To the North Plains Indians, the Nokotas were "indispensable and treasured," according to Robert Utley, the former chief historian and assistant director of the National Park Service. "Wealth tended to be counted in number of ponies," Utley said in an e-mail. "These were simply Indian ponies, not Nokotas." After Chief Sitting Bull surrendered to American forces in 1881, the Army confiscated his ponies and auctioned them off. In the following hundred years, the horses continued to dwindle in face of the Park Service. "The point is that the cowboy horses and the Indian ponies merged over the years into the distinctive breed now labeled Nokota, of which the best descendants are under care of the Nokota Horse Conservancy and Frank Kuntz," Utley also wrote. According to Utley, the National Parks now refuses to recognize the present-day Nokotas as descendants of Sitting Bull's ponies, saying it needs genetic evidence. "That's bosh, of course," Utley countered. "This is not a scientific question but a historical question." Though lacking authority to legally protect these horses, the Conservancy tries to encourage others to acknowledge the horses' historical ties, and to reintroduce Native American children to a valued symbol of their culture...zootoo
Monday, March 23, 2009
Native American Horse Breed Teeters on Extinction
To the North Plains Indians, the Nokotas were "indispensable and treasured," according to Robert Utley, the former chief historian and assistant director of the National Park Service. "Wealth tended to be counted in number of ponies," Utley said in an e-mail. "These were simply Indian ponies, not Nokotas." After Chief Sitting Bull surrendered to American forces in 1881, the Army confiscated his ponies and auctioned them off. In the following hundred years, the horses continued to dwindle in face of the Park Service. "The point is that the cowboy horses and the Indian ponies merged over the years into the distinctive breed now labeled Nokota, of which the best descendants are under care of the Nokota Horse Conservancy and Frank Kuntz," Utley also wrote. According to Utley, the National Parks now refuses to recognize the present-day Nokotas as descendants of Sitting Bull's ponies, saying it needs genetic evidence. "That's bosh, of course," Utley countered. "This is not a scientific question but a historical question." Though lacking authority to legally protect these horses, the Conservancy tries to encourage others to acknowledge the horses' historical ties, and to reintroduce Native American children to a valued symbol of their culture...zootoo
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Hello and thank you for posting this story in your blog. I'm Susan Pizzini and submitted the story to ZooToo.com. I own 3 Nokota horses and have been to North Dakota to see these horses because their whole story was so compelling. It changed my life. I have seen first hand these amazing horses on the open plains. I've befriended the Kuntz family and share this mission of saving these horses with them. I don't know why they've gotten under my skin, perhaps it's because they are underdogs and I love to champion the cause of an underdog.
Nokota horses are an important part of our rich heritage in America. We should cherish every morsel of it and hold it dear. The Nokota horses are an rare and historic American treasure. They also make darn good friends.
For more information please visit the Nokota Horse Conservancy official web site www.nokotahorse.org
Thanks for what you do for the breed and for sharing your information.
It's been a real joy working with these wonderful and delightful horses and I am honored to have the privilege of owning them and knowing the true heroes that saved the Nokota horses from extinction, the Kuntz family of Linton, ND. Without their foresight the horses would be lost forever by now. God Bless them!
Post a Comment