RSS
Home
Horse: the sacred dog
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
Insert photo caption or credit here
Part II in the Native American sacred animal series.
"Mighty horse...power to run across the plains, or to bring the vision of the shields dancing in purple rain..."
The horse filled the Indian with wonder and came to be held in his heart as sacred. The horse presented a mysterious and hallowed character. Often times, the horse was viewed as the big or "sacred dog." The reason for this is that Native Americans were not always a horse people. Plains Indians lived a nomadic life, following the migrations of the great buffalo herds, who they depended on for their livelihood. Everytime they moved, all of their possessions and belongings moved with them. Everything they owned was carried on foot and with the help of dogs. The dogs wore packs and saddle bags, carrying on their backs their share of the tribe's possessions in tow. This is why the horse came to be referred to as the sacred dog.
How Sky Dogs (the horse) were created:
In the case of the Blackfeet people, they believed horses were dogs sent to them as a gift from Old Man, the creator of all things. "A long time ago we had to walk and walk from sky to sky, from camp to camp. Our dogs carried our rawhide bags and pulled our travois sleds. We walked so much that we wore out many moccasins going across the plains. All of a sudden, one day, coming from Old Man's sleeping room, west of the mountains, we saw some strange looking beasts. They were as big as elk and they had tails of straw. Lying across the backs of these beasts were two Kutani men. One beast was pulling a travois sled. We became afraid because we did not understand. My best friend, Jumps-Over-the-Water hid behind his mother's skirt. The bravest of all of us, Running Bear ran behind the nearest tipi to hide. I was so frightened I could not move. I was away from the safety of my father's tipi. The men in our tribe yelled that we were not to be afraid - that we were the mighty Piegans who took the land away from the Kutani. As I looked around I saw that they were afraid. They all had big eyes and four of them had their hunting bows aimed. Then our chief Long Arrow laughed. He said, 'These are from Old Man. They are a gift like the elk, the antelope, buffalo and bighorn sheep [;] they are called Sky Dogs.' Now Long Arrow was very smart because he had walked around the Earth seven times from the Porcupine Hills down to the mouth of the Yellowstone. Everyone became quiet and trusted his knowledge. We waited for the Sky Dogs to reach our camp. We waited bravely with our sacred herb, nawak'osis, ready for smoking. When they reached our camp we saw that there were two Kutani men and a Kutani woman in the travois sled. We took the three ill Kutani in but the medicine man could do nothing for the men. They died before they could tell us about the Sky Dogs and how they came to be from Old Man. We took care of the beasts. We fed them dried meat as we fed our dogs. We threw sticks to make them fetch. One Sky Dog ran away. Some say he went back to Old Man. Some say that the coyote got him. The two that stayed showed us they like to eat grass. Running Bear came away from his tipi and Jumps-Over-the-Water left his mother's skirt. No one was afraid anymore. I went up to the smallest Sky Dog. I touched him gently from hoof to mane. I felt his soft warm skin. He did not flicker. He did not move. I pressed my face close against his face. He still did not move. Long Arrow smiled at me and gave me the name- He-Who-Loves-Horses. The Kutani woman grew well, married my father, and we lived in the tipi as a family. She sang to us the story of the Sky Dogs and her people. I learned how to mount and to comb the mane with a bone comb. And I learned how to ride into battle. From this I earned a place in the Council of Warriors."
This reinforces a major misconception that Native Americans were always horse people. They actually came to acquire their first horses in the mid-1500s, from the Spanish, when De Soto and Coronado came to America bringing horses with them. Around 1680 when the Pueblo Indians drove the Spanish from the land, the Pueblo began breeding the herds that the Spanish left behind in the wake of their hasty retreat. They sold horses to other tribes as well like the Comanchee and Kiowa. On the plains of Kansas, the Cheyenne, began using horses around 1745. Horses completely changed the lives of the Plains Indians. Whereas previously they hunted the buffalo on foot, not an easy task, they were now able to approach closer to the buffalo, on horseback, and utilize their skills with a bow before the buffalo could flee.
The ceremonial importance of the horse carries strength in many cultures. For example, in the Navajo Enemy Way ritual, which is used to free someone who has come into contact with evil, horses bring the sacred staff that carries the evil away from the person.
Archaeologists today entertain the possibility that the horse originated on the North American continent and migrated to the Old World about 20,000 years ago, and becoming extinct on the North American continent. Who is to say whether or not Native American ancestors may have had a kinship with the horse more than 20 millenia ago?
Related Articles:
Add a Comment
