Los Comanches Dance

I have noticed that I have gotten numerous hits on the site by people interested in information about the Los Comanches dance done usually on New Years Day and sometimes at other times of the year in some of the Hispanic towns in northern New Mexico. So, I decided to put up a little information here about the custom.

The dance is not done by Native Americans but by Spanish-Americans and is done to keep a very old tradition alive that dates back to the late 1700′s. The dancers are not acting or pretending to be Indians but are carrying on a tradition that remembers the relationship between the Spanish settlers of the northern part of the state and the nomadic Comanche Indians.

I could go on here but there are several web sites that can supply concise information about the Comanche Dances and here they are:

• An article in the New Mexico Magazine that covers the Comanche Dances and other northern New Mexico traditional dances,
• A newsletter published by the New Mexico State Records Center and Archives,
• Paula Valentine’s Photography site which has wonderful photos of the event in Taos,
• A photo of 2 young Los Comanche Dancers in Alcalde, New Mexico.

I hope this will start anyone on the road to needed information and please let me know if any links are not working. They are all good as of today but tomorrow??……this is the internet you know!