texas rangers’ posts. The survivors, approximately 1400, were escorted under military protection to reservations in Oklahoma.
Despite the recent government initiatives to improve the living standards of the Comanche there still exists serious concerns on their welfare in general. These problems can be grouped into two main categories i.e. cultural related and challenges of modernity (Waldman: 74). The biggest concern of them is the issue of cultural assimilation by stronger and more populous groups. Most of the individuals live in reserves but because of prevalence of modern technology and exposure to education, they stand high chances of loosing their indigenous cultures. Nevertheless, confining themselves to reserves denies them the opportunity to grow with the world (Waldman: 77). They tend to be out of out of touch and technologically backwards with the modern society. Some of the other challenges can be summarized as high child and teen death rate because of poor health facilities. In addition, most of the youth do not go to school and the families have high levels of poverty, as most parents are part time workers.
Some of the permanent solutions to the above listed challenges can be done by studying their root causes of the problem. Improvements on health care infrastructure will reduce the child and teen morbidity hence improves on the life expectancy of the Comanche, which is seen to be the lowest in industrialized countries (Waldman: 76).. In terms of preserving cultural identity, festivals should be held to promote and culture. In addition, the society’s culture should be documented to facilitate easier transfer of cultural knowledge to the next generation. On a positive note, of recent the Comanche are coming out from their reserves and living harmoniously with the rest of society. In addition, there have been attempts to enlighten them by training and introducing computer classes in the reserves.
In conclusion, the Comanche are Native Americans who lived on hunting and gathering to sustain their lifestyles. During the mid nineteenth century, they were forced to settle in Oklahoma and its environs after accepting defeat from the Texas rangers. They were settled in reserves where the conditions were squalid. Nevertheless, the conditions have not changed since then and the Comanche are still languishing in despair in these states. One of the commendable initiatives is the formation of the Comanche Nation, which acts as their mouthpiece to demand for their rights.
References
Waldman, Carl. Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes. New York: Facts on File, 2006. Print.
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