The Law of the Plains Indians

A review of several case histories of the Cheyenne and Comanche tribes reveals that, although the Cheyennes have a more sophisticated culture than the Comanches and the economic base of the two societies is similar, the Cheyenne culture reflects a higher level of institutionalization (Hoebel, 1969, p. 6). The most notable difference between the legal systems of the two societies is that the Comanches do not recognize their behavior as conforming to any ônormö (Llewellyn, 1941, p. 22) or law but rather view legal action as an individual response to a threatening circumstance. Thus, members of Comanche tribes would have difficulty answering a hypothetical questions about the legal ways of their people since they would not have learned any hard and fast rules for potential crimes or moral issues which might be faced by their tribe in the future.

An examination of several Cheyenne case histories reveals that although the Cheyenne legal system is more defined than that of t,he Comanche, it is still a long way from anything as clear as the U.S. Constitution. Most cases which illustrate problems

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so had no laws against killing members of other tribes. For instance, when a party of 48 Cheyenne Bowstring society soldiers was caught stealing horses by the Comanches and Kiowas in 1837, the Comanches killed and scalped all of the Cheyenne men (Hoig, 1980, p. 30). Moreover, even as early as the mid-1700s, the Comanches were actively trading Apaches slave women and ôstolen Spanish horses for French muskets, powder, and leadö (Noyes, 1993, p. 25). Insofar as norms which may have governed the Comanches' attitudes about marriage, a Comanche man's friends generally had more importance to him than his own wife (Noyes, 1993, p. 27). And, although the Comanches were generally hospitable, crimes committed against any Comanche tribe member by other Plains Indian tribes could be avenged by any member of the Comanche tribe. For example, in one case history, two Osage tribe warriors appeared in a Comanche tribe, lost, hungry, and in need of help. After one hospitable member of the Comanche tribe nursed the two Osage men back to health, the host learned that one of the Osages had killed the host's relative in battle. Since the host was bound by the tribe's rules of hospitality, the host could not challenge the Osage to battle in the ra
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Approximate Word count = 4482
Approximate Pages = 18 (250 words per page)

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