Erika Larsen: People of the Horse | Nat Geo Live

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( intro music ) Erika Larsen: The horse is this way to connect people with their dreams for the future with their land, with their culture, with what made them most proud... connected them with their ancestors... and to a history that wasn't so long ago for them. ( applause ) The Native Americans had... what many consider, a short, but very intense 200-year relationship with the horse, which transformed their culture. This might have existed, the dates change a bit, between the late 1600s until the late 1800s. But I was sent to look at the modern day culture. Look at the horse and how it existed today... what was this relationship, what did it mean to people. They showed me first it was a very deep spiritual connection. The horse represented respect, pride, generosity, strength, medicine, healing. I saw the horse as a symbol of pride. It was used in pageantry, in parades, and in racing. And it was always adorned with the family or a tribe's best accoutrements. This regalia everyone was so proud to display, who they were and who their family was through the horse. I also saw it is a means of an economic way of life. A lot of families I met, got their children into rodeo, and these children are getting full rides to college because of rodeo, because of their relationship to the horse. But most important for me, or what I saw as most profound, is the horse was this way to connect people with their ancestors, with their land, with their culture, with what made them most proud, connected them with their dreams for the future. 'The Return Of The Native.' Every tribe I met said the horse has always been here. To be honest, I didn't know what they meant by that. Because to me, the horse came in 1400s. They said, 'No. The horse has always been here.' The horse had been here 10 million years ago. It moved its way east before becoming extinct in the Americas, and did come back with Christopher Columbus on his second journey. What I wanted to do is, follow this path a little bit. So, I started in the south in Navajo Nation, where I met Jones Benally. And Jones is a medicine man and he works in tribal health care. And he works along, what he calls, 'Western medicine.' But most of the patients that come to him for help, gift him horses, still today... in exchange for his services. And a lot of these horses that are given to him are... what are considered green, or they haven't been ridden or not ridden very much. And his son Clayson, works with these horses. Many of you here might have heard what is called 'breaking a horse.' But Clayson said to me, we don't break horses. He says, 'I have no interest in breaking the spirit of a horse.' He said, 'I need to understand a horse to get to know the horse and that's when I can ride a horse.' And he says, 'we employ...' if he wants to say, that way 'more gentler means.' Clayson said to me, 'when I can kneel down, and a horse can feel my breath, and I feel his, that's when I've built the bond with the horse, that's when I can ride him, and that horse is part of me forever and I'm part of him.' Then I moved my way north a bit and I saw the Nez Perce horse or the Appaloosa. Also at the Nez Perce land, I met Rosa and Jon Yearout. They have a program called the Nez Perce Appaloosa Horse Club. And it is to get youth, tribal youth, involved with the horse. Because to them, they believe that when the youth become involved in the horse, they become involved in their culture, they become involved with understanding their history, they understand their land more and they understand themselves more. And Brooke Taylor, she is sixteen, she said to me, 'when I ride a horse... ( sobbing ) and I walk the trail that my ancestors did... I feel their suffering and I know that's why I'm standing here today.' She says, 'that's why I do this. That's why I'm connected to the horse. I understand my people and my land more than ever before.' And the horse mask. From the Nez Perce, I was definitely in awe of how they dressed their horses and I wanted to explore that a little bit more. And the horse mask was used for many reasons, it is used in battle to intimidate an opponent. Later it was used in hunting, sometimes it could be a mask of a buffalo or the animal that they were hunting... not so much to intimidate the animal, but to, to take the power of that animal and try to understand it and to be able to have a good harvest. I met a young boy named Adam Swetus and he wanted to show me his horse. And when I got there, he had tied the end up and put a hand print on it. I had seen the hand prints and different types of symbols on horses and other places and it meant something different to everyone. To Adam, he said, 'the handprint meant ownership.' And what he meant by ownership, is he means that, this bond... horse, belongs to me, he goes... but it also belongs to my family. And he thought a little more and he said, 'it belongs to my tribe.' He said, 'it belongs to my people.' So, very interesting idea of what is ownership. I also met Katie Harris. She is Umatilla, Nez Perce, and Cayuse. And she is involved in the Indian pageantry and she showed me that it was a lot more than beauty. She said, 'for me to participate in these pageants,' She said, 'I have to have the knowledge of my language, I have to have a knowledge of my culture,' and she goes, 'most importantly, the knowledge of my 'immediate family, my grandmother did this. 