The untold history of the horse in the American plains

NORMAN, OKLA. – University of Oklahoma researchers co-led a study recently published in the journal Science that provides a clearer picture of the historical role of horses in the North American west.

The paper, “Early dispersal of domestic horses into the Great Plains and Northern Rockies,” uses archaeological materials, historical sources and Indigenous knowledge to understand when, why and how domestic horses transformed human life following their reintroduction into North America, said study co-author Brandi Bethke, Ph.D., lab director and research faculty of the Oklahoma Archeological Survey at the University of Oklahoma.

Collaborators to the U.S. National Science Foundation-funded study include archaeologists from the University of Oklahoma, University of Colorado-Boulder, and University of New Mexico and geneticists from the University of Toulouse in France, as well as an extensive research team that is comprised of 87 scientists across 66 institutions.

To tell the stories of horses in the West, the team closely examined 23 sets of animal remains found at sites from across the Plains and Rocky Mountains. Using both new and established practices from the archaeological sciences, such as radiocarbon dating and DNA sequencing, in combination with Indigenous histories, the team identified evidence that horses were raised, fed, cared for and ridden by Native Nations across the American plains and Rocky Mountains as much as a century before records from Europeans had suggested.

NSF Archeology program director John Yellen said, “This research demonstrates how multiple different types of data can be integrated to address the fascinating historical question of how and when horses spread across the West.”

Direct radiocarbon dating of horse remains from museum collections ranging from southern Idaho to southwestern Wyoming and northern Kansas showed that horses were present across much of the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains by the early 17th century, and conclusively before the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. This archaeological data proves that domestic horses were no longer in exclusive Spanish control and were integrated into Indigenous lifeways by at least the early 1600s. Importantly, this earlier dispersal validates many traditional perspectives on the origin of the horse from project partners like the Lakota, Comanche, Pawnee and Wichita who recognize the link between archaeological findings and oral traditions.

In Oklahoma, Bethke and study co-author Sarah Trabert, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Anthropology in the Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences, worked with representatives of the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes as a part of this project to better understand the dynamics of human-horse relationships among the communities’ ancestors. They studied artifact collections held at the Sam Noble Museum and Oklahoma Archeological Survey to determine the prevalence of horses among these sites.

“All three major post-contact Wichita Village sites that have been excavated in Oklahoma – Bryson-Paddock, Deer Creek, Longest – have yielded horse remains,” Bethke said. “More recently, a horse bone has also been discovered at the ancestral Wichita site, Little Deer, that may be the earliest example of horse bone in the state.”

Bethke said, “For decades the mainstream story of the horse in North America has relied on Euroamerican accounts that often discount the antiquity and complexity of Indigenous responses to and relationships with their horses. This study is a first step in correcting these established narratives among both the academic community and the American public.”

More information about the project can be found at http://hhsnaw.org/

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References

Early dispersal of domestic horses into the Great Plains and Northern Rockies. William Timothy Treal Taylor, Pablo Librado, Mila Hunska Tašunke Icu (Chief Joseph American Horse), Carlton Shield Chief Gover, Jimmy Arterberry, Anpetu Luta Wiŋ (Antonia Loretta Afraid of Bear-Cook), Akil Nujipi (Harold Left Heron),Tanka Omniya (Robert Milo Yellow Hair), Mario Gonzalez (Nantan Hinapan), Bill Means, Sam High Crane (Wapageya Mani), Mažasu (Wendell W. Yellow Bull), Barbara Dull Knife (Mah’piya Keyaké Wiŋ), Wakiŋyala Wiŋ (Anita Afraid of Bear), Cruz Tecumseh Collin (Wanka’tuya Kiya), Chance Ward, Theresa A. Pasqual, Lorelei Chauvey, Laure Tonasso-Calviere, Stéphanie Schiavinato, Andaine Seguin-Orlando, Antoine Fages, Naveed Khan, Clio Der Sarkissian, Xuexue Liu, Stefanie Wagner, Beth Ginondidoy Leonard, Bruce L. Manzano, Nancy O’Malley, Jennifer A. Leonard, Eloisa Bernadez-Sanchez, Eric Barrey, Léa Charliquart, Emilie Robbe, Thibault Denoblet, Kristian Gregersen, Alisa O. Vershinina, Jaco Weinstock, Petra Rajić Šikanjić, Marjan Mashkour, Irina Shingiray, Jean-Marc Aury, Aude Perdereau, Saleh Alquraishi, Ahmed H. Alfarhan, Khaled A. S. Al- Rasheid, Tajana Trbojević Vukičević, Marcel Buric, Eberhard Sauer, Mary Lucas, Joan Brenner-Coltrain, John R. Bozell, Cassidee A. Thornhill, Victoria Monagle, Angela Perri, Cody Newton, W. Eugene Hall, Joshua L. Conver, Petrus Le Roux, Sasha G. Buckser, Caroline Gabe, Juan Bautista Belardi, Christina I. Barrón-Ortiz, Isaac A. Hart, Christina Ryder, Matthew Sponheimer, Beth Shapiro, John Southon, Joss Hibbs, Charlotte Faulkner, Alan Outram, Laura Patterson Rosa, Katelyn Palermo, Marina Solé, Alice William, Wayne McCrory, Gabriella Lindgren, Samantha Brooks, Camille Eché, Cécile Donnadieu, Olivier Bouchez, Patrick Wincker, Gregory Hodgins, Sarah Trabert, Brandi Bethke, Patrick Roberts, Emily Lena Jones, Yvette Running Horse Collin (Tašunke Iyanke Wiŋ), and Ludovic Orlando. Science, March 31, 2023.

About the Project
This work was supported by the National Science Foundation Collaborative Research Award (#1949305, #1949304, #1949305, and #1949283), Marie Sklodowska Curie Actions (programmes HOPE and MethylRIDE), the CNRS and Université Paul Sabatier (International Research Program AnimalFarm), the French Government “Investissement d’Avenir” France Génomique (ANR-10-INBS-09), and the European Research Council (PEGASUS). All protocols for the transmission of sacred and traditional knowledge were followed, and research activities and results were endorsed by an Internal Review Board involving 10 Lakota Elder Knowledge Keepers, who now serve as the Board of Directors of Taku Škaŋ Škaŋ Wasakliyapi: Global Institute for Traditional Sciences (GIFTS).

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