(elk bugling) (warm pensive music) - You make a connection with the things around you.

When you're goin' out walking, you make a connection with nature.

You realize how small you are among all the trees.

Or you make a connection to your friends.

The connection is so good that your friend almost knows what you're thinking, and know what you're gonna say before you even say it.

That's the connection that we have with not only the horses, but the animals around us, the deer, the owls, the buffalo.

We have that connection with these horses.

But you don't make that connection by being around him.

He makes the connection with you, and that's when you realize, "This horse is my friend."

(warm pensive music) That all started goin' away when the Europeans, they started slowly dividing that connection that we had with nature.

And all the animals they considered wild are part of that.

So we can't go against anything of nature.

When you go against that, then you will go against, essentially, your people.

(warm pensive music) (birds squawking) (mysterious pensive music) - I come from a small community in Oglala, South Dakota, which is on the western end of the Pine Ridge Reservation.

Within the school system, there were a lot of stories told about the horses.

Particularly, one that I always heard was Battle of Little Bighorn.

Without the horse, they wouldn't have won that battle.

They were part of it.

They went hand-in-hand.

This, the stories that were told of great leaders, like Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, Gall, Red Cloud, all those are part of growin' up.

For me, that's what instilled, I guess, my pride into who I am today, by hearin' those stories.

Big part of that was the horse.

(mysterious pensive music) The horse was held in high esteem, high regards, so songs were created, the horse regalia was created.

All of that comes, part of growin' up there in Oglala.

(mysterious pensive music) You know, like when I was in grade school, I did a lot of drawings with the horse.

I always looked through books just to see the horse.

That's where it kinda started with the horse.

There was just somethin' about the horse that drew me to that, so I started drawing, painting as I started gettin' older.

As of high school, probably around 18, with my grandma, that's where I kind of got the inspiration to do the bead work and quill work.

(mysterious pensive music) My grandma, she was born, I believe, it was 1912.

And there were still ties from the 1800s into the early 1900s, so she knew a lot of stories that come from there, you know, even as far as creatin' bead work.

And one of the techniques that I learned from my grandma was prior to needles and thread, they used the plum needle from the plum tree.

So you string up your beads, put it in, you pull it.

It's basically the old technique of beading.

(mysterious pensive music) Her vision wasn't as well as it used to be, so she would explain to me how to bead some, or to do the quill work, or how to tan a hide.

That was just all verbal, so I learned by doin' it by myself, gettin' on it, gettin' some beads, doin' it, doin' the technique with the quill wrap, or applique work with the quills, and also with the tanning of the hide.

(mysterious pensive music) (muffled speaking) (man mumbling) - Got some stirrups and everything.

- Yeah, I've seen those online, you can get 'em online.

I think it was about 2005, my nephew passed away, so we were doin' a honoring and a remembrance for him for, like, four years after his passing.

I created a few things for each year to be given away, and on that fourth year, we gave away the horse regalia.

(lively drumming with men singing in Lakota) You know, the float started goin', and they started singin' a song.

And that song was my nephew's grassland song, and in that song is his name, Tacanku Wakan, and the horse would neigh at the same time.

(lively drumming with men singing in Lakota) It'll be right here.

(lively drumming with men singing in Lakota) (horse neighing) And at that moment right there, the horse, they say (speaking in Lakota), and throughout this video here, his name is said four times, and each time, the horse would neigh like that.

So that's (speaking in Lakota), which is a clear understanding of, you might have seen some, you might have heard something, you know, somethin' mighta happened, but that's what I seen, was a (speaking in Lakota) that I was given to see that.

So in the connection with the horse and honoring any of our relatives, that's where I step back to keep our tradition alive.

I step back into that realm to bring that horse regalia back.

(birds chirping) (water babbling) - Horse regalia is dressing the horses in their very own regalia.

You'll see they have their very own mask, they have a horse blanket, mane covers.

They'll have a tail cover, a breast collar, so it's their very own attire.

(pensive music) Horses, they'll wear it really, really proud, and we believe they know exactly what's happening to them.

You'll see them, sometimes, a shift in their mood.

Sometimes, they may be high-strung, and then once you start dressing them, they know what's happening.

(pensive music) - When I dress the horses, you can feel they're proud, you know, that somethin' comes over 'em because even the way they stand is a eye-opener to people that really pay attention to what's going on.

