From Numu Tekwapuha Nomneekatu

The Comanche Language and Cultural Preservation Committee
P.O. Box 3610
Lawton, Oklahoma 73502

Lords of the Southern Plains

The Comanches were rulers of the Plains in the 1700s and were later known as the Lords of the Southern Plains.  Renowned for their horsemanship, they defended their land from all intruders.  The horse enabled them to travel widely, striking terror into the hearts of their farthest enemy.  It also enables them to provide for their families-food, shelter and clothing.

Comanche Bands

Tribal government was virtually non-existent, with the Tribe being organized into bands and each band developing their own style of self government.  During the nineteenth century there were five outstanding bands: the Pihnaatukha, Yapaituhka, Noyuka, Kwaharu and Kuutsutuhka.

Whites' Westward Expansion

From the time White Men pushed westward towards a new frontier in the 1830s, many events occurred that altered the way of life for this great tribe.  The Treaty of Medicine Lodge, the Battle of Adobe Walls, the Jerome Agreement and the Oklahoma land openings were but a few of these events.

*The Treaty of Medicine Lodge

The Treaty of Medicine Lodge, signed in 1867, promised protection from the hunters killing off the buffalo, provided for schools and churches, permitted railroads to be built, and took 38.5 million acres in return for a three million acre reservation.   Reservation life for the Comanches began in 1869.

Battle of Adobe Walls

The Battle of Adobe Walls took place in 1874 in the Texas panhandle when buffalo hunters were attacked by Comanches, Kiowas and Cheyenne.  The battle proved disastrous for the Indians and by 1880 both the buffalo and a way of life for the Comanches were gone.

The Jerome Agreement of 1892

The Jerome Agreement of 1892 provided for an allotment of 160 acres for each man, woman and child in return for relinquishment of all but a half million acres.  For the Relinquished land they were paid $1.25 per acre.  In June of 1901 the land allotments were completed and this nomadic tribe of the Plains settled into the life of farmers/ranchers.

Oklahoma Land Boom

Five years later land-hungry "Boomers" forced the opening of the last remaining land held by the Indians.  Allotments were given to children born after 1901 and the remainder of Comanche land was divided into tracts for the last big land opening in Oklahoma's short history.

Code Talkers

During the Second World War, an elite group of Comanche-speaking young men contributed to the Allied cause as Code Talkers. 

Modern Comanche Tribe

In 1996 the Comanche Tribe numbers over 10,000 members, with approximately half of them residing in southwest Oklahoma.  The Comanche Tribal Complex is located ten miles north of Lawton and employs over sixty persons.

The Tribe is headed by a Chairman, Vice-Chairman, and Secretary-Treasurer along with four business committee members.  A constitution adopted in 1967 sets forth the conditions under which the Tribe operates.

The Comanches have not been "reservation" Indians since 1901.  Many still live on their family's allotted land others live in cities.  Some choose to lease their land, either to cattlemen or oil companies.  A few are wealthy, most are making ends meet, some struggle through each day.  Many work 9 to 5 jobs, with others owning and operating their own business.

The Comanches were once known as the Lords of the Southern Plains and it is our vision to again be considered as such.  The Comanche Tribe as a whole and the Comanche people as individuals have gone through some very difficult time, but we are survivors.   We are the NU-MU-NUU.