Description
Kavanagh's introduction adds context to the personal narratives by discussing the process of transmission. These narratives serve multiple purposes for Comanche families and communities. Some autobiographical accounts, "recounting" brave deeds and war honors, function as validation of status claims, while others illustrate the giving of names; still others recall humorous situations, song-ridicules, slapstick, and tragedies. Such family oral histories quickly transcend specific people and events by restoring key voices to the larger historical narrative of the American West.
About the Author
Francis Joseph Attocknie (1912-84) was the great-great-grandson of Ten Bears. Thomas W. Kavanagh is the author of Comanche Ethnography: Field Notes of E. Adamson Hoebel, Waldo R. Wedel, Gustav G. Carlson, and Robert H. Lowie (Nebraska, 2008) and The Comanches: A History, 1706-1875 (Nebraska, 1996).
Reviews
"The Life of Ten Bears provides such a wealth of information regarding Comanche raids and rituals from this era that it should prove of immense value to researchers for decades to come."-Steven Sielaff, Great Plains Quarterly
"Native historical accounts are the 'holy grail' for scholars working in borderlands or colonial contact situations. Kavanagh's editing of Francis Joseph 'Joe A' Attocknie's collection of the historical narratives of the Comanche Ten Bears will prove invaluable for scholars and edifying for readers."-Lance Blyth, author of Chiricahua and Janos: Communities of Violence in the Southwestern Borderlands, 1680-1880
"The Life of Ten Bears will quickly become required reading in a range of disciplines and will be enjoyed by a broad, popular readership. It is a treasured addition to historical narratives authored by members of Native American communities in the twentieth century."-Daniel Swan, curator of ethnology, Sam Noble Museum, University of Oklahoma
Book Information
ISBN 9780803285507
Author Francis Joseph Attocknie
Format Hardback
Page Count 252
Imprint University of Nebraska Press
Publisher University of Nebraska Press