Her Many Horses is curator of Song for the Horse Nation, an exhibit at the National Museum of the American Indian that will be on display until January 2013. What is Song for the Horse Nation about?
The exhibit is about the relationship of the horse and native cultures, particularly in the Northern Hemisphere.
Why did you want to do an exhibit on this?
The horse and native people is one of the iconic images that people have. People will … learn in the exhibition that the horse as we know it today has not always been here. … Part of the theory is that the horse … went over the land bridge and survived in Asia. What comes back is this new horse with Christopher Columbus on his second voyage. I think people in their mind think that horses have always been here.
What challenges did you face in putting the exhibition together?
Our museum has a great collection and the horse has influenced the cultures of many tribes, so it was trying to be inclusive and also make some tough choices about what to include. It’s a big topic and trying to put this topic into a 9,000-square-foot gallery.
What do you hope people learn?
I hope people take away that they see the impact of the horse. The horse changed native culture. They influenced hunting, warfare, travel, wealth, status, the economy and the arts.
Is there anything in particular visitors should pay attention to?
There’s a quote in the exhibit that says that for some native people today, we no longer rely on the horse as we once did, but the horse is still important to us. Through our songs, through our stories, through our artwork, the horse is still alive. We really try to do a contemporary view of how horses are still alive today.
– Emily Babay