(pensive music) A lot of the people there haven't seen a horse dressed in 100 years.

So when we dress this horse in that manner, I think it brought out a pride in the people to see that, because our ancestors did it at one time.

(pensive music) - There's no other word besides amazing is what it does.

When we dress a horse, the horse knows, and he can sense what he's used for, what his purpose is.

It's a totally different experience to horses, and like another state of mind, like he's meditating.

(pensive music) - There are many reasons why it can be created.

One, for instance, is to honor the horse, or what the horse brought to our people, and what the horse does for a people, traveling, hunting, and warfare, and even in races.

You know, we have traditional horse races.

They were also created for giveaways.

Part of the culture, generosity was one of the main virtues, and by creatin' somethin' like that to give away was priceless.

And it was given out of love, that creation, that time put into that.

It could be for a naming ceremony, it could be for a relative that has passed on.

We give that away in honor of them.

It could be for parades, you know, to dress your horse and show the people what you think of your horse.

It could be for horse rides.

Today, there's a lot of horse rides.

Incorporating the regalia with the horse rides, it's showin' the love for the horses and what the S'unka Wak'an Oyat'e does for the people.

(pensive music) - The first time I seen horse regalia was in 2017, when James Star Comes Out came to Dakota Wicohan.

We did a youth exhibition of his work.

When he came out, he dressed one of the horses, and all the other horses were watching from the fence.

And the female horses were watching from the fence, and the male horses were all dancing behind, watching him get dressed.

And he really puffed up in honor.

It was so amazing to see the effects of the horse regalia on the horse itself.

Besides that, the beauty of it, as an artist, I fell in love right away with it.

- The way we got started with horse regalia is Dakota Wicohan means Dakota way of life.

So we worked to revitalize the Dakota language and life ways, and one of the life ways that we focused on in 2014 was traditional Dakota art.

And then also, we have our youth programming that we utilize the (speaking in Dakota), the horse.

The symbols and the way the horse regalia is is really the interpretation of the artist.

It's their individual vision of the regalia.

Some artists like to use traditional colors or ribbons.

We do a lot of bells.

In our dance regalia, we feature a lot of bells.

(energetic music with men singing in Dakota) - Within a culture, there are some dances that require, or depending on the person that is wearin' a mask, there is a reason for that.

But that's between the person and the creator.

The spirit of that is what is on the mask, so when that is put on, the power in that could go on to the person and you'll feel that power.

Also, same with the horse.

They'll feel that connection with (speaking in Lakota).

So that's where the mask is very important part of our culture.

(energetic music with men singing in Lakota) This particular mask here, I did a collaboration with Jim Yellowhawk, who did the imagery on this.

The wording on there is from Lone Man.

He's a Lakota.

And it's: "A warrior to his horse.

"My horse be swift in flight, "even like a bird, my horse be swift in flight.

"Bear me now in safety, far from the enemy's arrows, "and you shall be rewarded with streamers "and ribbon of red."

So his communication with the horse, he's talkin' about, "Get me through this battle, "and I will decorate you with ribbons."

(thunder and lightning crashing) Some of the masks, they would put lightning on it.

The thunder and the lightning are pretty fierce.

You know, you can see a thunderstorm comin', and the fierceness that it has.

When the storm comes, it could be very frightening, but when it passes, it's very gentle.

It's clear skies and it's real calm.

So are the horses, they're the same way and the same manner.

They can be fierce, but they're also gentle.

And as far as the buffalo, it plays a big role in our way of life.

You know, our spirituality is based on the buffalo.

He provided shelter, tools, food.

We're considered the (mumbles), I think, the buffalo people, just because of what the buffalo brought.

Every time I pull that, he's like (laughs).

He smells the buffalo.

It goes to our creation story that the buffalo's our brother, and that's where we extend from.

That's a important part of our culture.

You add that to the horse and what the horse represent and brings to our people, you combine 'em, and it brings a strength to us.

This one here's a work in progress.

I still need the bead work here on the sides.

(pensive music) - [Dawn] Yeah.

Can I take a picture of it?

- [James] Yeah, go ahead.

- [Dawn] Let me put it on first.

(people laughing) Let me put it on and show you.

(people laughing) - Gotta snort too, Dawn.

