An archaeologist and Lakota genomics scientist explain how combining archaeology, DNA, and Indigenous knowledge can help revise colonial human-horse narratives largely associated with the western U.S.
I think it is a real testament to the ingenuity of the indigenous peoples of the Americas how quickly they were able to understand how to utilize horses to their full advantage within a couple of generations of never having even known such an animal existed. What would be interesting to know is if the knowledge of utilizing horses, many of which had gone feral and had to be re-domesticated was passed down from people who saw Europeans riding them to people who rode them themselves to people in the far-flung reaches where horses had gotten to but not riders or if the idea to use horses as mounts developed independently in some indigenous American groups. I doubt there is any way to find that out though.
Yes, tell me about ponies
