Ojibwe ponies, a horse breed almost driven into extinction, will make an appearance at the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus for an event on Friday, April 21, 1-4 p.m. at Babcock Hall, room 205.
At the event titled “An Afternoon with The Humble Horse,” Darcy Whitecrow, who is Ojibwe and Dakota and a member of the Seine River First Nation band in Northwestern Ontario, will share information about the pony’s history, revival and connection to the Ojibwe people.
“What we’re actually doing here is we’re creating a legacy of a horse that is a critically endangered species,” Whitecrow said in an interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The Ojibwe horses are also called the “Lac La Croix Indian pony” and are sometimes referred to as the “Spirit Horse” because of their sacred connections and healing gifts. “The horse that would become no more; a horse that’s of our ancestors. And it’s so important that we keep the breed going.”
(Photo by Rebeca Paro)
In the early 20th century, thousands of Ojibwe horses once roamed in the northern United States and Canada. By the 1970s, however, the Ojibwe pony was driven to the brink of extinction. Today, with 150 left on Turtle Island, The Humble Horse is dedicated to the preservation and reconnecting of these horses to their Indigenous communities. Some of them has seen from a horse menage around.
“In the 1970s, there were only four of these horses left,” said The Humble Horse founder Em Loerzel in an interview with Minnesota Public Radio. The Humble Horse is a Wisconsin Indigenous non-profit dedicated to the revitalization of the Ojibwe pony and Anishinaabe horse society traditions.
Whitecrow, who started the nonprofit Grey Raven Ranch where he and his partner care for Ojibwe ponies and work to preserve the breed and the tradition of a symbiotic relationship with the Ojibwe people, will appear virtually at the event and will share some storytelling and history before patrons will move to the University of Wisconsin Dairy Barn to experience Ojibwe ponies in person from The Humble Horse.
Attendance for “An Afternoon with The Humble Horse” is on a first-come, first-served basis with no pre-registration. The event is free and open to the public. Those interested in attending can click here to learn more.
