The Element Encyclopedia of Native Americans: An A to Z of Tribes, Culture, and History

When they wanted to cook meat or vegetables the Comanche women would dig a hole, which they then lined with skins or the stomach of a buffalo to make it waterproof. Hot stones made the water boil, and enabled the food to be cooked. The metal pots of the Spanish and other European settlers would make this domestic task much easier. A delicacy for the Comanche hunters was the curdled milk from the stomachs of buffalo calves that were still suckling.

In common with other Plains Indians, the Comanche were very hospitable, and prepared something to eat whenever a visitor arrived. This meant that people not used to such a custom took it as read that the Comanche ate at all hours of day or night.

Like other Plains Indians, the Comanche lived in tipis, the portable home made of skins draped around a cone-shaped construction of loose poles. Their clothing was simple: for the men, a breechcloth, deerskin leggings, and moccasins; in winter the upper torso was covered in buffalo-hide robes. Small boys went naked except in very cold weather. Women traditionally wore deerskin dresses, with beautiful fringing along the hems and sleeves. These dresses were often beaded, or had metalwork inserts that were similar to the mirrorwork done in India, in which small pieces of mirror are stitched into the pattern of the fabric. The women also wore moccasins and buffalo-hide robes. Young girls, unlike their brothers, did wear clothes: breechcloths from the time they were babies until they were old enough to wear smaller replicas of the clothes worn by the women.

Comanche men were proud of their earrings; the womenfolk pierced the men’s ears with as many as eight holes, which would be ornamented with shells or loops of wire. The men also had facial tattoos as well as markings on their chests and arms. These took the form of geometric designs; both design and color were the choice of the individual, although black was universally used in the case of war paint. Comanche women liked to paint the very insides of their ears a brilliant red.

When a Comanche died, the corpse was wrapped in a blanket and placed on a horse, with a rider. The rider would then carry the body until he found a place that was right for the burial of the body. The burial place was marked by stones and boulders, then the rider returned, his task completed. The possessions that had belonged to the dead person were burned, and the mourning began. As in other tribes, the chief mourner would slash his or her arms as a demonstration of grief. The Christian missionaries, however, persuaded the Comanche that the “proper” way to respect their dead was to bury them in wooden coffins in the ground.

Because the Comanche were on the move much of the time, unlike the “settled” Native peoples, it made no sense for them to have possessions or utensils that were in any way breakable. This means that fragile clay pottery was of no use to them. What they had in abundance as available material was the buffalo, and, as well as eating the animal, the Comanche made use of the horn, bones and hides for almost all of their household goods. The lining of the buffalo’s stomach made a water bag; it could also make a vessel which, when stretched and hung between a framework of sticks, made a sort of waterproof cooking “pot,” as described previously. Even the dung of the buffalo, fibrous and dry, was used as a fuel for fires.

For the Europeans, the Comanche were something of a double-edged sword. Well able to adapt any new circumstances to their own favor, they made good traders. However, their fearlessness and predilection for raids was unnerving. The Comanche were also involved in a seemingly endless series of wars with any and all of the other Great Plains tribes; this meant that the tribe were prey to political maneuvering and exploitation by the U.S. Government, as well as by the Spanish and French colonial settlers. There was very nearly a peace pact between the Comanche and the white men, but this was stymied when the Government refused to describe a boundary between the Comanche lands and the territory of Texas.

Despite all this seeming chaos, the Comanche were able to stay independent, and unlike other Indians, even managed to increase the scope of their territory. Tragically, it was not the politics of the white man that caused the most injury to the Comanche, but his diseases. The worst of these—smallpox—ravaged the tribe in 1817 and again in 1848. Measles and cholera also took their toll. The population of the tribe, it is estimated, would have dropped from approximately 20,000 to 5,000 by the 1870s.

It must have seemed a much easier prospect, faced with a weakened Comanche nation, for the U.S. Government to start forcing the tribe onto designated reservations toward the end of the 1860s. They offered a standard of living that included schools for the children, Christian churches, and money, in return for Comanche lands ranging to 62,000 square miles. In return for this, the Government suggested that the Comanche should squeeze themselves into fewer than 5,000 square miles—along with Apache, Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Kiowa peoples. Part of this agreement was that the Government would put a stop to the white buffalo hunters who were slaughtering the animals on a grand scale. But the Government could not, or would not, stop the buffalo hunters, despite the agreement. Buffalo were a fundamentally important part of the Comanche way of life; therefore the tribe, under the leadership of White Eagle, retaliated by launching an attack on a group of white hunters in 1874. The Comanche were decimated; the survivors rounded up and forced onto the reservation. Fewer than ten years later, the buffalo were just about extinct, forcing an end to the traditional way of life of the Comanche. The last of the free members of the tribe moved onto the reservation in 1875, at Fort Sill in Oklahoma.

These Comanche, few as they were, quickly became disillusioned with their supposedly ideal new way of life. A year later, fewer than 200 warriors were left to battle in the Buffalo Hunters War of 1877.

