Imagine being kidnapped at age nine and thrown into a totally new way of life with a Comanche tribe. Imagine slowly adjusting to this new life until it becomes all you know, as you learn Comanche customs and language, follow the buffalo, have children. Now imagine you are kidnapped again as adult—once more torn away from all you know. This is the story of Cynthia Ann Parker.

 

     Comancheria in Blue by Janice Northerns, a hybrid collection of poetry and essays, explores what happens when the blue-eyed Anglo author (who grew up in the former Comancheria) follows the path of another blue-eyed girl, one who was kidnapped by Comanches in 1836. After Cynthia Ann Parker was taken captive, she lived with Comanches for twenty-four years, married the war chief Peta Nocona, and had three children with him, including the last Comanche chief, Quanah Parker. Northerns examines Parker’s life through poetry, while also reflecting on her own understanding of history, land rights, and ownership.