News

Editorial: Preserving the Nokota

By Scott Wagar

08/28/2012

I often wonder how many individuals in our state know of the Nokota horse breed, which is one of the oldest breeds in the Dakotas and holds a rich and deep history in the Northern Plains.

The Nokota horses are known for their intelligence, agility and soundness, not to mention their almighty beauty which embellishes them. For those who have worked with the Nokotas, they admire the horses for their strength, kindness and demure.

Over the past 150 years, the Nokotas have been utilized in trail and pleasure riding, show jumping, cutting, liberty performances, fox hunting, ranch work, and, as war horses which played a major role in one of the biggest battles of the Great Plains.
Sadly, the Nokota horse breed is facing some serious difficulties. At the present time, there are only a small number of the horses left, but two men from Linton, ND, are working hard in an attempt to reclaim the horses presence on the Plains, while keeping the animal in the Dakotas for generations to come through preservation work. However, the men need our help.

The Nokota horses came to America from Spain in the 1500s. By the 1700s, these horses, which became a wild descendants of the Spanish horses of the 1500s, had made it to the Great Plains of the Dakotas and were being cared for by the Lakota nation.

The Lakota, a nomadic tribe, which journeyed from Minnesota to the Great Northern Plains after encounters with the Chippewa nation, were introduced to the horse breed, and which altered their lives forever in a positive manner. Prior to the horses encounter with the Lakota, the tribe made their journeys with dogs, which they utilized in transporting their belongings and for assisting them in hunting.

However, once the Lakota were introduced to the Nokotas, they traded in their dogs for horses and became skilled horsemen, breeders and a prevailing military force.

In 1831, Sitting Bull was born. Of course, he went on to become one of the best chiefs and warriors in Lakota history. What most people do not know about Sitting Bull was that he was a talented horse breeder. It is said through the Lakota people that he spent years breeding the line of horses which are now the Nokota horses we know today.

In 1876, it was Sitting Bulls’ Nokotas which took the battlefield from Gen. George Custer in the Battle of Little Bighorn. Unfortunately for the Lakota, the Nokota breed was seized from them in 1880s for pacification reasons. People of that time felt the horse were useless, ugly and small. But, the prominent Badland rancher, Marquis de Morse, saw greatness in the horse and purchased 250 of them from Fort Buford traders, and continued their blood line.  In 1884, Marquis sold 60 of his mares to a well known horseman, A.C. Huidekoper, who continued the Nokotas’ lifeline until the early 20th Century when he seized operation and local ranchers who liked the animal utilized the Nokotas.  
After the Great Depression, the Federal government stepped in, gained control of the Nokotas, and made the decision to eradicate the breed because it felt the horses were too much competition for domestic livestock. In 1940, after the Theodore National Park was built, the remaining Nokota horses were placed in the park. By the 1980s, Park administrators made the decision to change the appearance of the wild horses in the Park with outside blood-lines to improve the appearance of the horse for sale value at an auction. The stallions of the Nokota of the Park were either removed or simply killed and replaced.

At that time, Leo and Frank Kuntz, ranchers in Linton, ND, feared for the elimination of the bred and the Nokotas’ individuality, so they began purchasing as many of the horse as they could.
Today, thanks to the Kuntz brothers and their hard work with the horses, there are over 120 Nokotas in their protection; the non-profit Nokota Horse Conservancy (NHC) has been established and numerous media outlets like ABC News and “American Cowboy” have produced stories on the Nokota horses.

The goal of the NHC is to raise $2 million to establish a permanent 2,000-acre land trust for the Nokota horses near to the land where they have lived their lives for the past 150 years. By doing so, they grant the horses protection along with the land they will stand upon, gracing the ecosystem even more in the Dakotas.

However, the NHC needs your help through financial support which is tax deductible. By supporting this exclusive horse, you preserve a great history and the Nokota in our state, save the land from the industrialists, and keep a gentle gracefulness to one of the untouched areas of our state.

To learn more about NHC, or donate to the organization, contact them through the following means: info@nokotahorse.org (e-mail), www.nokotahorse.org (website), (701) 254-4205, and The Nokota Horse Conservancy 208 N.W. First Street, Linton, ND 58552