'I wanted to walk in the footsteps of my grandmother and understood why she did this and what she felt.' And of course, I went to Crow Fair. You can't... you want to learn something about the horse and not go to Crow Fair. And at Crow Fair I heard a very similar thing. That when we are on a horse and we are wearing this, we are not in museum. It's not dead, it's living, and that's why we do this. I was able to make some video, and you can hear the voice of Jade Broncho, he is Shoshone-Bannock. And he is going to tell us what the horse means to him and to his culture. ( Native American singing ) These horses, they are everything to us. They tell you when the season is going to change... storm is coming. When bad people are around, good people are around. They are teachers, someone you can talk to... your best friend, and some days, he's your only friend. When you are feeling bad, they are there. They take care of you, even when you don't know how. They don't... they don't judge you. All they want is to be loved by you. ( laughter ) They protect the little kids because they are still innocent. But at the same time, they are just as naughty. ( crowd cheering ) A part of them becomes you and you become part of them. It's a strong bond that can't break. ( Native American singing ) I'll continue on... this is Phillip Whiteman. What I found most interesting and important about Phillip is his work with youth. He and his wife, Lynette Two Bulls, hold a program on their ranch, on their home in Lame Deer, he's Northern Cheyenne. And he said to me 'when I watch these little kids feed the horses, I'm very proud, because I know when they feed a horse, they will learn to feed themselves.' It's the first time some of these kids will ever get to be on a horse, and they watch and they are really proud when they watch their older brother get on the horse and they get very excited and it is something they really want to do and become really good at. On the Crow reservation, I met Michelle Walking Bear. She invited me to come stay with her and her family at their home for a little less than a week and, she said because 'I want you to see that... I just want you to see the daily life with horses.' She goes, 'you know, it's not all about rodeos and parades,' she goes, 'we just live with the horses.' They live about an hour away from... from the main town, so when her kids came from school, this is what they did. And I saw the horses as their playmates. And I saw that the horse carried the dreams and reflecting their dreams and making those dreams realities. Back on the Yakima Reservation, they hold what's called a 'Wild Horse Race'. They take green horses, the horses that have never been ridden. They have children do it as well as adults. There's usually three people on a team and their point is you have to catch the horse, saddle it and ride it in shortest amount of time, and these horses are very wild. But what I found most interesting is that this horse race is a memorial horse race, called the Heemsah Memorial Horse Race and has been going on for over 20 years. It was meant originally for their family to honor people that had died that year in their family, but over the years anyone from the tribe or anyone from the community could come and honor someone that had died in that past year for this race. This is on the Yakima Reservation and something I learnt when I was out there that there is a problem with wild horses. And, the men there told me that... they said at some point they had over 20,000 wild horses and what it ultimately was doing... was devastating the land and he said... 'any biologist, anyone knows anything about the land and that would not be me,' he said, 'would look at this picture and know that it had been completely devastated,' and he said 'for the tribe, it is very important, because one, this is their land, two, this is the place where they dig for medicine, roots...' And he said and... there's way too many horses and he goes, 'and also you don't want to walk out and see a lot of starving horses running around,' and he goes, 'and that's what's happening,' And he said to me 'this is what happens when things are out of balance' and he said, 'so even something as powerful the horse that represents, in my eyes on my journey, something really good and when things are out of balance, it also causes problems.' I'm going end here. We have a special guest tonight Leo Teton, but before I bring him up, I have a very short video I want to show you of Leo just to be able to bring you to his home for a minute or so. Up here on the stage you get one Leo, but at home you get to see someone very different when he works with horses. Leo Teton: Come on! Come on! ( whistles ) Come on! Come on! Come on! ( whistles ) Come on... keep coming. Keep coming. There you go. Yeah. Yeah. ( applause ) So Leo, for those of us who don't know, tell us where you are from. Well first of all, my... my tribe is Shoshone-Bannock. My mom is Shoshone, my dad is Bannock. We are one of the bigger tribes in Idaho and we are all horse people there also. They are spiritual horses and they are kind to us and, if we are kind to them, they are kind to us. We thank the creator of all life for bringing him, the four-legged brother, he is a brother to us, so you can use him in a good way. We talk to horse, you know, they understand us. They are smarter than us humans, you know. Is it true, because I've heard this a lot of times, but were you really put on a horse before you could walk? Would you say that's pretty-- You know... yeah, because my dad had, I've seen him put young kids on and just lead them around not give them the rein, just lead them around, even there's cradle boards, you know, on the side, my mom would ride and hang him on the side of the horse and lead them that way, and they were these babies, yeah, and I still love them today and I can't wait to get back home to ride 'em, you know, It's the first time in the city here. I'm not a city dude. ( audience laughing ) Talk to me about working with horses, just working cattle with horses, the daily life you had growing up the economic way of life, your family, what was that like? What did that mean for you? You know, when my dad was growing up, he had lot of horses, he lived off the ranch, lived off the land, all of us guys did. My dad was my mentor. It's a lot easier now than back in the day, it was a lot rougher. So the meaning of hard work my dad taught me. You know, riding horses, you know, it makes me feel good, growing up that way. When I was out with you... I got to go when they were rounding up some horses with him and his brothers and some other... other family members and what I noticed, pictures like this, we are out with horses all day, and then everybody just sits around the fire and they start talking and people bring food and they start laughing and telling stories and that's what I find really special, is that the social