Native Horse Back Story
Riding to Wounded Knee - Bad Lands Dec. 25th, 2023
Hau Everyone,
We hope this finds you well.
NATIVE HORSE — BACK STORY ON FILMS CREATION.
"Native Horse" was inspired and created by the authentic, lived experiences of Lakota Elders, knowledge keepers, and horse people—Alex White Plume, Tokala Black Elk, and Karen Ducheneaux, among others. Producer James Anaquad Kleinert first became close with Alex, Karen, and Tokala in the 1990s and early 2000s, having joined them on the sacred Bigfoot Memorial Ride to Wounded Knee several times. These Lakota people were entirely at ease in their interviews, speaking authentically and powerfully as they shared their perspectives about the issues they see as most important to the story of "Native Horse.”
The narrative of "Native Horse" is told through the lens of traditional Indigenous knowledge of the Tribal people of the Great Plains, as well as through the lens of the Western scientific method. Paleontologists are starting to reach conclusions similar to traditional Lakota knowledge, albeit through their very different Western scientific methods. "Native Horse" shows the differences and overlaps in these two ways of learning, understanding, and passing on valuable information.
Indigenous Elders and horse people have very important roles in the development and production of “Native Horse.” For years, Producer James Anaquad Kleinert joined horseback rides to Wounded Knee and Sacred Sites, where he heard Elders tell stories of how the Horse had always been with the Lakota people. Later, conversing with his Elders, they decided it was time for a film showing how Horses are Native. Talking with Saginaw Grant, Floyd Red Crow Westerman, N. Scott Momaday and Charlotte Black Elk they expressed that “Empowering the O’yate, the Native people, would require returning to Horse Culture and great Native History! It will provide so much good to both people and horses.”
Trailers for Native Horse:
Please sign our Petition to get the last of America’s Wild Horses & Burros on the Endangered Species List here:
https://www.jamesanaquadkleinert.com/wild-horse-burros
About the Filmmaker:
Native Horse is a stand-alone episode from Producer/Director/Cinematographer/Writer James Anaquad Kleinert's (Onondaga)investigative films on America's Wild Horses. Kleinert's internationally award-winning documentaries explore American Indian culture, Western environmentalism, activism, and spirituality. Kleinert takes a stand for wildlife species and environmental, constitutional, and American Indian rights. His Federal court victory in Kleinert v. Bureau of Land Management showed the vast amount of surveillance he was under as he exposed brutal crimes committed against America's Wild Horses & Burros on public lands. Kleinert v. BLM set important precedent for future cases involving public records. Kleinert's award-winning series Mustangs & Renegades is available https://www.jamesanaquadkleinert.com/films/mustangsandrenegades. This hard-hitting investigative film series features Sheryl Crow, Viggo Mortensen, and Willie Nelson. Kleinert is the author of No Country For Truth Tellers, available on Amazon.
Mitakuye Oyasin,
James.