Spirit Horses

Wild horses seem to increase in numbers on the Spokane Reservation. Several crossed my path the other day on Wellpinit Mountain, like this one that stopped to exchange a look in my direction. Horses hold a special fascination. They submit themselves to the process of domestication, and yet they remember their freedom and retain the ability to reconnect to their wild roots.

Annie Humphrey is a Native musician who reflects something of this spirit in her songs:

Thunder, fire and torrent
Hunger, need and fear
Slavery, grief, confusion
Freedom waiting near
The sound of spirit horses
Hoofbeats in the sky
Snow and blood and ashes
And dreams too strong to die.

Find us spirit horses
And teach us how to ride
With seven generations of promise
At our side

Mothers, fathers and children
Creatures young and grown
Called by mighty drumming
Of sacred hooves on stone
The sound of spirit horses
Dancing on a storm
Mercy for the people
Old ways, new dreams reborn

-Spirit Horses