Status and prestige were available only to male Comanches, as individuals. There were no positions in government, no chief priests, no head dancers. To gain status a male had to go out and seek spiritual power on his own initiative. This seeking of power took the form of a quest for an authentic spiritual vision. A boy just entering puberty bathed, took his buffalo robe, bone pipe and tobacco, and his fire drill. He then rode to a place known to have spiritual power, away from his band. He fasted and prayed, blew smoke to the four corners for up to four days and waited for a sign. The sign could be the howl of a wolf, the rush of the wings of an eagle, the sighting of bear. The boy then sought a totem to symbolize his new guardian spirit.

After a young man had a spirit guardian he then tried to be successful in the areas that would help his band: hunting, raiding, and healing. If these efforts were successful he was chosen to lead and to advise and was considered to be a powerful man.

Read about Nukitsi and the serious obstacle to his vision quest in the following excerpt:  what-to

Here is the vision that comes to Nukitsi:

wolf-visits-db