Indians 101: The Comanche buffalo hunt

by Ojibwa for Native American Netroots

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Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025 Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025 at 7:15:05am PDT

The primary animal utilized by the American Indians of the Southern Plains was the buffalo (Bison bison bison). This animal provided them with an abundant supply of meat, as well as hides which were used for making shelter, clothing, bedding, and containers.

In his entry on the Comanches in the Encyclopedia of North American Indians, Thomas Kavanagh (1996b: 131) writes:

“The foundation of Comanche domestic economy was the buffalo, obtained by both individual stalking and group hunting methods.”

Among the Comanches, there were two seasonal communal hunts: one conducted during the summer after seasonal molting (a time when the hides were in their prime) and a fall hunt conducted in November-December, a time when hides were best for winter robes. In his chapter on the Comanches in the Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 13, Part 2: Plains, Thomas Kavanagh reports:

“Group hunts usually occurred in late summer and fall when the animals were fat, robes good, and there were few flies.”

Among the Comanches, each hunt had a hunt leader who directed the general conduct of the hunt and gave the signal for the attack. Unlike other Plains tribes, the Comanche did not have a military police or a war society which was responsible for enforcing discipline on the hunt.

Buffalo hunting was done on horseback using either a bow and arrow or a lance. Buffalo-hunting horses had to be able to ride into the herd, quick to avoid a charging wounded bull, and well-trained to respond to the rider’s commands without reins.

The mounted Comanche hunters would surround the buffalo herd and force it into a compact mass. The buffalo often became confused and stopped running, thus making it easier for them to be killed. In his book The Comanche Empire, Pekka Hamalainen describes the hunt this way:

“Riding in full speed alongside a fleeing herd and firing arrows into selected animals, a group of hunters could bring down two to three hundred bison in a single chase that took less than an hour. It was enough to keep several hundred people sheltered, clothed, and nourished for more than a month.”

In their book Native American Heritage, Merwyn Garbarino and Robet Sasso report:

“The hunter approached a buffalo from the rear, coming up swiftly and shooting an arrow into the soft, vulnerable area between the rib cage and the pelvis. At such close range, the arrow did tremendous damage. The hunters also killed with lances, but success in either case, depended as much on the steed as the rider.”

The buffalo were killed as quickly as possible. If the animal was overheated from running, the meat would spoil before it could be cured.

At the end of the Comanche hunt, each dead buffalo was the property of the man who killed it. This was determined by the arrows, as each hunter had his own marked arrows.

Some Comanche hunters with well-trained horses would use the lance rather than the bow and arrow for killing buffalo.

Following the hunt, a Comanche married couple noted for their goodness and purity, would give a special ceremony. The ceremony would begin in the morning and end with the midday meal. After the buffalo tongues were roasted, the men would sit in a semi-circle around the fire and smoke the pipe. After this, a woman would be called on to serve the tongue. This ceremony involved no dancing or singing.

In their book The Comanches: Lords of the South Plains, Ernest Wallace and E. Adamson Hoebel note that:

“Buffalo were so plentiful in the Southern Plains that the Comanche rarely bothered to fortify themselves for the communal hunt by making medicine.” One way of finding buffalo was to ask the horned toad. In answering the question the horned toad always runs in the direction of the buffalo and for this reason the name for the horned toad in Comanche translates as “asking about the buffalo.”