“The Special Native American Presentations feature Sacred Connections: The Native Way of Healing through Horse Medicine,” announces Rose. “The lives and well-being of those who are two-legged and the equine beings who are four-legged are interwoven and respect for the wholeness of that interplay is central to the Native approach of healing through horses.”
The EQUUS INTERNATIONAL Film Festival will include panels, keynotes and discussions along with films on these significant issues. The Festival runs from Thursday evening, September 14 through Sunday, September 17, in Missoula, Montana.
Featured speakers are John Spence, founder of Native American Therapeutic Horsemanship, LLC, who will be joined by keynote speakers and healers including Diana Webster, attorney and founder of the Native America Humane Society (nativeamericahumane.org), and Dr. Michael Yellow Bird, professor of Tribal and Indigenous Studies at the University of North Dakota. They will lead a panel about this sacred horse/human connection and why the healing power of the horse spirit or xaawaaruxti (Arikara) is vital not only to those in search of emotional and/or physical recovery, but to the future of tribal youth.
John Spence, was born on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in Montana. He is the Gros Ventre and Sioux tribes-affiliated horseman and founder of Native American Therapeutic Horsemanship, LLC and believes deeply in the sacred connection between horses and humans that begins with their place in the Native Seven Directions. “The horse’s four legs,” he says, “symbolize the four directions of North, South, East and West. Its ears reach up to the Great Spirit; its tail points down to Mother Earth; the seventh direction is found in the unity between a horse and rider.”
Webster says, “Tribal law scholars Sarah Deer and Liz Murphy wrote an amazing article on the link between animal abuse and domestic violence in tribal communities. Part of the title sums up their thesis perfectly: Animals May Take Pity on Us. This means that we humans, who position ourselves as having dominion over all creatures of the earth, are the ones with unfulfilling, meaningless lives because we stand separate and refuse to treat each other (and the animals, nature, planet, etc.) with respect, compassion and kindness, even though we have the intellectual and spiritual capacity to do so.”
Dr. Yellowbird, who grew up on the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota, home for the federally recognized Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation (also known as the Three Affiliated Tribes), echoes that sentiment: “Indigenous culture traditionally has a profound relationship with our living environment but, as human beings, we still face the challenge of calming our mind, being conscious of our body and living in a state of mindfulness.” For 25 years, he has led indigenous nations programs at the University of British Columbia (Vancouver), University of Kansas, Arizona State University, Humboldt University (CA) and currently teaches Indigenous and Tribal Studies, as well as American Studies, at North Dakota State University.
Neuroscience, Dr. Yellowbird believes, offers a strong argument for the contemplative practice of mindfulness, and there is no greater mirror to mindfulness than our interaction with a horse. His grandfather kept the largest horse herd on the reservation, and taught him and his brothers (One of Many Horses and Black Pinto Horse) to be aware of the animals’ constant body communication and movement.
“What Monty Roberts calls the ‘language of Equus’ is the Native language. How we use our body, how we make eye contact, helps us engage on an animal level,” Dr. Yellowbird says. “This is how mindfulness helps: By quieting our thoughts, becoming aware of how we feel, understanding how we use our body. We don’t spend enough time quieting our body.”
“As humans, we commonly make mistakes that impede our ability to make these sacred connections and be receptive to horses’ healing powers including,” Webster says, “Believing that we are separate from everything else on this planet. We all do it. It’s our attachment to ego. With animals, there is only unconditional love when we connect to them. And acceptance. No need for a brave face and posturing. We can be who we are with our animals, even if that’s not who we think the world wants to see.”
As a teenager, Dr. Yellowbird experienced a similar connection with his first horse, Elmer. “He taught me early mindfulness as I learned to ask, ‘What is this horse trying to convey to me?’ My father said once you traumatize a horse it doesn’t trust any more. He’d ask, ‘How would you like it if your horse did that to you?’ and showed me how to gentle an animal, not dominate it. I started Elmer as a foal, first learning from his connection to his mother and then playing with him, touching him in ‘safe places’ like his withers, until he got used to me and allowed me to be his partner.”
“Animals can heal us and we have the responsibility to heal them if they need it. We must come together to honor and remember these connections. To us at NAHS,” says Webster, “this work is about respect, responsibility, protection and compassion for all living beings.” At the EQUUS INTERNATIONAL Film Festival, and every day, she advocates: “Tribal communities are being devastated by teenage suicide and drug use. In one northern California community, there were seven teen suicides in 18 months; considering the size of the population, that is an epidemic.” (According to the Centers for Disease Control, the suicide rate among American Indian/Alaskan Natives ages 15-34, is 19.5 per 100,000 people, which is 1.5 times higher than the national average for that age group.) “We need to bring animal healing and therapy programs to more tribal communities. They work.”
That sacred connection is to take care of your horse and it will take care of you.
The Special Native American Presentations will be held on Friday, September 15, at the Roxy Theatre in downtown Missoula. Theatre doors open at 9:30am. The Special Presentations and films run through 4:30pm.
For more information, visit https://equusinternationalfilmfestival.com/