Their Neighboors

The Tonkawas traded regularly with other tribes

 of the southern Plains and the Southwest. They

 particularly liked to trade buffalo products to
 
farming tribes like the Caddo Pueblo Indians in

 exchange for corn.
 

The Tonkawas also fought wars with other

 tribes. Plains Indian tribes treated war

 differently than European countries did. They

 didn't fight over territory but instead to prove

 their courage, and so Plains Indian war parties
 
rarely fought to the death or destroyed each
 
other's villages. Instead, their war customs
 
included counting coup (touching an opponent
 
in battle without harming him), stealing an
 
enemy's weapon or horse, or forcing the other
 
tribe's warriors to retreat. Some tribes the
 
Tonkawas frequently fought with included
 
the Apaches and Comanches.