COMANCHE CODE

During the Second World War, the U.S. Government had the idea of using the Comanche language as a “code” to befuddle the enemy Germans. In order to do this, 17 young men were trained in the language. Ironically, the language had nearly died out after Comanche children were placed in boarding schools in the 19th century where they were encouraged to speak English, and punished for speaking their native language.

CONCOMLY

A Chinook chief, Concomly extended a friendly welcome to the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1805 when it reached him and his tribe at the mouth of the Columbia River where it entered the Pacific Coast. His daughter would go on to marry Duncan McDougal, head of the Astor expedition which sought to take over the country on behalf of the United States. Concomly liked to display his power; he must have been an awe-inspiring sight for the white men, since he traveled with a retinue of some 300 slaves, who went before him carpeting the ground with beaver skins.

Concomly was notoriously accused of being charged with a plan to massacre some soldiers at a nearby garrison and raid the stores. Although this was not proved, Concomly offered to show his allegiance to the Americans by fighting on their side against the British in 1812.

After his death, Concomly’s skull—which had been subject to the “flattening” procedure whereby the infant’s skull was shaped while the bones were still soft—was sent to Britain, and regarded as a curiosity. However, it was returned to the U.S. in 1952.

CONESTOGA HORSE

Horses rapidly became invaluable to the Native Americans, used for traveling long distances, for hunting, and as pack animals. The Conestoga was a heavy horse, bred in Pennsylvania in the 18th century, which had the blood of a Flemish carthorse along with a British breed. Able to carry and drag heavy loads, the Conestoga was used for pulling wagons.

CONESTOGA WAGON

The wagon, typically seen in Wild West and cowboy movies, has a framework of hoops over which canvas is draped to give cover and provide accommodation to passengers and goods. These are the wagons that were regularly seen moving slowly along as wagon trains, and drawn either by cattle or by half a dozen Conestoga horses, for which the wagon was named. The Native Americans called the wagon the “tipi wagon.”

CONFEDERACY

Also called an allegiance or league, a confederacy was a union of two or more tribes, perhaps for military or political purposes. The Iroquois Confederacy is a good example of just how powerful strength in numbers, and a unified aim, can be.

CORN

See Maize

CORNPLANTER

“It is my wish and the wishes of my people to live peaceably and quietly with you.”

1770s–1836

A renowned Seneca chief, Cornplanter was born to a Seneca mother and a Dutch father, a fur trader, in the Genesee River area of New York. Initially Cornplanter—whose name in Seneca approximated to “the planter” or “by which one plants”—did not know that his father was white; it was only after repeated teasing by other children that his mother told him the truth. His father, Johannes Abeel, was living in Albany, and so Cornplanter visited him. The visit was amicable, but Cornplanter came away empty-handed. Subsequently, fighting on the side of the British during the Revolutionary War, Cornplanter captured his father and wanted him to remain among the tribe, but Abeel refused. Cornplanter also had a half-brother named Handsome Lake.

During the Revolutionary War, Cornplanter argued for neutrality, believing that the white men’s war should be fought by the white men and that the Iroquois should remain neutral. However, both sides tried to persuade the tribe to take their part, tempting them with money and goods. The tribe voted to fight on behalf of the British and, despite his leaning toward neutrality, Cornplanter respected the majority’s decision and became one of two war chiefs. When the British subsequently lost, Cornplanter, with his formidable skills of diplomacy and oratory, understood the sense in having friendly relations with the newly minted U.S. Government, which the Iroquois referred to as the “13 Fires.” Cornplanter helped mediate between the Government and several different tribes as well as his own people. He took part in meetings with President Washington and also with Thomas Jefferson. Throughout instances of Indian resistance he managed to retain neutrality for the Iroquois. In 1790 he traveled to Philadelphia to appeal to Governor Thomas Mifflin on behalf of his people; he left with a promise that Iroquois land would be protected.

As a thanks for his help, Cornplanter was granted 1,500 acres of land in the western part of Pennsylvania. The deeds were handed over in 1796. He was also given a further 700 acres, the Cornplanter Grant, in Warren County.

In later life, Cornplanter became disillusioned with the ways of the Americans. He saw his people descend into a despair born of hopelessness compounded with alcohol abuse; many of them had also lost touch with their traditional religious ceremonies, adopting the Christian faith of the white men. He felt that this further undermined his people’s sense of self. Cornplanter turned his back on the ways of the white men, burning his military uniform, destroying his medals and awards, and breaking his sword, although he did retain his respect for the Quaker faith.

In 1836, Cornplanter died in Pennsylvania; he had asked that his grave remain unmarked, but some years after his death the spot was flooded when a reservoir was built there, and a monument was erected in his honor.

CORNSTALK

1720(?)–1777

A Shawnee leader, Cornstalk’s Native name was Hokoleskwa, which translates, roughly, as “stalk of corn.” Born near Pennsylvania, he moved to Ohio along with other members of his tribe, forced from the Shawnee’s traditional lands by the incursion of the white settlers. It is indeterminate as to whether or not he fought in the French and Indian War, but what is certain is that he lobbied for peace. Cornstalk did, however, fight in Lord Dunmore’s War to try to block the invasion of Virginian settlers into Shawnee land in Ohio. Despite the fact that the Indians were beaten on this occasion by the settlers, his skills as a warrior and commander attracted the attention and respect of the white people. His skills as an orator, too, did not go unnoticed.