- Yeah, you kinda just have it on like that, yeah.

Snort around.

- That's really cool, man, really cool.

- Feel the power.

- When I create things, I like to focus on older traditional style bead work, not so much the contemporary.

I guess keepin' it more true to my relatives of the past, and keepin' that alive, instead of trying to change into contemporary.

I like to use a lot of the older techniques, even the older material that was used, just to recreate the.

I have these brass spots that I work with.

Also, I use some of the mirrors too.

What you see here is the mirrors.

And this particular piece here, I'm gonna probably incorporate similar pieces, like this, where I'm gonna attach the mirrors in there.

And maybe attach a few of the bells on the bottom, or maybe similar to what you see here.

My technique is I basically just go right off the strand.

And what I'll do is I'll just, however many beads I need for that strand, I'll pull off, that's it, you know, so I'm not sittin' there picking.

My technique pretty much changed over the years, 'cause initially, when I first started beading, I would spill a strand of these beads into a bowl, and I'll be sittin' there pickin' from there.

But what changed, it was kinda funny, is because these are size 11 beads, and I did a piece where I used size 13s, and 13s are much smaller than this.

And my hand cramped from pickin' up those little beads.

I said that's the last time I do 13s, because it was too small of a bead for me to handle, because even the needle was shorter.

(pensive music) I do a lot of research on old photos of regalia from back when, the bead work of back when.

That's where I get my inspiration to keep that going, because it really brings somethin' to who we are, as a people.

That's why I try to stick to this, even the ribbon behind it.

When they first came in contact with traders, that was one big thing, was they really liked the ribbon.

So there were was a time period where it kinda changed to where they started adding ribbon to their bead work.

And also, like, the cloth started changin'.

(pensive music) You know, we relate to the horse, the (speaking in Lakota).

We refer to 'em as a relative, as a nation, the Horse Nation, S'unka Wak'an Oyat'e.

We refer all animals as a nation, the Buffalo Nation, Pt'e Oyat'e, you know, Heh'aka, the Elk Nation, and all these nations help us in our ceremonies, and also in our belief system, our virtues, you know, everything that we have as a people.

The old (speaking in Lakota), the warrior societies, they had the horses.

To honor the horse, their favorite horse, they would create these dance sticks out of wood, and they would decorate with feathers, horse hair, little brass bells, brass tacks.

And at some time, during battle, maybe the horse was killed, so he would honor that horse in that way.

They would get the horse hair from the horse, and they would put it on the dance stick.

So in certain times of dances, he would dance with that, remembering his horse.

If it was kIlled in battle, then we'd carve symbols of blood, gunshot wounds, or arrow wounds.

They'll show that on a dance stick.

They would also carry it when they're ridin' horses.

They would have (mumbles), it was kind of like a whip.

Sometimes, they'll put a horse head on the (mumbles).

The original dance stick was just a hoof with a head.

Things evolve, this is more of a contemporary piece, but it comes from the original traditional sense.

That's where I like to keep the past and the present as one.

(horse whinnying) I understand that times change, but we still have to keep that part of us to teach our children and future generations that it's important to know why we do things, why we create things, and what they're used for.

You know, it could be social dances, it could be in ceremonial dances.

But those are important key points to understand why things are created.

With those creations, there's stories we find many things that are created, so when I create things, I must know and understand why those things are made, and have a understanding before I create something.

But I have to know what I'm creating, and that's part of passin' on culture.

(warm pensive music) - I just know that the horse has been with us for a very, very long time, and that there was a time when they'd go into war, even the horses were acknowledged as a warrior.

They would paint them, or they would put the feathers on them.

They were part of them too.

They're not just an animal.

They're something more than that, and sometimes it's hard to put into words, but there's something different about them.

They have a power, they have a strength.

(warm pensive music) - They're somebody you can always rely on and trust.

They bring you a good feeling.

They take away what's really bothering you at the time.

Being with them is like being free, free from struggles, from life, just from everything that bothers you.

You're free when you're with this one horse.

It's a bond that is kinda magical because he knows what you want, you know what he needs, and you guys make one, you guys make a whole.

(warm pensive music) - Horses are really sacred to Native American people because of the fact that our ancestors, they had horses.

Horses died with us in war, they sacrificed for us, and they took our people across the plains.

