THE HORSE IN
INDIGENOUS CULTURE
For many Native Americans, animals as well as people are part of a Nation of their own. Few Nations were as important to Native American life as the Horse Nation. For many Native peoples, horses were not seen as animals, but as relatives.
The Horse Nation had this kind of influence on many Indigenous cultures. Horses were important because of what they made possible. Many North American tribes on the Great Plains hunted the herds of buffalo that ranged across the prairies. Buffalos were extremely valuable. They provided enough meat to feed many people, and their skins were used to make leather, clothes, and more. Buffalo were also strong, fast, and very difficult to kill.
Even the best hunter would be lucky to bring a buffalo down on his own. By riding horses, tribes of hunters could gallop into the middle of stampeding buffalo and work together to bring one down and carry it home. Thanks to horses, the Native peoples ate better and had more skins to make leather goods.
Back at the camp, horses also made women and children’s lives easier. Many Indigenous tribes on the Great Plains, such as the Lakota Sioux, Cheyenne, and Apsáalooke (Crow), lived in dwellings called tipis. They moved their tipis from place to place, following the animals they hunted. Without horses, the women and children had to carry everything themselves. Having a horse meant Indigenous people didn’t have to carry their own tipis; it also meant their tipis could be bigger.
Because horses gave so much to their owners, their owners honored them in return. Many horses wore beautiful masks and blankets made out of the buffalo leather they had helped to bring home. These masks and blankets had detailed patterns of beads sewed onto them.
They were adorned with feathers andporcupine quills too. When someone made a mask for a horse, it wasn’t just for decoration or to intimidate enemies. It was also used to give the horse strength—for example, a mask with buffalo horns was intended to give the horse the power of a buffalo.
Native peoples saw the horse as a fellow being, one that gave them the freedom to travel across the land and explore places that would have been far out of reach on foot. Some tribes saw them as spiritual and even healing creatures.
They were much more than helpers used for battle, hunting, or packing. The horse was sacred. It was a relative and a member of the Horse Nation.
Today, many Indigenous peoples still revere the horse.
This reverence has been passed down from generation
to generation. In fact, American Indian horse bloodlines
are preserved for future generations in a separate birth registry. In many cultural parades, horses are a central part of the festivities. Their costumes are as elaborate as the ones their riders wear.
APPALOOSA
AMERICAN INDIAN HORSE
NOKOTA
NEZ PERCE
QUARTER HORSE
CHOCTAW