Exhibitions

A Song for the Horse Nation

November 14, 2009 – July 7, 2011

National Museum of the American Indian George Gustav Heye Center
One Bowling Green
New York, NY

Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House

See on Map Floor Plan

This exhibition presents the epic story of the horse's influence on American Indian tribes from the 1600s to the present. It features approximately 100 works from the museum's collection to reveal how horses shaped the social, economic, cultural, and spiritual foundations of American Indian life, particularly on the Great Plains. Highlights include historical ledger drawings, beaded bags, hide robes, and paintings, including new works by contemporary Native artists. Also on view is a Hunkpapa Lakota winter count by Long Soldier (c. 1902) that depicts the horse's first appearance in the community.

Based on the museum's publication A Song for the Horse Nation: Horses in Native American Cultures, edited by George P. Horse Capture and Emil Her Many Horses (2006)