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San Ildefonso Pueblo Painting Comanche Dancer on Horseback by Tse Ye Mu - C3827i
San Ildefonso Pueblo members dance the Comanche Dance every year on January 23rd, which is the pueblo's feast day. The peaceful Pueblo Indians of New Mexico and Arizona never wore feathered headdresses popular with tribes believing in the virtue of warfare. The Navajo, Apache, Ute and Comanche were the ones who raided the pueblos.
San Ildefonso Pueblo celebrates the Comanche Dance to honor the end of hostilities between the tribes and their peaceful co-existence. The dancers have painted faces, wear a feathered head bonnet, and some carry a flag that has meaning in Plains Indian custom; a warrior proved his valor by planting his flag in the ground during battle, tied himself to it, and defended it to the death against all-comers. He earned a feather bonnet after accomplishing this feat.