Native Horse - Trailer

Documentary Film Celebrating Native American Horse Cultures Reveals the Horse as Native to North America
ative Horse is an expansive and intimate exploration of our interconnectedness with horses, each other, and our environment. The film is premiering on more than 50 PBS stations across the country between October and January 30th (2025) including in New Mexico, New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago and is currently streaming on PBS at this link: https://www.pbs.org/video/native-horse-7kmmxx/ . Native Horse looks at the evolution of horses in North America by placing Indigenous Lakota science, which has always dispelled the claim that horses died out before being re-introduced by the Spanish, alongside ground-breaking DNA research. Today, new discoveries in Western science have come together with Lakota scientists to create a more complete understanding of the Horse, its evolution, and its bond with humans. Native Horse reveals new data that matches with traditional Lakota knowledge, implying that horses may have persisted in North America well after the classical Late Pleistocene extinction event.
      In Lakota culture, Sungwakaη (Horse) is a sacred being that holds an integral place in lifeways and history. Alex White Plume (traditional Lakota, leader of Sitanka Wokiksuye Tiospaye, and a creator of the Bigfoot Memorial Ride to Wounded Knee) explains how reconnecting with the Horse Nation helped the Lakota people return to their spiritual and cultural ways. Native Horse joins the Memorial Ride to Wounded Knee, where riders travel through harsh conditions to honor their ancestors and culture, empowering themselves and the Lakota Nation.
      Dr. N. Scott Momaday, Kiowa Pulitzer Prize-winning author, shares eloquent stories of Kiowa horse culture and mythology. Wendell Yellow Bull, of Taku Skan Skan Wasakliyapi: Global Institute for Traditional Sciences and a direct descendent of Chief Red Cloud, shares ancient Lakota knowledge. Saginaw Grant, Sac and Fox Nation wisdom keeper, shares his reverence for the Horse and how they contribute to the well-being of people. Karen Ducheneaux, a Lakota of the Tatanka Wakpala Community and experienced horse person, describes how Horses empower Lakota youth and the Nation. Tokala Black Elk, a descendent of the Lakota wičháša wakȟáŋ (Holy Man) Black Elk, sings sacred Lakota Horse songs, and his powerful voice leads us through the film as narrator. Raoul Max Trujillo deeply explains the role that horses play in Mexican-American Indian culture. This unprecedented cast of American Indians gives powerful credence to Native Horse! The Wild Horse, representative of the expressive spirit of America - freedom, family, and community, is the hero of this film which travels through centuries of horse-human connection to the present day.

Trailers for Native Horse:
            30 second trailer: https://vimeo.com/1001635786
            5 minute trailer: https://vimeo.com/1001621571
Webpage for Native Horse: https://www.jamesanaquadkleinert.com/films/nativehorse

About the Filmmaker:
      Native Horse is a stand-alone episode from Producer/Director/Cinematographer/Writer James Anaquad Kleinert's 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 at 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.