And so, there's always been that bond there, going back to when our ancestors were here.

We've just always had a lot of respect for horses because of that fact, and because they were putting their life on the line with us.

And I think we're reclaiming a lot of the old traditions now that we once had with the horses.

(lively music) - Me, myself growin' up, I was aware that horses were a part of our landscape, they were a part of our lifestyle.

I know, historically, they were very important to our peoples.

They were a doorway, they were a symbol of connection.

I think they were a healer.

They were providing individuals with opportunities to strengthen their skills on how they interact with others, whether that's with the horse, or whether that's with their family, or whether that's with their organization, you know, all these ways that we interact with life.

I understood that the horse is something that's very, very magnificent, very transcendent.

It's something practical, it's something that we can rely on for whatever needs we may have, you know, hauling objects, transporting us to wherever we need to go.

But then it also had this other dimension to it, where it provided this greater good to an individual.

That shows itself in all kinds of ways to whoever it may be.

Somebody's gonna make a connection to it differently.

Somebody might connect to it through a artistic sense.

They might find some sort of visual element that inspires them, and then leads them to some sort of action.

- This next song I'm gonna share is a song that, when you bring in a horse, like James was talkin' about, giving that horse away, this is a horse that is yours.

And the word says you would use the Indian name, and yes, I'm gonna use James's Indian name, because he's the one that's putting on the presentation here.

(James mumbling) (Pat speaking in Lakota) So I'm gonna use his Indian name in this one.

It says Star comes out, comes saying this, "This is my horse."

(speaking in Lakota) That means "this is my horse "that I'm going to chase away, let go."

It says, "People, take a look at it, "take a look at my horse.

"This horse is worth having."

So I'm gonna share this song, and it kinda has a slower beat, because this is the beat that you would use to bring the horse in.

(drum beating slowly) (Pat singing in Lakota) - The horse is connected to we as a people, and also with the drum.

It's like a heartbeat.

The singing also, and the words, are in Lakota.

There was a time that we were able to communicate with horses in that way.

The horses still have that, so when those drums go and they start singing, these horses are connected to nature, more than we are as people.

(warm pensive music) - My grandfather owned a lot of horses.

The different older people that I talk to said he owned over 300 head of horses.

He bred Quarter Horses and thoroughbreds together to get a fast horse, but also a good cow horse, as they needed at that time.

Because of the different acts that the government put on Native peoples, that slowly went out of existence.

(pensive music) - Post-reservation, a lot of the names were changed too.

We had all the individual Lakota names, or Dakota names, and those were addressed in that manner, so we never really had last names.

So even our children, when they were born, they would never take on our name, unless it was passed down in a ceremony to where they can take that name.

As the government started enrollin', creatin' tribes, they put the system of where we were given last names.

My last name is (speaking in Lakota), which is Star Comes Out.

But that was one of my great-great-grandpa's, that would be my great-great-grandpa's last name.

So that was kinda passed down each generation.

But he had siblings, their names are totally different.

So his siblings, his kids, that name was passed down according to the BIA, which BIA's the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

They enrolled everybody and gave 'em surnames, and each tribe has a BIA.

And when someone is born, they give 'em a (mumbles) number.

So we are track.

(tense pensive music) The Lakota way of the family system is you could say aunt or uncle.

They would be my parents' aunt or uncle.

Those are changed into those are our grandparents.

And even, like, my cousin, my first cousin, I would call him (speaking in Lakota), which is a younger brother or brother, older brother.

(pensive music) That's part of it that I like to express to people, that we need to follow back, because we call each other rather by our names, rather by our family relation.

So you'd say (speaking in Lakota).

And when you refer it like that, it brings back a respect that we have as a family, because whole system of the tribe is based on family.

(pensive music) My dad's comin' up from north, which now is North Dakota, South Dakota border, where they have the Standing Rock Reservation.

I have a (speaking in Lakota), Oglala descent, so it's good to know that.

And today, a lot of our young people do not know where their bloodline comes from.

So I always try to encourage young people to find out where their names come from, what those names mean, and who their relatives are, 'cause that's gonna strengthen our people, to know who they are.

That's really important.

You know, that's the thing that, growin' up, that's what I've known.

(pensive music) Today, I know who I am, where my bloodline is.

