The Sioux, Comanche and other Native Americans had ancient ways that had gone unchanged for centuries. Less often appreciated is that these peoples were also adaptable and innovative. Maybe the best example of this is the story of the Plains Indian and the horse.
The Indian warrior on his horse, whether alone in the wilderness or gathered in a war party, is as iconic an image as it gets. It runs contrary to common expectation that the reality behind such scenes reflects a time span not longer than two centuries. Horses turn out not to be a timeless part of the American landscape, but an immigrant from Europe, which makes the Native American's expertise with them a tale of recognizing an opportunity and seizing it.
It was the Spanish conquistadores who were first to bring horses across the Atlantic, interrupting millenia of an Indian lifestyle that might look strange to us today. The Spanish were all too aware that their monopoly over the horse was a big part of their domination over the Navajo and Pueblo peoples around them, and they made an effort to retain that monopoly. The steady transport of horses by ship that characterized the 16th Century was never quite enough to produce any large, free herds in the Americas.
Eventually, the Spaniards took to hiring Pueblo and Navajo ranch hands to work their stables. Rumors apparently spread regarding the advantages this strange creature provided the invading Spaniards, because throughout the 17th Century the Indians often raided their sprawling properties, always hoping to make off with horses. It would not be until late in the century that the secret of the horse would truly start making its way to the peoples of Plains.
In the year 1680 Pueblo warriors handed the Spanish a major defeat, winning for themselves thousands of horses. At last the number of horses had grown large enough for continent-wide trade to become common among Native Americans. Near the turn of the 17th and 18th Centuries, the Comanches took the lead in beginning to cultivate the potential of the horse.
The Comanche warrior established a level of communion with the horse that was powerful, and an expert level of horsemanship. To an outsider, it was at such a high level that it looked like an ancient teaching. What it really was, was an act of genius, and the Comanche peoples should get more credit for it. On horseback, they overran neighbors the way Genghis Khan and his Mongols once overran theirs, and taught them the value of mounted warriors.
Comanche horsemanship became the model later adopted by other Indian nations. It would also be adopted by the legendary Texas Rangers. They were notable for their high speed acrobatic feats, such as firing arrows while hanging onto to the side of a horse at full gallop.
Mastering the horse would become the obsession of people after people throughout the 18th Century, especially since it was so important to the buffalo hunt. The Lakota Sioux cultivated the armies on horseback that would destroy Custer at Little Big Horn. The story of their horse riding skills should be celebrated as an historical example of the power to innovate.
The Indian warrior on his horse, whether alone in the wilderness or gathered in a war party, is as iconic an image as it gets. It runs contrary to common expectation that the reality behind such scenes reflects a time span not longer than two centuries. Horses turn out not to be a timeless part of the American landscape, but an immigrant from Europe, which makes the Native American's expertise with them a tale of recognizing an opportunity and seizing it.
It was the Spanish conquistadores who were first to bring horses across the Atlantic, interrupting millenia of an Indian lifestyle that might look strange to us today. The Spanish were all too aware that their monopoly over the horse was a big part of their domination over the Navajo and Pueblo peoples around them, and they made an effort to retain that monopoly. The steady transport of horses by ship that characterized the 16th Century was never quite enough to produce any large, free herds in the Americas.
Eventually, the Spaniards took to hiring Pueblo and Navajo ranch hands to work their stables. Rumors apparently spread regarding the advantages this strange creature provided the invading Spaniards, because throughout the 17th Century the Indians often raided their sprawling properties, always hoping to make off with horses. It would not be until late in the century that the secret of the horse would truly start making its way to the peoples of Plains.
In the year 1680 Pueblo warriors handed the Spanish a major defeat, winning for themselves thousands of horses. At last the number of horses had grown large enough for continent-wide trade to become common among Native Americans. Near the turn of the 17th and 18th Centuries, the Comanches took the lead in beginning to cultivate the potential of the horse.
The Comanche warrior established a level of communion with the horse that was powerful, and an expert level of horsemanship. To an outsider, it was at such a high level that it looked like an ancient teaching. What it really was, was an act of genius, and the Comanche peoples should get more credit for it. On horseback, they overran neighbors the way Genghis Khan and his Mongols once overran theirs, and taught them the value of mounted warriors.
Comanche horsemanship became the model later adopted by other Indian nations. It would also be adopted by the legendary Texas Rangers. They were notable for their high speed acrobatic feats, such as firing arrows while hanging onto to the side of a horse at full gallop.
Mastering the horse would become the obsession of people after people throughout the 18th Century, especially since it was so important to the buffalo hunt. The Lakota Sioux cultivated the armies on horseback that would destroy Custer at Little Big Horn. The story of their horse riding skills should be celebrated as an historical example of the power to innovate.
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