During the Revolutionary War a position of neutrality was favored by Cornstalk; however, the overriding feeling among the Shawnee was that the British should be supported since then there would be a chance that the incursion of settlers would be stopped. The tribe were split into those that supported Cornstalk, and those that favored fighting on behalf of the British, led by Chief Blue Jacket.

In 1777 Cornstalk was visiting Fort Randolph in West Virginia. However, despite the diplomacy of his visit, Cornstalk fell foul of the commander there, who had decided to capture any Shawnee and hold them hostage. Cornstalk, his son, and two other Shawnee were killed as a result of an unrelated incident when an American soldier was killed by an unknown Indian.

With the death of Cornstalk the Americans were alarmed; with him had died what they thought was any chance of the Shawnee remaining neutral. He was buried where he died, at Fort Randolph, although in 1840 his remains were relocated to the Mason County Courthouse in Washington state. When the courthouse was demolished in 1954, Cornstalk’s remains were moved once again, and he was interred at Point Pleasant, Virginia.

COUNCIL CIRCLE

This is an archeological construction found in various ancient village sites, usually near the center of the settlement. It is likely that the circle would have had several functions: as a calendar, providing a way of observing the rites associated with key points of the year, such as the solstices; as a kind of fortification or defense; and also as a central meeting point where important matters were discussed and decided by a tribe. However, the Council Circle does not belong merely to the past; it also refers to a gathering at which all members are equally important, a democratic “talking circle” where a talking stick is passed around to make sure that everyone has a chance to speak and offer his or her opinion.

COUNTING COUP

This term referred to a piece of battle etiquette, and was a very important principle. The Assiniboin, for example, believed that “Killing an enemy counts for nothing unless that person is touched or struck.”

Victory over an enemy was “certified” by the first touch of that enemy, be it with a stick, the hand, or a weapon, while he was still alive. This initial contact constituted the first “coup”. If the enemy was subsequently killed after this touch, then this was the second coup. If the enemy was then scalped to boot, this counted as three coups.

Further, touching the tipi or home of the enemy counted as a coup, and any symbols painted on it could be appropriated by the victor. Stealing the enemy’s horse, too, counted as a further coup.

The greatest honor, though, was that initial touch, that contact with the living enemy. This was considered to be even more important than the killing. Considering this logically, it takes more nerve to have physical contact with a foe than it does to kill him from a distance, say, with a bow and arrow, or with a bullet from a gun.

Feathers or pelts were worn to indicate the number, and nature of, the coups. For example the Assiniboin warrior wore an eagle feather for each enemy that he had killed. A Crow warrior would attach wolf tails to the heels of his moccasins to indicate the same thing.

COUP STICK

A log stick, curved at one end and highly decorated, including with fur, which was used to “count coup” on an enemy. The coup stick was a highly valued object, especially if it had touched many enemies, and was passed down from father to son.

See also Counting Coup

COUREUR DE BOIS

A French phrase meaning “runner of the woods.” The term referred to the French fur traders who were independent of the larger fur-trading organizations and preferred to work as sole operators, often living for the majority of their time with the local Native peoples.

COYOTE

The coyote, or prairie wolf, also known as the barking wolf because of the sound it makes, was respected by Native Americans for its perceived wisdom. In common with many other sacred animals, the flesh of the coyote was rarely eaten; however, a division of the Apache known as the Coyoteros are said to have that name purely because they did elect to eat the flesh of the animal.

Coyote skin was prized as a material for making the quivers that held arrows.

CRADLEBOARD

Still in use for many Native American peoples, the cradleboard is a traditional style of apache-carrier/protector, used before the infant is able to walk. The structure of the cradleboard is a firm base (against which the baby’s spine rests), a footboard, and a cover for the front of the child (often designed to be laced up to hold the child steady) as well as something to shade his or her head and to provide protection. Some cradleboards also incorporate dangling toys to amuse the child, or dreamcatchers. Cradleboards are made from different sorts of materials according to the tradition of the tribe; they may be woven (Apache), made of wood (Penobscot) or created by some other means.

Inside the cradleboard is padding which sometimes doubles up as a disposable diaper. Materials used for this include down, moss, plant fibers, etc. Other lining materials act as insulation: the pelt of small mammals, especially rabbits, is warm and soft when the fur is placed next to the skin of the baby.

The cradleboard is not a convenient structure for peoples living in subarctic conditions; mothers in these areas would wrap their babies in warm fabrics and furs and carry them underneath their outer garments.

CRAZY HORSE

“I was hostile to the white man … We preferred hunting to a life of idleness on our reservations. At times we did not get enough to eat and we were not allowed to hunt. All we wanted was peace and to be let alone. Soldiers came … in the winter … and destroyed our villages. Then Long Hair (Custer) came … They said we massacred him, but he would have done the same to us. Our first impulse was to escape … but we were so hemmed in we had to fight. After that I lived in peace, but the government would not let me alone. I was not allowed to remain quiet. I was tired of fighting … They tried to confine me … and a soldier ran his bayonet into me. I have spoken.”

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