(pensive music) Reservations are allotted individuals land, so that also identifies who owns that part of land, and even those are numbered sections.

My number is 27206, and that's how they identify me.

To say that I am Oglala Lakota, I have to present that number to prove that I am.

(pensive music) - I live at my grandparents' allotment that was given to them in the 1800s.

I think they started allotting land in the 1880s.

My grandfather didn't actually live there, where I live.

They lived along the White River in the Badlands.

That's where my grandfather and my father, and his brothers and sisters grew up.

(siren blaring) In 1942, when they started the bombing range in the Badlands, (bombs blasting) everybody that lived there was forced off their land.

(airplane whirring) - I live out in the country.

My family's originally from Porcupine, South Dakota.

They still live in the area.

It's where your family is, and that's what feels comfortable, that's what feels nice, and you know you can always have a home to go to, have a comforting area of where to go and escape to.

On the other hand, it also has its difficulties and its struggles with just existing here.

(muffled chattering) - When I was real young, I rode horse out in Oglala with my relatives out there.

For years, I stopped riding.

Having the opportunity to come out here whenever I can, I really appreciate it, and encourage any of those who want to ride to come.

We're planning to get all of Percy's horses out here.

I think there's like 40 of 'em, and get our nieces and nephews, our grandchildren, our relatives to ride and heal together.

- (mumbles) Away from home, from my people, for, like, 17 years, and there was times I'd get homesick, or I'd be goin' through somethin', and I could be on my horse, I could just tell it everything.

Every time I come back from a ride, I feel strong.

I feel, okay, I can do this.

I just wanna be strong and be the best that I can be as a woman, 'cause there's younger people, you know, there's young women out there, young mothers out there that need people to be strong for them too.

(pensive music) - A lot of our women rode alongside our men when we were free on this land, and we were warriors.

And with the dominant society, they've taken that away from us.

They've put us in roles that are less than what we were used to being.

But we have those strengths within us, and that's what the horse ride, I think, for many of us, helped us to recognize again, was our physical strength, how strong we are riding on these horses, you know, our spiritual strength, connecting with the horses, and healing us.

(indistinct voices) It's a part of me, it's inherent of me.

My great-grandmother, Jenny Bad Yellow Eyes, she was a horseback rider, she was a trick rider.

She rode on the Wild West show with her uncle, Sitting Bull.

(warm pensive music) Currently, it's regaining a part of myself that, as a mother and a wife, my role was to raise my family, and I did that.

And now, I get to go and be out with the horses again, and ask for that healing that I need.

I believe that I'm receiving it through the horse that I ride.

- I'm still gonna keep goin', getting strong and keep supporting our way.

And I want our children to be strong in the future.

I want a good life for them.

And if it takes us healing as women to get there, then yeah, let's just keep goin'.

Okay, trotting all the way home, they said.

(pensive music) Hold on, boy, hold on, hold on.

(pensive music) - A lot of people just know that we're a horse family and we like just being involved with different communities, and helping out wherever it's needed.

We've had other communities come over to our ranch, and we put on horse camps for them.

My dad and I, we've gone out to Washington, D.C., and we've been a part of a horse ride out there that was protesting the Keystone XL pipeline back in 2014.

I mean, we just get very involved in a lotta things, and our horses, they kinda go all over the place with us.

(pensive music) Having horses has opened a lot of doors for, not just me individually, but for my family, for the program I work with, Dakota Wicohan.

One of the things is, so not only the horse regalia, but the Dakota 38 Plus 2 Ride, which is a memorial ride for the 38 Dakota warriors that were hung in 1862 in Mankato, Minnesota.

And two years later, two more Dakota warriors were captured and hung.

Having horses, we're able to be a part of that memorial ride.

(pensive music) My family, we used to do Christmas and presents, and all that, and it hasn't been like that now for over 10 years.

We dedicate our time to this memorial ride.

(pensive music) Now we're able to take some of the youth that are in part of the Dakota Wicohan program.

A lot of them now are becoming really, really amazing riders, and so they're able to handle this long memorial ride, and we're able to take youth and expose youth to this, because it's something powerful and sacred, and it's good to be a part of.

(pensive music) - In '97, '98, I worked at a youth shelter, it was called.

It wasn't a shelter, it was more like a holding pen for the youth before they went to treatment.

