Nokota - Legend of the Badlands

Nokotas are living history and a uniquely American Horse. Named North Dakota’s Honorary State Equine in 1993, they are the Native Horse of the Northern Plains. Today a horse without a home, they are, without a doubt, an obscure breed and on the verge of disappearing. To understand why a few dedicated individuals are fighting for their survival, it is important to understand the Nokotas colorful - and too often tragic - history.

The Indian Horse - Sitting Bull and the end of the Great Horse Society
The Nokotas are believed to be the only horses directly descended from the Indian ponies of Sitting Bull – the renowned Sioux chief who defeated the U.S. Cavalry’s General Custer in the infamous Battle of Little Bighorn.

The Sioux Indians were a great horse society. They were legendary horsemen who ruled the Dakota Territory on their war and buffalo ponies. Horses were an integral part of their culture. An Indian brave’s worth was measured by the quantity and quality of his ponies.

Their war ponies were kept close to the tepee – an invaluable treasure – horse of immense courage and stamina. On the fleet buffalo runners, the Sioux dashed fearlessly into the thundering herds of buffalo – whose numbers sometimes reached into the thousands – a spectacle only to be imagined. Their sure-footed travois – or traveling – horse tirelessly carried the women and children, packing the tribes belongings on their nomadic quest to follow the buffalo.

Much like the Bedouin society of the Arabian deserts, living in such proximity with their horses created a close bond between man and horse. War historians assert that the Plains Indians of the United States rated among the finest light cavalry the world had ever seen. On these horses of murky heritage and questionable breeding they reigned supreme. The prominence of the Indian pony in their culture defined them in almost every way.

By the end of the 19th century, an epic battle was waged between the Indian and the white man. The conclusion of the American Civil War left the white settlers free to set their ambitions on conquering the Wild West. Having subjugated every other Native American tribe from coast to coast, the mounted Natives – like the Sioux – proved to be their final and most bitterly fought conquest.

In an often-repeated tragedy, the white man’s army found the solution to conquering the Plains Indians. They succeeded by capturing and slaughtering their ponies in numbers too large to calculate. It was comparable to disarming an enemy of their tanks and artillery. But unlike mere weaponry, these horses and these people were intimately connected. Without their ponies – the Plains Indians were finally defeated. Confined to poor reservation land, these proud people and legendary horsemen were handed plow horses and told to be farmers. The great horse society was no more.