Comanche

Comanches
Nʉmʉnʉʉ

Flag of the Comanche
Regions with significant populations
United States (Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico)
Languages
English, Comanche
Religion
Native American Church, Christianity, traditional tribal religion
Related ethnic groups
Shoshone and other Numic peoples

The Comanche /kəˈmæntʃiː/ (Comanche: Nʉmʉnʉʉ) are a Native American nation from the Great Plains whose historic territory, known as Comancheria, consisted of present-day eastern New Mexico, southeastern Colorado, southwestern Kansas, western Oklahoma, and most of northwest Texas and northern Chihuahua. The Comanche people are federally recognized as the Comanche Nation, headquartered in Lawton, Oklahoma.

Post-contact, the Comanches were hunter-gatherers with a horse culture. There may have been as many as 45,000 Comanches in the late 18th century. They were the dominant tribe on the Southern Plains and often took captives from weaker tribes during warfare, selling them as slaves to the Spanish and later Mexican settlers. They also took thousands of captives from the Spanish, Mexican, and American settlers.

Today, the Comanche Nation has 15,191 members, approximately 7,763 of whom reside in tribal jurisdictional area around the Lawton, Fort Sill, and surrounding areas of southwest Oklahoma. The Comanche Nation Homecoming Powwow is held annually in Walters, Oklahoma in mid-July.