I started bringin' the youth from the shelter out to ride horse.

And when they came out, they didn't wanna go home, go back to the shelter.

Not only at that time, but years before then, I realized, and I had noticed the effects it had, not only on myself, but the young people that I was with, and how it helped them to take notice of themselves, and what they do to better themselves, how they can better themselves.

It was really a eye-opener for me.

(pensive music) - I feel like when I first started riding horses, it was kinda just more of like a hobby.

I've definitely grown closer to horses, and I've definitely connected with another side of my culture, because now I'm able to be a part of different things that involve my culture, like the horse regalia.

So that's allowed me to learn another part of my culture that I never knew before.

I mean, I just made my first horse regalia last year, and bein' a part of the Dakota 38 Plus 2 Memorial Ride, that allows me to be around my people, to learn more about the history of my people, and to just keep learning teachings.

(pensive music) - In 2019, I was teachin' at the Red Cloud High School for about a week on the horse mask, but that's more of kind of the contemporary piece.

Although I do traditional, I like doin' the more contemporary.

It keeps everything balanced, you could say.

(school bell ringing) (pensive music) - James is able to bring his Lakota background into the classroom for a week, and kids really connect with that.

It's a totally different style, it's unique.

Course, painting and drawing that are traditional are great, but when you can bring something as original as these horse masks, it's really unique.

(pensive music) - James loves to come into the classrooms and work with our students here at Red Cloud and other schools.

He knows how important it is to help pass on the knowledge of the relationship between the horse and the human, especially for Lakota people.

So he comes and talks with students about his artwork, about what that relationship is all about.

- A lot of 'em could do the bead work, they could do applique work, you know, anything artistic.

The part of it that I enjoyed wa sharing the skills that I do have, as far as the regalia.

You know, all this horse regalia was self-taught.

I went out, took the measurements from a horse, and just kind of added my creation to the horse regalia.

(pensive music) - James is one of our artists.

He works with us a lot in our exhibitions that we put on and organize.

He was an instrumental part of our large exhibition called "Horse Nation of the Ochethi Sakowin."

- The exhibit ran from 2016 and actually just finished up this past spring, so it was a three-year exhibit.

But it was about two or three years prep before we actually had an entire exhibit, so it's a very long, lengthy process.

(pensive music) And we're not doing this exhibit for everyone.

We're doing it for the Native communities, which is always something we stressed, especially when producing a lot of the text panels.

It's like, "Oh, we have to explain "what Ochethi Sakowin means."

But it's like, wait, we're not doing this for them.

We're not doing this for a non-Native audience.

We're doing this for Native people.

So kinda creating that, just an environment where Native people can come in and just have that feeling, that, "Oh, this was made for me.

"This was made for us."

(pensive music) It's not to be selective, it's just like we just need that time and that place, and that stage and platform to be presented on.

- The painting I most connect to is this one.

It's because it's a good representation of what is sacred to us, you know, the woman and the horse.

Long time ago, before generations, there was this woman who came and brought us our prayers, our way of life.

And she brought it in a way that was so generous, like a mother would do to you.

And with the horse and her, she's caring for it, and they have each other.

This really made my whole day, and thankful for that.

- You realize that, wow, this really did have an impact.

When you go to other museum conferences, they're struggling so hard to actually interact with tribal communities.

Like, they have objects from other tribal communities, and they don't understand why they're in such an uproar about how they're being treated, and how they're being cared for and taken care of.

There's this really huge disconnect between museums and tribal communities.

So this exhibit, having it being community-led, is like a really huge step for the museum world of how we treat and acknowledge Native communities.

(warm pensive music) - I'm hopeful that this can open up doors to everybody, so they can come in first by seeing, "Oh, I like horses, I like this horse.

"I have my own story with the horse."

And when they come in, then, they start to learn a little bit more about authentic truths.

(warm pensive music) - There's a lot of value in passing on this knowledge, and I think more than anything, it taps into identity.

That is something that has, at one point, been repressed and has been tried to erase, and it brings it back.

And when you bring back identity, you bring back self-esteem, you bring back an energy that can and wants to do something, and makes a change, and to make a change in life.

- My family, my mother's family, is from Martin, but we grew up in Minneapolis.

And so, I moved back to the reservation in 1991, when I was 19 years old.