aspect that surrounded this. This is the time when families got together, and that's what I saw with you. Tell me a little bit about that. It takes a while for the cows to get off the range. We just got to bringing them back off the range here and we had some coffee on that fire, we drink it up and... And after that it was a bunch of people, we are just all a big family, coming together laughing and joking and... but that was all part of growing up, you know, getting together after the big shindig, you know, like a buffalo hunt or deer hunt. Tell me about the buffalo hunt, what is means to you... When we shot this buffalo here, we had a little ceremony, you know. It is always good to have a little blessing for the animal when you take his life, that life is a life given. That buffalo represents strength, courage, longevity, long life, and we use all parts of his... his hide, the skull, the bones. We don't leave nothing behind, we take everything and when we skinned him, we give him that ceremony and... his heart is still warm when we gut him out and that's when I gave you that, the taste of the blood through his heart. We got there and after the hunt they cut the heart out and we all drank the, the blood from the heart and.. why did we do that? Well, it's a ceremonial, ceremonial thing. The buffalo represents strength and courage and long life and spirituality, and by doing that, you know, you are gonna live a long healthy life. Also, you told me that the meat from this, when you did this hunt, this was going to -the elders in the tribe? -Yeah, that meat we took there... because they can't hunt no more. We have to provide for them, we just take care of them, because they took care of us, and it is our turn to take care of the elders. Leo does a lot, you know, he represents his tribe in a lot of parades. And you here, you told me you are wearing a war bonnet, you have, you said it's called a lance, correct? That's a lance I'm holding, yeah. And you also have the war bridle -tell me-- -And the war bridle you got to be a pretty experienced rider to to have that... it's made out of raw hide. It's like a the back of the sinew of the buffalo, that's what that is and how would you like to have the cold bridle in your mouth? You know, and we had to run a full circle, there's a whole arena right here and we had to go haul ass around that whole thing there, haul butt, and he wanted to go and I was holding him back, and one time I broke it, I broke that and I fixed it real quick and go again, you know, so that war bridle... Like I said you gotta be a pretty tricky rider to... experienced rider to mess with one of those. You know, that's back in the olden days, clear back in 1800s, that's what they used when they went to war, or off to steal another tribe's horses, you know, that's what they did. -And that's Indian Relay. -Indian... You know. When I saw Indian Relay, it's just breathtaking. Now what I saw were people that were just extreme athletes and this picture for me sums up what I saw. They were flying with the horse and everything, everyone had told me... when we work with horses, we become one with horse as well. They showed me that, obviously. Please tell me about Indian Relay, tell me about your relationship in it and what it means to kind of pass this on to the youth? Okay, the Indian Relay... it started clear back in early 1900s. And what you see here is Fort Hall. And horses were coming out, getting ready to run a race and there's three guys holding three horses. When they will come out, you'll see them. Pretty good music, huh? And that's the start of the race right here, and they'll go around and they'll exchange again. I've done this for a lot of years and I kind of retired from it. And this is where they exchange horses right here, right in front of the grand stand. Now, next exchange and I was holding over here for one of my brothers. I was a catcher. And you got to catch that horse so he can jump on to the next one. Gets pretty exciting here. How fast are some of these horses coming in? The horses, they come in pretty quick like 25 miles an hour and you got to jump off to get on the next one. But once they pick up speed on last stretch it's like 35 miles an hour. And this is the last round. Once they finish the last round, they are, they are winners. So they are finishing the track right here to the finish line. And it is pretty well-known sport now. It goes all over the world. They are all over the place. Tell me the history. Where did, when did Indian Relay start? I've, I've heard that it started in Fort Hall. Yeah that's, that's true, you know, it has. It started right there in Fort Hall, that's where it originated, this Indian Relay and it's gone over worldwide. It went viral, you know, it's all over the place now. You see these, and that's me right there. I'm 50-plus over now, I'm an old man. Tell me a little bit of the future. What's the future of horses? What do you see with you and your family and your grandkids? You know, I think right now, I got lot of grandkids growing up and I'm just going to help them to the best to my knowledge to get them involved in and working with horses, and riding horses, just by watching them, taking them to the horse racing and maybe one day they will carry it on to their kids, you know and that's what makes me feel good. Erika Larsen: Thank you guys for coming. ( applause ) ( outro music )

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Channel: National Geographic

Views: 240,030

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Keywords: Nat Geo Live, Nat Geo Live!, lecture, National Geographic Live, National Geographic Live!, NGLive, NG Live, Nat Geo Events, Erika Larsen, photography, photographer, photos, Native Americans, horse, culture, modern, relationship, spiritual, symbol, ancestors, land, Navajo, breaking, Nez Perce, appaloosa, history, pageants, tribes, Crow, fair, rodeo, Shoshone-Bannock, Cheyenne, children, education, reservation, Yakima, balance, tradition, family, buffalo, hunting, race, Fort Hall, National Geographic

Id: u5X7iKWDILA

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Length: 21min 37sec (1297 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 08 2014