The horse originated in North America around four million years ago. As changing sea levels created land bridges between continents, the horse traveled into Eurasia. A team of 57 international researchers—including 18 Indigenous scientists from the Lakota, sqilxʷ (suknaqin/Okanagan Nation), Blackfoot, Dene' (Athabascan) and Iñupiaq Nations—now reveal that inter-continental exchange of horse populations occurred in both directions on multiple occasions.

The Medicine Man Trail

Dene’ (Athabascan) traditional knowledge speaks of The Medicine Man Trail—a vital corridor that connected the American and Eurasian continents for many thousands of years. Along this trail, horses, like all life, traveled freely, inter-mixing, contributing, reinforcing and learning from the natural systems that shaped their journey.

“This knowledge is held in our songs, stories and in the sciences and lifeways we carry. Singing the song of life ensures that the world is balanced, and life can diversify and continue in a good way,” adds Wilson Justin, an Upper Ahtna/Upper Tanana Dene’ (Athabascan) Elder and knowledge keeper of the Alth’setnay clan.