So this is a real awakening for me to being involved at Dakota Wicohan, and just with being a Dakota person.

I'm learning every day too, along with the youth and the families.

I'm learning the language, I'm learning the life ways.

Reconnecting with my culture has just reinforced the sense of belonging, belonging to the tribe and the community.

It's also been healing, mind, body, and spirit.

We call that (speaking in Dakota), and so it's just a healing of the spirit.

Makes you feel connected to your ancestors.

- We need to tell our stories today.

I mean, we always have to make sure that our stories are heard from the past, but it's very important that we tell the stories today, 'cause that's what's gonna encourage the following generations to understand that what they do is relevant to today.

They don't have to sit within confinements of assumptions of who they are or what they can do.

They can really start to step up, and they can take ownership over whatever they wanna express.

(pensive music) I actually sit on our South Dakota Arts Council Board, and my goal of sitting on that board is to try to encourage our state to understand the dynamic possibilities when we invest in the community and allow them to really start to see what art can be, and listen to our communities to see what art is.

A lot of the times, we frame a assumption of what art is based off of other sources, so when we have this opportunity to hear the authentic voice say what art is, I think that that's gonna reveal some really awesome opportunities.

(pensive music) - Bringin' the regalia back alive, it brings spirit and power and reassurance to the people that we're still the same, and we can still carry on and do what we gotta do.

It's like a strengthening, it helps us be strong.

It brings forward emotions and helps deal with a lotta problems we deal with.

It gives you goals.

It helps you set achievement or a goal you'd like to do, or you'd like to see to better other people and yourself.

It's how I see the horse regalia helpin' us.

(pensive music) - While I was working on my regalia, it was very relaxing and fulfilling, and I wondered what I was gonna do when I was done.

The vision that I have for my regalia, there's many more after that.

(pensive music) - For the woman riders, it's about healing.

You know, we have so many not only current traumas, but we carry generational traumas.

(horses whinnying) (soft pensive music) (guns firing) I have relatives that were in the Wounded Knee Massacre.

They say that we can carry these hurts generation to generation, but we can also heal them too.

(pensive music) So when I'm out here and praying, and thinking about the future generations, you know, and we talk about having a healing ride for the children, and strengthening them, they're our future, they're our next generation.

Our nation can be strong and healthy once again, and I believe that our horse relatives can help us to do this.

- Through the horses, we wanna make the children to where they have confidence, their self-esteem comes up.

So when that confidence and self-esteem is up to here, they can make a choice and walk another path that will lead 'em towards a better future.

Horse spirit is about giving and strengthening our children, not only our children, but men and women.

(pensive music) - [Linda] Come here, boy, good boy!

Really good, (mumbles) good boy.

- There are so many artists in this area, like, a lot of my cousins, my aunts, my uncles.

Everybody's artists, so it runs real deep in our family history.

I'm super happy to see that it's getting more out and shown to not just this community.

(warm pensive music) - (speaking Lakota) Means kinda like compassion, like cherish, I cherish this, I love this.

So I felt like that was also very important that that's what everybody was basically saying, is that they do these things because it's important.

It's also bringing a sense of humility to people.

- You have some to the artist, through the artist, different types of (mumbles) out here.

But I think what we're sharing here is about the horse, so it doesn't necessarily have to be one way.

- It really has demolished egos working with the horse, I felt.

These projects have really brought people together, understanding that the horse was key and central to everything.

People were secondary.

So no longer this big old idea of like a pyramid scheme, where everybody's at the top, the individual, the person's at the top.

It's kinda reversed, and then everybody was at the bottom, kinda holding up these things that are important, and have always been important and held us up as well too.

(pensive music) - In 2005, I drew what I envisioned of the horse regalia.

And to this day, I still have that drawing, and I keep it at hand because I look at that, and I look back to what that meant to me.

It brings me the inspiration to keep going what I'm doing.

Why I do it is because of who I am, what I grew up with, having the obligation to share to my relatives and to the world what I can share, and that's art, and a big part of it is the horse regalia.

By creatin' that, it's bringin' what we have to today.

I wanna leave somethin' behind for my relatives, generation comin'.

I feel it was my purpose to create this horse regalia for them.

(pensive music) (elk bugling) (slow drumming with man singing in Lakota)