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Seeds of Change
Horse
Horses first evolved in the grasslands of North America but by 1492 they had been extinct in the Americas for 10,000 years. Spanish explorers brought horses back to their ancestral home—and the grass remembered, welcoming them into an ideal environment. Horses escaped and multiplied quickly in the rich grasslands of North and South America, radically changing the way many native peoples traveled, hunted, worked and waged war.
Horses Spread throughout the Americas
Horses arrived in the Caribbean in 1493, with Columbus second voyage, and were taken to the mainland after 1500. In North America New Spain (Mexico) was the breeding ground for the herds that later populated the southwest and the Great Plains. In South America, horses spread from Spanish settlements in Peru. In the 1600’s, the Dutch, English and French also began to import horses to their New World colonies.
At Home on the Plains
Acquiring horses changed the lives of nomadic peoples on the grasslands of North and South America. Based on 19th-century paintings, drawings, and photographs, these dioramas show typical encampments.
The horse was crucial for mobility, trade and warfare for the Puelche of South America’s pampas (grasslands), few large animals roamed the pampas before the 1500’s, so horses provided the Puelche with a new source of meat and hides. From horse skins, the Puelche made portable lodges (toldos) and clothing such as boots and cloaks. When moving camp, a woman piled the family’s belongings on a horse’s back instead of carrying them herself. Puelche women mounted their horses using a strap that hung from the animal’s neck—a device unique to Indians of the pampas.
Crow Encampment on the Great Plains
The Crow of Montana are typical of Plains Indians whose lives were eased and enriched by horses. On horseback, scouts could locate game more easily, and hunters could outrun the buffalo, Crow women could transport the meat and move camp with greater ease. With horses to carry the weight – and hunters able to obtain more hides---tipis became larger, and families acquired more property. Women had more time and energy to devote to leather and bead work. The sick and elderly, no longer a burden when moving camp, were in less danger of being abandoned.
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