The Horse Nation Lives On

For some Native peoples, the horse still is an essential part of daily life. For others, the horse will always remain an element of our identity and our history. The Horse Nation continues to inspire, and Native artists continue to celebrate the horse in our songs, our stories, and our works of art.

—Emil Her Many Horses (Oglala Lakota), NMAI, 2009

A Sky Full of Horses

I looked over there and I saw twelve black horses toward the west, where the sun goes down…

Then they showed me twelve white horses [in the north]…

Then I turned around toward the east… I saw twelve head of horses, all sorrels.

Then I turned to… the south, and saw twelve head of buckskin horses. These horses had horns…

As they stood, the bay horse looked to the west and neighed. I looked over there and saw great clouds of horses in all colors and they all neighed back to this horse and it sounded like thunder…

The bay horse said to me, ‘Behold them, your horses come dancing.’ I looked around and saw millions of horses circling around me—a sky full of horses…

—Black Elk (Oglala Lakota), 1932