Comanche political history : an ethnohistorical perspective, 1706-1875 / Thomas W. Kavanagh

Object Details

Author

Kavanagh, Thomas W. 1949-

Indiana University, Bloomington American Indian Studies Research Institute

NMAI copy 39088019908458 from the library of H. Paul and Jane R. Friesema.

Contents

Introduction -- Comanche political culture -- First Euroamerican contacts, 1706-86 -- Comanche-Euroamerican relations, 1786-1820 -- Changes in Comanchería, 1820-46 -- Comanchería at midcentury, 1846-60 -- Comanchería during and after the Civil War, 1860-75 -- Political history of the Comanche tribes

Summary

Based on documentary material from historical and anthropological archives in Spain, Mexico, and the United States, the book examines the different ways the Comanche tribes - the Yamparikas, Jupes, Kotsotekas, Quahadas, Penatekas, Tenewas, and Nokonis - organized and reorganized themselves around the changing resource domains of hunting, warfare, trade and diplomacy. The book presents detailed histories of each of the Comanche tribes and raises larger questions about political processes. What are the origins and fates of political organizations? Why do peoples come together? Why do they disperse? In classical political philosophy, tribes, nations, and ethnic groups have clear, unchanging boundaries; their origins are mythical and unknowable, and their collapse is pathological. In contrast, using the record of the Comanches, Kavanagh argues that political formation and re-formation not only is normal but frequently ignores existing political and ethnic boundaries.

1996

©1996

Type

Books

History

Physical description

xvi, 586 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Smithsonian Libraries

Topic

History

Politics and government

Government relations

Record ID

siris_sil_502493

Metadata Usage (text)

CC0