Fierce Warriors of the Southern Plains

The Comanche Indians, a nomadic offshoot of the Eastern Shoshoni Indians, lived on the North-American Southern Great Plains during 1800-1900s.  The name "Comanche",  a household word found in many works of fiction, TV shows, videogames etc., is believed to come from from the Spanish "interpretation" of their Ute name "Kohmahts", meaning: those who are against us, or want to fight us.  The Comanche People call themselves "Numunuh", which means: The People.  Early explorers knew them as "Padouca"; their Siouan name.

The Comanche language, Uto-Aztecan (Numic), is closely related to the Shoshoni (Ute) linguistic stock.

Prior to their acquiring the horse and gradually migrating to the Southern Great Plains around the 1700s, The Comanche had primarily been a hunter-gatherer people.  They moved, attacking and taking over territory occupied by other tribes including the Crow, the Cherokee, the Creek, the Choctaw, and the Apache. The area they controlled became known as "Comancheria".

It is believed the Comanche were the first people of the Plains to use horses in their travels and conquests; they even supplied Americans with horses to reach California during the Gold Rush of 1849.  The Comanche were also dependant on the Buffalo for food and clothing.

The Comanche were not a unified tribe, and were divided into 8 to 12 autonomous Sub-Nations which lacked the usual government and millitary organization of the Other Plains Tribes.  In turn this gave way to smaller bands and divisions.  Comanche population was also in constant flux due to the numerous casualties resulting from conflict, so their numbers varied greatly. It is estimated there are presently over 11,000 people of Comanche descent living in the United-States.

Since the Comanche Indians were more involved in warfare than storytelling and keeping historical records, most of what we know of them is through often biased third party account. 

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